The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) defines conservation tillage as a tillage system that leaves enough crop residue to adequately protect the soil from erosion throughout the year. The percent of cover required varies by field according to soil type, slope, crop rotation, winter cover crops used and other factors (NRCS website). Conservation tillage in general and notill practice...

Increased yields with conservation tillage have been attributed to the conservation of soil water (Rao and Sustainable cropping systems are essential for agronomic, ecoDao, 1996; Papendick and Miller, 1977) due to decreased nomic, and environmental reasons. Data from a winter wheat (Tritievaporation and cooler soil temperatures (Gauer et al., cum aestivum L.)/summer fallow rotation experiment, ...

A multi-year experiment was conducted to compare the effects of conservation tillage (no-till and ridge-till) with conventional plow tillage on organic C, N, and resin-extractable P in an alkaline semi-arid subtropical soil (Hidalgo sandy clay loam, a fine-loamy, mixed, hyperthermic Typic Calciustoll) at Weslaco, TX (26890N 978570W). Tillage comparisons were established on irrigated plots in 19...

To develop sustainable cropping systems, the coherence between economic, environmental, and energy aspects must be considered. We aimed to assess sustainability of corn (Zea mays) production using four tillage systems which varied in intensity soil disturbance (i.e., conventional till with moldboard plow (MP), chisel (CP), strip-tillage (ST), no-till (NT)) by performing life cycle assessment (L...

Conservation tillage and even no tillage as a practice is not new. However, there appears to exist evidence that in some cases no-tillage is successfully incorporated into a new concept of truly sustainable agriculture, gaining popularity as “conservation agriculture” all over the world. Conservation Agriculture is, besides no-tillage and direct planting, based on very old concepts such as gree...

Soil quality is a concept based on the premise that management can deteriorate, stabilize, or improve soil ecosystem functions. It is hypothesized that the degree of stratification of soil organic C and N pools with soil depth, expressed as a ratio, could indicate soil quality or soil ecosystem functioning, because surface organic matter is essential to erosion control, water infiltration, and ...

The effects of conservation-tillage practices on the root environment of corn (Zea mays L.) may differ with varying amounts of irrigation. Dryland, 50% irrigation, and 100% irrigation treatments were applied in combination with disc, no-tillage, and a postemergence chisel treatment designed to allow rapid infiltration of irrigation water. The study was conducted during the 1980 growing season a...

During decades, in semiarid rainfed Aragon, intensive soil tillage and low crop residue input have led to the loss of soil structure and soil degradation. Conservation tillage and cropping intensification can improve soil structure in these areas. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of three different tillage systems (traditional tillage, reduced tillage and no-tillage) u...

Biological indicators based on abundances of soil organisms are powerful tools for inferring functional and diversity changes in soils affected by agricultural perturbations. Field plots, combining organic and conventional practices with no tillage, conservation tillage and standard tillage maintained different nematode assemblages and soil food webs. Soil food web indices based on nematode ass...

To take advantage of conservation tillage systems (including direct drilling and non-inversion) in central Iran, it is important to study the effects of different cultivation practices on soil structural stability as a physical indicator. A four-year study was conducted to investigate the effects of seven tillage systems on aggregate properties of a clay-loam soil (Calcic Cambisol) with continu...