German Researcher Reflects on 30 Years of Conservation Tillage Outreach

	Auburn, July 2, 2002 --- Anyone who is acquainted with Rolf Derpsch for only a few 
minutes will probably come away convinced of one thing: He is a stranger to no one.  
	Easygoing and affable, Derpsch is also fluent in six languages. They are skills that have 
served him well throughout his long career as a researcher, Extension professional and leader of 
one of the most successful revolutions in South America’s history: the widespread adoption of no-
till farming.
	The German researcher first started exploring the benefits of no-till production in Brazil in 
1971 as part of a project funded by the Federal Republic of Germany (then West Germany).  
After spending two years in West Germany, Derpsch resumed his work in Brazil, where he 
remained another 14 years fine-tuning what he had learned about no-till farming.  
	Since 1988, he has worked in Asuncion, Paraguay, as a consultant with the Ministry of 
Agriculture, spreading the no-till message throughout that country and the rest of South America.
	From the very beginning, Derpsch was determined his work with no-till would involve as 
much outreach as research – a decision he has never regretted.  As he sees it, “knowledge is 
useless if it is only on paper and not in the heads of the people.” 
His outreach approach was based on a very simple premise.
	“From the very beginning, we followed one strategy: to bring farmers practicing the 
technology with those who are not.”
	As he quickly learned, the farmer-to-farmer exchanges he organized in Paraguay were as 
rewarding for him as they were for farmers.
	“We would visit farms practicing no tillage, but not necessarily those farms that were 
problem-free,” he recalls.   	
Many times, in fact, he concentrated on farms that had encountered the worst problems 
adopting no-till techniques.  Focusing on these hard-luck cases enabled Derpsch and farmers to 
uncover the causes behind these problems and to learn from their mistakes.   
	“Later on, as we collected more information, we learned more about the best cover crops 
to use, when to seed them, and how to fit them into the production system.”
	In time, Derpsch was able to build a convincing case for no-till production.  One factor 
that turned the tide, he says, was data collected by a New Zealand economist showing 
mechanized farming operations could reap huge savings with no-till. 
	“This was crucial because farmers have to know the economic bottom line,” he says. 
“Farmers too quickly are looking at the highest yields, but we’re not interested in the 
highest yield.  No-till may yield 10 or 20 percent less, but from an economic standpoint, it can 
save 10 or 20 percent more.”
	“This is what we were looking at.  And we found out no-tillage is highly economical 
because of the cost savings from labor and fuel.”
	Similar research conducted two years later on small operations, some operated 
exclusively by hand, showed farmers reaped almost twice as much savings from no-till.
	Soybeans remain the largest crop in Paraguay, followed by corn and sorghum and, on a 
much smaller scale, sunflowers.  
	Wheat was initially planted as a winter crop, though it turned out to be a high-risk crop 
because of winter freezing and poor yields.
	Black oats planting, on the other hand, has expanded markedly in recent years --- up to 
about 300,000 hectares (almost 750,000 acres) in Paraguay alone – and has been supported by 
research.
	“We’ve shown that you can have up to 60 percent higher soybean yields planting black 
oats before soybeans,” he says. “Research also has shown that seeding immediately after 
harvest with blacks oat and other crops enables farmers to go up to three years without applying 
any herbicide at all – a tremendous saving.”
	“What this means is that we could produce up to 2,500 kilos (about 5,500 lbs.) of 
soybeans without using any herbicides.” 
	“Granted, crop yields under conventional tillage average about a ton more, but you’re still 
having to spend a lot in herbicides to produce this extra ton.”
	“With no-till, you’re reducing both inputs and yields, but in the end, you have more money 
left in your pocket.” 
	Currently at 52 percent of total cultivated acreage, Paraguay has the highest no-till 
adoption rate in the world – a fact due, in no small measure, to Derpsch’s research and outreach 
efforts.
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Jim Langcuster
Extension Communications Specialist – News and Public Affairs
July 2, 2002