Soil Tillage in Organic Farming Systems
Soil Tillage Systems
There are two main types of tillage systems: conventional tillage and conservation tillage. Conventional tillage incorporates or buries most of the crop residue into the soil. Typically this approach involves multiple passes in fields. The moldboard plow is often used first, followed by other implements. Since this method plows under much of the crop stubble, it leaves the surface relatively bare and without cover protection; usually it leaves less than 15 percent of the crop residues on the soil surface. Tillage that retains most of the crop residue on the surface and involves minimal tillage is known as conservation tillage. Some straw, stubble, leaves, and other residue are visible on the surface, which reduces soil erosion and runoff.
Conventional Tillage
Conventional tillage entails turning under and thoroughly mixing crop residues or cover crops into the top 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) of soil. The goal of conventional tillage is to leave a residue and vegetation-free soil surface, with a uniformly mixed soil horizon to the plow depth.
Primary Tillage
Primary tillage is the first soil tillage after the last harvest, which involve loosening the soil, inverting the soil, and uprooting weeds and crop stubble (See Figure 5.1). Primary tillage techniques are always aggressive and usually carried out at considerable depth, leaving an uneven soil surface. For weed species that are propagated by seeds, primary tillage can contribute to control by burying a portion of the seeds at depths from which they are unable to emerge.
Secondary Tillage
In secondary tillage, the soil is not worked as aggressively or as deeply as in primary tillage. The purpose of secondary tillage is to further pulverize the soil, mix various materials or manure into the soil, level and firm the soil, and control weeds. Seedbed preparation is the final secondary tillage operation except when used in the false or stale seedbed technique. Secondary tillage operations are performed with lighter tools such as the disk harrow, field cultivator, spring-tooth harrow, wire-tooth harrow, spike-tooth harrows, packer rollers, and rolling baskets.
Advantages and Disadvantage of Conventional Tillage
Advantages. One advantage of conventional tillage is that the needed machinery is widely available and the techniques are well known to farmers. Conservation tillage methods may require the purchase of new equipment or attachments and often a learning effort on the part of the farmer.
Disadvantages. The limited amount of residue left on fields from conventional tillage and to a lesser extent conventional tillage leaves soils more vulnerable to wind and water erosion. The lack of surface residue causes sealing at the surface, which generates runoff and erosion and creates hard crusts after drying.
Conservation Tillage
The objective of conservation tillage is to provide a means of profitable crop production while minimizing soil erosion due to wind and/or water. The emphasis is on soil conservation, but conserving soil moisture, energy, labor, and even equipment provides additional benefits. To be considered conservation tillage, the system must provide conditions that resist erosion by wind, rain, and flowing water. Such resistance is achieved either by protecting the soil surface with crop residues or growing plants or by maintaining sufficient surface roughness or soil permeability to increase water filtration and thus reduce soil erosion.
Advantages and Disadvantage of Conservation Tillage
Advantages. The principal benefits of conservation tillage are improved water conservation and the reduction of soil erosion. As the soil improves, the increase in infiltration rate, permeability, and porosity allows more rain to get in the soil before it runs off the surface. Crop residues on the surface create an effective barrier that slows water as it runs off the surface and allow more infiltration. Those same residues shade and insulate the surface from wind and sun, reducing evaporation from the soil, which is the major loss during fallow periods.
Disadvantages. Reduced tillage results more crop residues, which can delay crop planting due to lower soil temperatures thereby potentially reducing crop yields. On poorly drained soils, additional water retained by using conservation tillage, especially no-till, aggravates excess soil water problems, thus causing reduced crop yields.
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