Conservation agriculture (CA) can be defined by a statement given by

the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as “a

concept for resource-saving agricultural crop production that strives to

achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production

levels while concurrently conserving the environment” (FAO 2007).

Agriculture according to the New Standard Encyclopedia is “one of the

most important sectors in the economies of most nations” (New

Standard 1992). At the same time conservation is the use of resources in

a manner that safely maintains a resource that can be used by humans.

Conservation has become critical because the global population has

increased over the years and more food needs to be produced every year

(New Standard 1992). Sometimes referred to as "agricultural

environmental management", conservation agriculture may be

sanctioned and funded through conservation programs promulgated

through agricultural legislation, such as the U.S. Farm Bill.

Tillage..

It is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of

various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning.

Tillage is often classified into two types, primary and secondary. There

is no strict boundary between them so much as a loose distinction

between tillage that is deeper and more thorough (primary) and tillage

that is shallower and sometimes more selective of location (secondary).

Primary tillage such as ploughing tends to produce a rough surface

finish, whereas secondary tillage tends to produce a smoother surface

finish, such as that required to make a good seedbed for many crops.

Harrowing and rototilling often combine primary and secondary tillage

into one operation.

"Tillage" can also mean the land that is tilled. The word "cultivation"

has several senses that overlap substantially with those of "tillage". In a

general context, both can refer to agriculture. Within agriculture, both

can refer to any of the kinds of soil agitation described above.

Types of Tillage.
Primary tillage: loosens the soil and mixes in fertilizer and/or plant

material, resulting in soil with a rough texture.

Secondary tillage: produces finer soil and sometimes shapes the rows,

preparing the seed bed. It also provides weed control throughout the

growing season during the maturation of the crop plants, The seed bed

preparation can be done with harrows (of which there are many types

and subtypes), dibbles, hoes, shovels, rotary tillers, subsoilers, ridge- or

bed-forming tillers, rollers, or cultivators.

Conservation tillage

Conservation tillage is any method of soil cultivation that leaves the

previous year's crop residue (such as corn stalks or wheat stubble) on

fields before and after planting the next crop, to reduce soil erosion and

runoff. To provide these conservation benefits, at least 30% of the soil

surface must be covered with residue after planting the next crop. Some

conservation tillage methods fore go traditional tillage entirely and leave

70% residue or more.

Conservation tillage is especially suitable for erosion-prone cropland. In

some agricultural regions it has become more common than traditional

moldboard plowing.

Conservation tillage methods include no-till, strip-till, ridge-

till and mulch-till. Each method requires different types of specialized

or modified equipment and adaptations in management.

No-till and strip-till involve planting crops directly into residue that

either hasn't been tilled at all (no-till) or has been tilled only in narrow

strips with the rest of the field left untilled (strip-till).

Ridge-till involves planting row crops on permanent ridges about 4-6

inches high. The previous crop's residue is cleared off ridge-tops into

adjacent furrows to make way for the new crop being planted on ridges.

Maintaining the ridges is essential and requires modified or specialized

equipment.

Mulch-till is any other reduced tillage system that leaves at least one

third of the soil surface covered with crop residue.

Why practice conservation tillage on your land?

Environmental benefits

 Reduces soil erosion by as much as 60%-90% depending on

the conservation tillage method; pieces of crop residue shield

soil particles from rain and wind until new plants produce a

protective canopy over the soil

 Improves soil and water quality by adding organic matter as

crop residue decomposes; this creates an open soil structure

that lets water in more easily, reducing runoff

 Conserves water by reducing evaporation at the soil surface

 Conserves energy due to fewer tractor trips across the field

 Reduces potential air pollution from dust and diesel emissions

 Crop residue provides food and cover for wildlife

Effects of tillage

Positive

Ploughing:

 Loosens and aerates the top layer of soil, which facilitates planting

the crop

 Helps mix harvest residue, organic matter (humus), and nutrients

evenly into the soil

 Mechanically destroys weeds

 Dries the soil before seeding (in wetter climates tillage aids in

keeping the soil drier)

 When done in autumn, helps exposed soil crumble over winter

through frosting and defrosting, which helps prepare a smooth surface

for spring planting

 Negative

Dries the soil before seeding

 Soil loses a lot of nutrients, like nitrogen and fertilizer, and its ability

to store water

 Decreases the water infiltration rate of soil. (Results in more runoff

and erosion since the soil absorbs water slower than before)

 Tilling the soil results in dislodging the cohesiveness of the soil

particles thereby inducing erosion.

 Chemical runoff

 Reduces organic matter in the soil

 Reduces microbes, earthworms, ants, etc.

 Destroys soil aggregates

 Compaction of the soil, also known as a tillage pan

Types of Tillage

Tillage operations are broadly grouped into two types based on the time
Types of Primary Tillage

Depending upon the purpose or necessity, different types of tillage are

carried out. They are deep ploughing, subsoiling and year-round tillage.

Deep Tillage

Deep ploughing turns out large sized clods, which are baked by the hot

sun when it is done in summer. These clods crumble due to alternate

heating and cooling and due to occasional summer showers. This

process of gradual disintegration of clods improves soil structure. The

rhizomes and tubers of perennial weeds (world's problematic

weeds viz., Cynodon dactylon and Cyperus rotundus) die due to

exposure to hot sun. Summer deep ploughing kills pests due to exposure

of pupae to hot sun.

A deep tillage of 25-30 cm depth is necessary for deep rooted crop like

pigeonpea while moderate deep tillage of 15-20 cm is required for

maize.

Deep tillage also improves soil moisture content.  However the

advantage of deep tillage in dry farming condition depends on rainfall

pattern and crop.

It is advisable to go for deep ploughing only for long duration, deep

rooted crops. Depth of ploughing should be related to the amount of

rainfall that it can wet.

Subsoiling

Hard pans may be present in the soil which restrict root growth of crops.

These may be silt pans, iron or aluminium pans, clay pans or -man-made

pans. Man-made pans are tillage pans induced by repeated tillage at the

same depth. Root growth of crops is confined to top few centimetres of

soil where deep penetration of roots is inhibited by hard pans. 

For example, cotton roots grow to a depth of 2 m in deep alluvial soil

without any pans. When hard pans are present, they grow only up to

hard pan, say 15-20 cm. Similarly, vertical root growth of sugarcane is

restricted due to hard pans and it is not compensated by horizontal

spread. Subsoiling is breaking the hard pan without inversion and with

less disturbance of top soil. A narrow cut is made in the top soil while

share of the subsoiler shatters hard pans. Chisel ploughs are also used to

break hard pans present even at 60-70 cm. The effect of subsoiling does

not last long. To avoid closing of subsoil furrow, vertical mulching is

adopted.
Year-round Tillage

Tillage operations carried out throughout the year are known as year-

round tillage. In dry farming regions, field preparation is initiated with

the help of summer showers. Repeated tillage operations are carried out

until sowing of the crop. Even after harvest of the crop, the field is

repeatedly ploughed or harrowed to avoid weed growth in the off

season.

Secondary Tillage

Lighter or finer operations performed on the soil after primary tillage are

known as secondary tillage. After ploughing, the fields are left with

large clods with some weeds and stubbles partially uprooted. 

Harrowing is done to a shallow depth to crush the clods and to uproot

the remaining weeds and stubbles. Disc harrows, cultivators, blade

harrows etc., are used for this purpose.

Planking is done to crush the hard clods to smoothen the soil surface and

to compact the soil lightly. Thus the field is made ready for sowing after

ploughing by harrowing and planking. Generally sowing operations are

also included in secondary tillage.

Layout of Seedbed and Sowing

After the seedbed preparation, the field is laid out properly for irrigation

and sowing or planting seedlings. These operations are crop specific. For

most of the crops like wheat, soybean, pearl millet, groundnut, castor

etc., fIat levelled seedbed is prepared. After the secondary tillage, these
crops are sown without any land treatments. However, growing crops

during rainy season in deep black soils is a problem due to ill-drained

conditions and as tillage is not possible during the rainy season.

Broadbed and furrows (BBF) are, therefore, formed before the onset of

monsoon and dry sowing is resorted to.

For some crops like maize, vegetables etc., the field has to be laid out

into ridges and furrows. Sugarcane is planted in the furrows or trenches.

Crops like tobacco, tomato, chillies are planted with equal inter and

intra-row spacing so as to facilitate two-way intercultivation. After field

preparation, a marker is run in both the directions. The seedlings are

transplanted at the intercepts.

Layout of Seedbed

AFTER CULTIVATION

The tillage operations that are carried out in the standing crop are called

after tillage. It includes drilling or side dressing of fertilisers, earthing up

and intercultivation. 

Earthing up is an operation carried out with country plough or ridge

plough so as to form ridges at the base of the crop. It is done either to

provide extra support against lodging as in sugarcane or to provide more

soil volume for better growth of tubers as in potato or to facilitate

irrigation as in vegetables. 

Intercultivation is working blade harrows, rotary hoes etc., in between

the crop rows so as to control weeds. Intercultivation may also serve as

moisture conservation measure by closing deep cracks in black soils.