TY - JOUR
T1 - Shallow non-inversion tillage in organic farming maintains crop yields and increases soil C stocks
T2 - a meta-analysis
AU - Cooper, Julia
AU - Baranski, Marcin
AU - Stewart, Gavin
AU - Nobel-de Lange, Majimcha
AU - Bàrberi, Paolo
AU - Fließbach, Andreas
AU - Peigné, Josephine
AU - Berner, Alfred
AU - Brock, Christopher
AU - Casagrande, Marion
AU - Crowley, Oliver
AU - David, Christophe
AU - De Vliegher, Alex
AU - Döring, Thomas F.
AU - Dupont, Aurélien
AU - Entz, Martin
AU - Grosse, Meike
AU - Haase, Thorsten
AU - Halde, Caroline
AU - Hammerl, Verena
AU - Huiting, Hilfred
AU - Leithold, Günter
AU - Messmer, Monika
AU - Schloter, Michael
AU - Sukkel, Wijnand
AU - van der Heijden, Marcel G.A.
AU - Willekens, Koen
AU - Wittwer, Raphaël
AU - Mäder, Paul
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Reduced tillage is increasingly promoted to improve sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems. Nonetheless, adoption of reduced tillage by organic farmers has been slow due to concerns about nutrient supply, soil structure, and weeds that may limit yields. Here, we compiled the results from both published and unpublished research comparing deep or shallow inversion tillage, with various categories of reduced tillage under organic management. Shallow refers to less than 25 cm. We found that (1) division of reduced tillage practices into different classes with varying degrees of intensity allowed us to assess the trade-offs between reductions in tillage intensity, crop yields, weed incidence, and soil C stocks. (2) Reducing tillage intensity in organic systems reduced crop yields by an average of 7.6 % relative to deep inversion tillage with no significant reduction in yield relative to shallow inversion tillage. (3) Among the different classes of reduced tillage practice, shallow non-inversion tillage resulted in non-significant reductions in yield relative to deep inversion; whereas deep non-inversion tillage resulted in the largest yield reduction, of 11.6 %. (4) Using inversion tillage to only a shallow depth resulted in minimal reductions in yield, of 5.5 %, but significantly higher soil C stocks and better weed control. This finding suggests that this is a good option for organic farmers wanting to improve soil quality while minimizing impacts on yields. (5) Weeds were consistently higher, by about 50 %, when tillage intensity was reduced, although this did not always result in reduced yields.
AB - Reduced tillage is increasingly promoted to improve sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems. Nonetheless, adoption of reduced tillage by organic farmers has been slow due to concerns about nutrient supply, soil structure, and weeds that may limit yields. Here, we compiled the results from both published and unpublished research comparing deep or shallow inversion tillage, with various categories of reduced tillage under organic management. Shallow refers to less than 25 cm. We found that (1) division of reduced tillage practices into different classes with varying degrees of intensity allowed us to assess the trade-offs between reductions in tillage intensity, crop yields, weed incidence, and soil C stocks. (2) Reducing tillage intensity in organic systems reduced crop yields by an average of 7.6 % relative to deep inversion tillage with no significant reduction in yield relative to shallow inversion tillage. (3) Among the different classes of reduced tillage practice, shallow non-inversion tillage resulted in non-significant reductions in yield relative to deep inversion; whereas deep non-inversion tillage resulted in the largest yield reduction, of 11.6 %. (4) Using inversion tillage to only a shallow depth resulted in minimal reductions in yield, of 5.5 %, but significantly higher soil C stocks and better weed control. This finding suggests that this is a good option for organic farmers wanting to improve soil quality while minimizing impacts on yields. (5) Weeds were consistently higher, by about 50 %, when tillage intensity was reduced, although this did not always result in reduced yields.
KW - Conservation agriculture
KW - Conservation tillage
KW - Crop yield
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Minimum tillage
KW - No-till
KW - Organic farming
KW - Reduced tillage
KW - Soil C
KW - Weeds
U2 - 10.1007/s13593-016-0354-1
DO - 10.1007/s13593-016-0354-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960470887
SN - 1774-0746
VL - 36
JO - Agronomy for Sustainable Development
JF - Agronomy for Sustainable Development
IS - 1
M1 - 22
ER -