Effect of No Tillage and Conventional Tillage on Wheat Grain Yield Variability: A Review

Conservation Agriculture(CA)covers more than 205 million hectares in the world.This made it possible to face and mitigate the challenges of climate change,reducing soil erosion and providing multiple ecosystem services.The first elementary factor influenced is the yield evaluation.It has a direct effect on farmers’choices for sustainable production.The present article records a review focused on wheat yield average positive change compared between conventional tillage(CT)and no tillage(NT)systems.The international database collected showed that NT is adaptable everywhere.The results of wheat yield differentiation showed the influence of crop rotation depending on stations located in different climatic zones.In more than 40 years of research,specialists have succeeded in demonstrating the importance of crop productivity like wheat.The whole integrates also experimentations where the initiation starts more than ten years.

Micromorphological Analysis of Soil Structure under No Tillage Management in the Black Soil Zone of Northeast China

The structure of the ＂black soil＂ in Northeast China has been greatly deteriorated by long-term intensive conventional mouldboard plow tillage （CT） practices. In this study, micro- morphological observation and image analysis of soil thin sections were conducted to evaluate the impacts of 21 years （1986-2007） of no tillage （NT） on soil structure as compared to CT in an experiment near Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province. Soil organic matter （SOM）, wet aggregate stability and saturated hydraulic conductivity （Ks） were also analyzed. Total SOM was not significantly affected by tillage systems, but fresher SOM was observed in the surface layer under NT. The aggregates under NT showed different hierarchies in the form of crumbs, and the mean weight diameter （MWD） of NT was significant higher than that of CT in the surface layer. Platy and blocky aggregates were frequently observed in the lower layers under CT practice. The compound pore structure with intertwined intra- and inter- aggregates pores under NT was well developed in a layer from 0-5 cm to 20-25 era. While under CT system, more inter-aggregate pores and fewer intra- aggregate pores were observed, and planes and channels were frequently found in the 20-25 cm layer, where maeroporosity decreased significantly and a plow pan was evident. The Ks values of NT weresignificantly lower at o-5 cm but significantly higher at 20-95 cm compared with CT, which showed the same trend with macroporosity. These results confirmed that long-term CT practice fragmented the tillage layer soil and compacted the lower layer soil and formed a plow pan. While long-term NT practice in the black soil region favored soil aggregation and a stable porous soil structure was formed, which are important to the water infiltration and prevent soil erosion.

Short-Term Impacts of No Tillage on Aggregate-Associated C in Black Soil of Northeast China

In order to get a good indicator to evaluate the impacts of no tillage （NT） on soil structure and soil quality, we studied the dynamics of total soil organic carbon （SOC） and aggregate-associated SOC, and their relationships in the plow layer （30 cm） in black soil of Northeast China under NT practice. The tillage experiment was established in Dehui County, Jilin Province, China, in 2001. The total SOC and aggregate-associated SOC under 5-yr tillage treatments were measured. NT practices did not lead to the increase of average SOC content at 0-30 cm depth, but it did significantly increase SOC at the top soil （0-5 cm）. In NT plots, the change of SOC in 〉 1 000 μm aggregate was the same with that of total SOC, but the effect of NT on SOC in 〉 1 000 lain aggregate was greater than the effect on total SOC, suggesting that 〉 1 000 μm aggregate had more sensitive response to the impact of tillage practices. Also, significant positive correlation occurred between total SOC and SOC in 〉 1 000 μm aggregate in black soil. Consequently, in the short term soil macroaggregate 〉 1 000 μm could be used as an indicator to evaluate the impacts of tillage practices on soil structure in black soil of Northeast China.

No tillage increases soil microarthropod(Acari and Collembola)abundance at the global scale

Conservation tillage increases soil microarthropod abundance at the global scale.The effect of conservative tillage on microarthropods is soil texture-dependent.This positive effect of conservation tillage is particularly evident in nutrient-poor soil areas.In temperate humid regions,however,this positive effect of conservation tillage is limited.The effect of conservative tillage on microarthropods varies with fauna group and climate regions.

Effects of Tillage Management Systems on Residue Cover and Decomposition

The effects of tillage methods on percent surface residue cover remaining and decomposition rates of crop residues were evaluated in this study. The line transect method was used to measure residue cover percentage on continuous corn ( Zea mays L.) plots under no tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT), chisel plow (CH), and disk tillage (DT). Samples of rye ( Secale cereale L.) and hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth) were used for residue decomposition study. Results showed that the percentage of residue cover remaining was significantly higher for NT than for CH and DT and that for CT was the lowest (<10%). For the same tillage system, the percent residue cover remaining was significantly higher in the higher fertilizer N rate treatments relative to the lower fertilizer N treatments. Weight losses of rye and vetch residues followed a similar pattern under CT and DT, and they were significantly faster in CT and DT than in NT system. Also, the amounts of residue N remaining during the first 16 weeks were always higher under NT than under CT and DT.

Performance of Moroccan Wheat Cultivars under Tillage Systems and Water Regimes

The superiority of wheat grain yield under no-till has been reported by many authors, and others reported significant interaction between wheat cultivar and tillage system for grain yield and other related traits. Hence, new breeding initiatives are needed to introgress favorable traits into wheat and other crops in areas where no-tillage is being adopted. The identification of such traits is solely possible via the assessment ofgermplasm under no-tillage. Moreover, Moroccan wheat breeding programs are carried out solely under conventional tillage system whilst the conservation one is becoming widely adopted. So, the ultimate objective of this research is to find out if the used wheat commercial cultivars behave differentially under no tillage system and to propose the use of appropriate cultivars for the appropriate tillage system and to implement a breeding program specifically for no tillage system. The experiment has been carried out during 2006-2007 at Douyet （F6s）. Cultivars have been sown according to a strip-split plot design. At maturity, yield, yield components and related traits have been recorded. The results indicated that both water regime （WR） and variety （Vat） had a highly significant effect on all measured traits. In contrast, tillage system （TS） had similar effect on yield, grains m-2, biomass, and plant height, but had no effect on harvest index, 1000-kernel weight and heading date. The TSxVar interaction has been significant to highly so on all traits except on heading date. The magnitude of the interaction for grain yield was more important under irrigated treatment than under rainfed one. On the whole, No Tillage yielded more grains than conventional one. Moreover, Achtar and Areal （bread wheat cultivars） and Marjana and Marzak （durum wheat cultivars） yielded more under No-Till. The significant interaction between TS and Var paves the way for the implementation of a breeding program under no till system.

Distribution,Properties,Land Use and Management of Mollisols in South America

Mollisols are common in South America. They cover about 8.87 × 107ha, 1.3 × 107ha and 4.3 × 106ha in Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil respectively, which is 11.5% of the world total. Most of South American Mollisols were developed on Pleistocene and Holocene sediments and lie within the limits of the temperate zone, though the extreme north is bordering subtropical and the extreme south is within a cold-temperate zone. All suborders of Mollisols occur in Argentina, the most extensive being Udolls followed by Ustolls, whereas only Udolls, Aquolls and Albolls occur in Uruguay. Vertisols in Uruguay have many properties similar to Mollisols, and the occurrence of Vertisols is strongly associated with Mollisols. The Pampean Mollisols are a significant component of the global breadbasket of modem times. The main Argentine crops are wheat, corn, sorghum, barmy, soybeans and sunflower, while Mollisols in Uruguay remain mostly dedicated to cattle and sheep grazing though crop production has been increasing very rapidly in the last decade. Throughout South America, research has shown that Mollisols are experiencing losses of soil organic matter and nutrients, and degradation of physical properties after long cropping periods, resulting in soil scientists calling for increased conservation practices to reduce future losses and a deterioration of soil quality, and thus a more sustainable agriculture in the region.

Growing-season soil microbial respiration response to long-term no tillage and spring ridge tillage

No tillage(NT)and spring ridge tillage(SRT)are two common applications of conservation tillage.Although conservation tillage is known to exert major control over soil microbial respiration(SMR),the growing-season SMR response to these two applications remains elusive.In order to better understand the influence of conservation tillage practices,this experiment was conducted in an experimental field using NT and SRT for 17 years.In situ measurements of SMR,soil temperature and soil water content(SWC)were performed.Soil samples were collected to analyze soil porosity,soil microbial biomass(SMB)and soil enzymatic activities.Results show that the two conservation tillage systems had a significant difference(p<0.05)in terms of SMR;the SMR of NT was 14.7 mg∙C/m^(2)∙h higher than that of SRT.In terms of soil temperature and soil enzymatic activities,the two treatments were not significantly different(p>0.05).Despite SRT increasing the proportion of micro-porosities and meso-porosities,the soil macro-porosities for NT were 7.37%higher than that of SRT,which resulted in higher bacteria and fungi in NT.Owing to SRT damaged the hypha,which had disadvantage in soil microbe protection.Inversely,less soil disturbance was a unique advantage in NT,which was in favor of improving soil macro-pores and SWC.Redundancy analyses(RDA)showed SMR was positively correlated with soil macro-pores,SMB and SWC.Furthermore,the Pearson correlation test indicated that SMB and soil enzymatic activities did not have a significant correlation(p>0.05).This study results suggest that SRT is more conducive to carbon sequestration compared with NT in cropland.

Conservation Agriculture in Europe

The adoption of Conservation Agriculture(CA)in Europe varies according to the ecological regions of the continent.Although Europe is behind other countries in adoption of CA,the indicators for future progress are encouraging.The area where CA is applied is growing rapidly because of increasing environmental awareness,including soil protection,and because of the need to reduce production costs.The European Conservation Agriculture Federation(ECAF)plays an important role in the adoption and dissemination of CA practices,and in discussions involving CA and the EU Common Agricultural Policy(CAP)reform.Yield performance and stability,operating costs,environmental policies and programs of the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP),and climate change will likely be the major driving forces defining the direction and for the extension of CA in Europe.The role of agriculture in climate change mitigation in the EU is discussed in the paper.