The Benefits of Conservation Tillage

At the Fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture in New Delhi, India the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization stressed the importance of moving away from the conventional intensive farming methods in use today. Shivaji Pandey, Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization stressed the need for change saying:

 

“The world has no alternative to pursuing sustainable crop production intensification to meet the growing food and feed demand, to alleviate poverty and to protect its natural resources, Conservation agriculture is an essential element of that intensification.”

 

Over-plowing, over-fertilizing, over-irrigating, and extensive use of pesticides results in environmental damage. These intensive farming methods are intended to increase production but actually harm the ecosystem and eventually results in lower production.

 

Conservation agriculture on the other-hand focuses on a minimal amount of soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations. Conservation farming supports profitable farming and addresses environmental concerns and sustainability.  This eco-friendly method has been tested and proven to work in a wide variety of agro-ecological zones and farming systems.

 

Conservation tillage is an important step in conservation agriculture as a whole. When using this method the farmers allow the majority of natural plant life (grass, weeds, cover crops etc) to remain on top of the soil instead of tilling them under. The desired crops are integrated directly into the existing plant life or planted in narrow tilled rows.

 

Some of the immediate benefits of using this method for farmers are a reduction in energy, time and labor requirements for field preparation. Tractor fuel is the single largest expense associated with conventional farming, conservation farming reduces fuel usage by as much as 60%. It is also not uncommon to see labor reductions of 50-60%.

 

Long-term savings are realized through reduced equipment and maintenance cost. Conventional farming methods require moldboard plow, chisel plow, disk, rotary tiller, spring or spike tooth harrow, field cultivator, row crop cultivator, planter, tractor, and sprayer. Straight no-till farming requires only a tractor, planter, and an herbicide sprayer.

 

Environmental benefits include improved water retention, reduced soil loss, and the natural regeneration of the soil.

 

The soils natural ability to hold water is increased while loss due to run off and evaporation is decreased. The decreased water loss results in more drought resistant crops, reduced need for irrigation, and increased water conservation.

 

Soil and nutrients are lost due to wind and water erosion in plowed fields. Maintaining as little as 30% ground cover has been shown to reduced soil erosion by as much as 60%. Reduced erosion has also been shown to reduce the amount of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides in surface water.

 

Additional benefits include the return of benifiall insects and larger amounts of organic matter returning to the soil. Insects such as earthworms increase the water flow through the soil by creating micro pores during the course of their natural activities. Decomposed organic mater in the soil gives it the proper consistency to allow water, oxygen and carbon dioxide to easily flow through it as well as adding carbon, which promotes the growth on beneficial bacteria.

 

An excellent example of conservation farming can be found in Zambia; in 1999 the government endorsed this method as a national policy after finding that small-scale farming was in crises. Conventional farming methods had led to decreased production, dependency on food aid, food insecurity, and deforestation. Currently over 120,000 farmers in Zambia have adopted this method successfully; the goal of the government is to convert 250,000 farms by 2011.