Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - June 2024

This study summarizes the results of physical and mechanical soil parameters obtained over the initial 10 years of different conservation management treatments (plowing versus reduced tillage with and without compost application) in an organic field trial conducted in central Germany that looked at the effects of soil conservation measures on soil's physical quality. Differences were mainly found in the topsoil with total porosity, and air capacity lower and bulk density higher in reduced tillage treatments compared to plowed ones. However, the mechanical stability was higher in reduced tillage systems with compost additions. They conclude that the reduced-tillage treatments did not exceed the critical physical values of the soil, nor affect the functionality of the soil (saturated hydraulic conductivity), thereby demonstrating its feasibility as a sustainable technique for organic farming. They also suggested that future studies should include measures to ameliorate compaction zones in reduced-tillage treatments by applying sub-soiling especially under dry soil conditions when reduced or no-tillage is first adopted. .