seed germination, is a new alternative to no-till in areas where poorly drained soils are dominant. Where soil moisture conditions are suitable, strip-tillage creates narrow-width tilled strips, traditionally in the fall, to increase early spring soil evaporation and soil temperature in the top 2 inches. This is particularly effective in poorly drained wet soils, where slightly raised soil stri...

The cultivation of agricultural soils has until recently predominantly been achieved by inverting the soil using tools such as the plough. Soil tillage is one of the basic and important components of agricultural production technology. Various forms of tillage are practised throughout the world, ranging from the use of simple stick or jab to the sophisticated para-plough. The practices develope...

Tillage has been and will always be integral to crop production. Tillage can result in the degradation of soil, water, and air quality. Of all farm management practices, tillage may have the greatest impact on the environment. A wide variety of tillage equipment, practices and systems are available to farmers, providing opportunities to enhance environmental performance. These opportunities hav...

Arizona is the first state in the nation to regulate agricultural practices in order to reduce dust emissions near urbanizing areas. This BMP program requires dust mitigation actions in some combination of tillage and harvest, crop land, and non-crop land activities. Contingent valuation methods were used to estimate the willingness-to-adopt reduced tillage equipment. At $10-26 per acre in long...

Reduced-tillage, cover crop intensive production systems have several important potential benefits for sweet corn growers including: fuel and labor savings; reduced equipment wear and tear; more timely planting under wet conditions; and improvements in soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Since sweet corn is an important rotational crop for many high value vegetables, improvements...

Interest in reduced tillage methods is expanding in response to concerns for soil quality in vegetable systems. Reduced tillage (RT) refers to systems that minimize soil disturbance and maintain at least 30% residue cover. These systems can reduce soil and wind erosion, overcome compaction challenges typical of vegetable soils, conserve organic matter and improve overall soil health. In additio...

Conservation tillage is an effective sustainable production system for vegetables. No-till planters and transplanters and strip-till cultivation equipment are presently available for most vegetables. Lack of weed management tools (herbicides, cultivators, etc.) continues to be the cultural practice that limits adaptability of some vegetables to conservation tillage systems. Nitrogen management ...