Reduced tillage is increasingly promoted to improve sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems. Nonetheless, adoption of reduced tillage by organic farmers has been slow due to concerns about nutrient supply, soil structure, and weeds that may limit yields. Here, we compiled the results from both published and unpublished research comparing deep or shallow inversion tillage, with various categories of reduced tillage under organic management. Shallow refers to less than 25 cm. We found that (1) division
In western Canada, limited research has been conducted on reduced-tillage grain production systems managed organically. The objective was to select cover crop mulches for an organic rotational no-till system in Manitoba. A 2-yr field study (2010-2011, and repeated 2011-2012) was conducted in Carman, MB, Canada. In the cover crop year, 10 different combinations of cover crop species were seeded in the spring, in pure stand or in mixtures, and rolled using a roller-crimper in mid-summer, at the flowering stage. These rolled mulches were then left on the soil surface over the fall and winter. The following spring, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was seeded directly into these mulches (no-till). Mulches with hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) showed the most promising results. Cover crop treatments with vetch had the highest mulch biomass in September of the cover crop year (9.1-10.7 Mg ha -1 ), and in the following spring (6.0-7.6 Mg ha -1 ) and provided the best weed control. In late fall of the cover crop year, N content of mulches with vetch reached high levels (308 kg N ha -1 on average), and high amounts of N (93-164 kg N ha -1 ) were released from these mulches over winter. Organic spring wheat no-till planted into mulches with vetch produced yields comparable to regional conventional average yields. Mulches with vetch used in an organic rotational no-till system reduced the need for tillage for a period of 1.5 to 2 yr without affecting yields of organic spring wheat.
For more than a decade, studies have aimed to adapt the agronomy of organic no-till systems for the environmental conditions of Eastern Canada. Most research on organic no-till practices in Eastern Canada has been conducted in the province of Québec, where 4% of farms are certified organic, and results from these trials have been published in technical reports available in French. The objective of this review was to revisit previous research work on organic farming in Eastern Canada-the majority of which has been published as technical reports in the French language-in order to highlight important findings and to identify information gaps. Cover crop-based rotational no-till systems for organic grain and horticultural cropping systems will be the main focus of this review. Overall, a few trials have demonstrated that organic rotational no-till can be successful and profitable in warmer and more productive regions of Eastern Canada, but its success can vary over years. The variability in the success of organic rotational no-till systems is the reason for the slow adoption of the system by organic farmers. On-going research focuses on breeding early-maturing fall rye, and terminating cover crops and weeds with the use of bioherbicides.
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