Editorial for the special issue on “opportunities and challenges in no‐till farming”

Abstract

Editorial for the special issue on "opportunities and challenges in no-till farming" This special issue was initiated after the 21st World Congress of Soil Science held in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 by inviting presenters (also open to all) from the session titled "Contribution of zero tillage (no-till, NT) to sustainable use and management of soils (C.3.3.7)". Zero tillage or NT is an important conservation tillage practice in which soil disturbance is kept to a minimum, and the soil is usually covered with 30-100% plant residues. Although it provides several advantages, the uptake of NT is not uniform across the world. Thus, this special issue aimed to publish the state of the art on NT and its influence on biogeochemical and greenhouse gas emissions, soil micro-and macrofauna, soil physical and hydraulic properties, and soil and crop management at different spatial and temporal scales. The 16 accepted articles of this special volume can be broadly divided into two main groups. The first group consists of specific NT impacts on physical, chemical and biological properties of soils, and the second group focuses on combined assessments (i.e., the assessment of NT impacts in combination with grazing, fertilization and cropping).