Occasional reduced tillage in organic farming can promote earthworm performance and resource efficiency

The biodiversity effect of reduced tillage on soil microbiota

“…Although the negative effect of tillage on soil mesofauna can be explained by the destructive impact of mechanical soil perturbation on soil structure and soil fauna (de Graaff et al 2019), the results of comparative studies are ambiguous. These include immediate (four weeks) positive effects of reduced tillage on earthworm biomass levelling out in spring (Moos et al 2016), increasing abundance and species richness of collembola (Coulibaly et al 2017), but also negative effects of reduced tillage on the diversity of soil fungi and bacteria (Degrune et al 2016). Recent manipulative experiments indicate that the soil biota does not only depend on ecological properties and disturbance regimes, but also on the historical context, i.e.…”

Organic Agriculture 3.0 is innovation with research

“…Mixed farming systems, where nutrients are cycled within the system via animal manure, are well known for good quality of soil organic matter, active soil biology and favorable soil structure (Mäder et al 2002). Lal (2009) and Bindraban et al (2012) highlight that several techniques commonly used in organic agriculture contribute to restoring degraded soils, such as no-till farming (Moos et al 2016), using light machinery, mulching, cover cropping, integrated nutrient management, residue management, crop rotation, planting crop mixtures, manure application and use of N-fixing plants. These techniques can be considered a starting point for developing sustainable systems to restore degraded soils (Bindraban et al 2012).…”

“…Recent research projects (e.g. www.tilman-org.net, http://coreorganicplus.org/research-projects/soilveg/) have shown that appropriate crop rotation and cover cropping designs, reduced tillage as well as occasionally reduced tillage or occasional direct seeding have the potential to preserve yield levels and prevent build up of aggressive weed communities Cooper et al 2014;Moos et al 2016). This pathway is likely to result in organic agriculture systems becoming more resilient and environmentally friendly.…”

“…In Mediterranean regions, conservation tillage systems with cover crops could have similar potential in the control of weeds and provision of additional ecosystem services such as soil temperature control and the conservation of water and energy. Such systems are well adapted to organic vegetable growing, which may contribute to both food security and farmer revenue (Canali et al 2015;Moos et al 2016).…”