**9.3 Sustainable soil management through conservative agriculture**

Conservative agriculture is technique which involves the covering of maintained land, reduced soil disturbance, and diversifying crop production. Even though conservation agriculture approach was developed to minimize soil erosion as well as to restore the degraded soils, but it also provides strategic initial base point for adaption against climate changes. Conservative agriculture focusses on the reproducing most stable soil ecosystem which can be attain in any agricultural ecosystem to minimize the dependence of producer on the external inputs to full fill the plant nutritional requirements and pest control (**Figure 5**). BY covering the soil, loss of soil moisture can be minimized; soil temperature can be stabilized, low erosion by water and wind, restoration of the soil carbon through plant debris breakdown and also provide the food material for beneficial soil organism. Using crop rotation and diversification technique disease and pest population will be minimized and soil nutritional value increase. Populations of different soil dwelling animals like earthworms, millipedes, and mites can be flourishing by avoiding mechanical tillage. These micro faunae will take over tillage and improve soil structure by building soil porosity. Conservation agriculture includes the surface organic matter. Soil aggregate improved through the excrement of these soil organisms, while worms create vertical channels which help in the removal of excess water. Soil micro fauna introduce their organic matter which helps in improvement of soil organic quality, structure and capacity to store water ultimately helping to survive under longer drought periods. Conservation agriculture system has ability to mitigate the climate change as untreated soil can work as carbon sink by storing and sequestering carbon. Untreated soil may also reduce the quantity of agriculture required to produce crops, ultimately reducing the fuel consumption [45].
