A Strip-Till One-Pass System as a Component of Conservation Agriculture

Abstract

Conservation agriculture has three main pillars, i.e., minimum tillage, permanent soil cover, and crop rotation. Covering the soil surface with plant residues and minimum mechanical soil disturbance can all result from introducing a strip-till one-pass (ST-OP) system. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the ST-OP technology on the management of plant residues, soil properties, inputs, and emissions related to crop cultivation. We compared the effect of a ST-OP system against conventional tillage (CT) using a plough, and against reduced, non-ploughing tillage (RT). Four field experiments were conducted for evaluating the covering of soil with plant residues of the previous crop, soil loss on a slope exposed to surface soil runoff, soil structure and aggregate stability, occurrence of soil organisms and glomalin content, soil moisture and soil water reserve during plant sowing, labour and fuel inputs, and CO2 emissions. After sowing plants using ST-OP, 62.7–82.0% of plant residues remained on the soil surface, depending on the previous crop and row spacing. As compared with CT, the ST-OP system increased the stability of soil aggregates of 0.25–2.0 mm diameter by 12.7%, glomalin content by 0.08 g·kg−1, weight of earthworms five-fold, bacteria and fungi counts, and moisture content in the soil; meanwhile, it decreased soil loss by 2.57–6.36 t·ha−1 year−1, labour input by 114–152 min·ha−1, fuel consumption by 35.9–45.8 l·ha−1, and CO2 emissions by 98.7–125.9 kg·ha−1. Significant favourable changes, as compared with reduced tillage (RT), were also found with respect to the stability index of aggregates of 2.0–10.0 mm diameter, the number and weight of earthworms, as well as bacteria and fungi counts.

Weed Spectrum in Durum Wheat under Different Soil Tillage and Fertilizer Application in Mediterranean Environment

“…Moreover, conservation tillage practices promote favorable changes in soil properties, preserve soil moisture, especially during the precipitation deficit, and increase the content of SOM in the 0-20 cm soil layer, as previously observed by Jaskulska and Jaskulski [6]. Therefore, alternative soil tillage to conventional plowing, such as spading and subsoiling, appear to be more suitable, mostly because they allow a decrease in external inputs, in terms of reduced fuel consumption, and result in similar crop yield compared with conventional tillage practices, even if their suitability is carefully evaluated based on the different climate, soil and crop conditions [7].…”

Conventional and Zero Tillage with Residue Management in Rice–Wheat System in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: Impact on Thermal Sensitivity of Soil Organic Carbon Respiration and Enzyme Activity

“…Moreover, lesser physical disturbance and higher microbial activities increased glomalin content [80,81]. Previous study by Jaskulska et al [82] reported that easily extractable glomalin content was highest under one pass-strip-tilled plots (OP-ST). The authors found that elevated glomalin content in OP-ST was correlated with higher aggregate stability.…”

Conservation Agriculture Effects on Soil Water Holding Capacity and Water-Saving Varied with Management Practices and Agroecological Conditions: A Review

“…As compared with conventional tillage, sowing under strip-tillage resulted in 62.7-74.7% of CR remaining on the soil surface after wheat and 75.7-82.0% after maize. Such amounts are comparable to those retained on the soil surface under ZT and led to a significant decline in CO 2 emission (98.7-125.9 kg ha −1 ) [150]. Therefore, compared with conventional tillage, the SOC storage was significantly higher under strip-tillage [116,[150][151][152][153].…”

“…Such amounts are comparable to those retained on the soil surface under ZT and led to a significant decline in CO 2 emission (98.7-125.9 kg ha −1 ) [150]. Therefore, compared with conventional tillage, the SOC storage was significantly higher under strip-tillage [116,[150][151][152][153].…”