Positive Effects of Conservation Tillage

1466 Words3 Pages

Positive Effects of Conservation Tillage

For centuries farmers have used plowing as a tool for weed control, and

in some cases to promote plant growth. At first man had used animals to pull

plows and other equipment, with the invention of the tractor work that would

normally be done with animals could be done more easily and quickly. Although

plowing has been a common and widely used tool for managing weed control,

there are many negative impacts associated with this method. Conservation

tillage is a method where some of crop residues, if not all of crop residues,

are left on the surface of the soil. Conservation tillage methods have become

popular in many areas around the world, and while many of the effects of

conservation tillage are still under research, many farmers have found that

it helps to not only protect the health of their fields, but also that it

saves both time and money.

Research shows that conservation tillage has many beneficial effects

such as the reduction of soil compaction, increases in biodiversity, higher

crop yields, decreases in erosion, reductions in fuel requirements and other

capital inputs for machinery, and up to a seventy percent reduction of preharvest

labor. Researchers are not the only ones that are noticing that

conservation tillage has a promising future which combines low labor

requirements with low erosion rates (Giere, 2002). In America, eighteen

percent of crop fields are managed using conservation tillage methods, and in

Paraguay ninety percent of fields are managed with conservation tillage

methods (Karasov, 2002). Though the percent of conservation tillage in the

United States may not be as high as other areas in the world, it is projected

that nearly eighty ...

... middle of paper ...

...2004, October). To Plow or Not To Plow: Balancing Slug Populations

with Environmental Concerns and Soil Health. Agricultural Research, 16-

17.

Durham, S. (2003, March). Drought Survival with Conservation Tillage.

Agricultural Research, 22.

Giere, J.P., Johnson, K.M., & Perkins, J.H. (1980). A Closer Look at No-Till

Farming. Environment, 22(6), 15-20, 37-40

Karasov, C. (2002, February). Spare the Plow, Save the Soil. Environmental

Health Perspectives, 22(2), A75

Machado, A.F.L., Jakelaitis, A., Ferrriera, et al.(2005). Population Dynamics

of Weeds in No-Tillage and Conventional Crop Systems. Journal of

Environmental Science and Health, B40, 119-128.

Runion, S.B., Prior, S.A., Reeves, D.W., et al.(2004). Microbial Responses to

Wheel Traffic in Conventional and No-Tillage Systems. Communications in

Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 35, 2891-2903.

Open Document