Practical manual of direct seeding in Madagascar;

To quickly benefit from the effects of DMC practices, it is necessary to obtain a strong differential “biomass returned to the soil - biomass lost” from the first years of entry into DMC systems. This strong differential allows these systems to fulfill their ecosystem functions, and lead to rapid soil improvement and the restoration of balances.
ecological. These improvements, in a virtuous circle, make it easier to obtain significant biomass production and make it easy to feed the DMC “pump” in subsequent years. On degraded soils, obtaining high biomass production in the first years involves restoring fertility by adding fertilizers (organic or mineral), burning and/or using cover crops capable of producing high biomass on infertile soils.
The more the soils are degraded, the more difficult, long and/or costly the “initiation” of DMC systems. Below a certain level of degradation, it is not profitable during the first years and requires an investment. On the other hand, in very many agronomic situations, the great diversity of systems and possible technical itineraries in DMC makes it possible to adapt practices to the great diversity of socio-economic situations. It makes it possible to propose economically profitable, sustainable and motivating systems, compatible with the means and the levels of risk acceptable by the different types of farms. The diversity of possible systems and their advantages, as well as their ease of implementation, depend largely on biophysical (climate, soil, etc.) and socio-economic (agrarian systems, livestock systems, market conditions, rules community, etc). Certain environments that are not very restrictive (space and means available, low pressure on the biomass, etc.) offer many possibilities for improvement, through systems that are easy to manage. Conversely, constraining environments (high pressure on biomass, low production potential, limited means, etc.) require fine adaptation of DMC systems and their management.