Conservation tillage is not conservation agriculture

Reicosky, D. C.

doi:10.2489/jswc.70.5.103a

Cited by 147 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Three key principles have been identified, viz. minimal soil disturbance, permanent residue cover and planned crop rotations, which are considered essential to its success (Hobbs et al 2008;Reicosky and Saxton 2007). Weeds being one of the most difficult management issues within this system in several countries (Lafond et al 2009;Giller et al 2009), it was advocated to include integrated weed management as a fourth component that is crucial for successful implementation of CA (Farooq et al 2011a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weed Management in Conservation Agriculture Systems

Singh

Barman

Singh

et al. 2014

Conservation Agriculture

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Conservation agriculture (CA) does have several advantages over conventional tillage (CT)-based agriculture in terms of soil health parameters. However, weeds are the major biotic constraint in CA, posing as a great challenge towards its adoption. The presence of weed seeds on the upper soil surface, due to no tillage operation, leads to higher weed infestation in CA, and so far, herbicides are the only answer to deal with this problem. Overreliance of herbicide use showed its consequence in terms of environmental pollution, weed shift and herbicide resistance development in weeds. Growing herbicide-tolerant crops using nonselective herbicides could be a broad-spectrum weed management technique to tackle weed shift, but the same is being resulted in the evolution of more problematic 'super weed'. These observations indicate the need of integrated weed management technologies involving the time tested cultural practices, viz. competitive crop cultivars, mulches, cover crops, intercrops with allelopathic potential, crop diversification, planting geometry, efficient nutrient, water management, etc., along with limited and site-specific herbicide application. The modern seeding equipment, e.g. 'Happy Seeder' technology, that helps in managing weeds through retention of crop residues as mulches, besides providing efficient seeding and fertilizer placement, shows the promise of becoming an integral part of CA system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weed Management in Conservation Agriculture Systems

Singh

Barman

Singh

et al. 2014

Conservation Agriculture

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“…The definition of CT as stated earlier in the description of the survey veered from other regions in the exclusion of a residue preservation requirement [53] and this reinforces the recent urging of Reicosky [24, 57] for more standardized terminology related to tillage system specifics.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 62%

The Potential for Conservation Tillage Adoption in the San Joaquin Valley, California: A Qualitative Study of Farmer Perspectives and Opportunities for Extension

et al. 2016

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Conservation tillage (CT) systems have a number of potential benefits including lower crop production costs and the ability to reduce soil erosion that have made them common in several regions of the world. Although CT systems have been researched and successfully implemented on some farms in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), overall adoption is low and the reasons for the region’s comparatively low rates of adoption are not known. In 2011, we conducted written surveys and interviews with SJV farmers to identify characteristics of farmers who adopt or do not adopt CT, to determine reasons for non-adoption of CT, and to learn how successful CT adoption takes place in the SJV. We found that a universally acceptable definition of CT needs to be developed in order for effective research, outreach and communication on CT. Our research, which examined CT adoption within the expected progression of the diffusion of innovation model, suggested that larger and less diverse farms were more likely to use CT. Most farmers expressed transition to CT as a continuous learning process. Further, we conclude that gaining meaningful experience with CT practices by researchers in the local context is also a large component of successful adoption.

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“…Declines in soil organic matter have been documented with tillage and summer fallow, and changing to no-till or more intensive crop rotation has been found to increase soil organic matter levels, though not to the original levels (Hartman et al 2011;Mikha et al 2012;Peterson et al 1998). For these reasons, and because of agronomic and environmental advantages including increased stored water, decreased wind and water erosion, increased C storage, and overall increased grain yields, no-till practices have increased (Reicosky and Saxton 2007). Decreasing the fallow period or rotating wheat with other crops has shown to sequester C at greater rates than either the wheat-fallow or continuous wheat (West and Post 2002;Sainju et al 2006).…”

Section: Impacts Of Cropping On Soils Of the Great Plains Of The Usamentioning

confidence: 99%