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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Soil & Tillage Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/still
Editorial
Conservation tillage and sustainable small farming: Introduction
The papers in this special edition were selected from the
contributions to the session IV on ‘‘Conservation Tillage and
Sustainable Small Farming’’ of the 2004 CIGR International
Conference, held in Beijing, China.
This conference brought together scientists working on the
issue of Conservation Tillage (CT), one of the pillars under the
concept of Conservation Agriculture (CA), which is now gaining
worldwide attention. CA is showing promising results as a
sustainable farming system, combining stable yields with lower
input costs and in many situations, with a considerable reduction
in the production of greenhouse gases, contributing to the global
need for carbon sequestration.
The main technological thrust towards CA originated in South
America (Brazil, Paraguay) where farmers started with zero-tillage
back in the early 1980s. The conditions in these regions were (and
still are) very favorable, leading to a quick and widespread
acceptance of the new technology, not in the last place due to the
dedicated cooperation of pioneer farmers.
The notion of reducing the intensity of tillage, combined with
properly and carefully managing crop residue and (where possible)
apply crop rotation also attracted farmers and scientists from other
parts of the world. More evidence came from scientific experi-
ments and farmers’ experience that CT can also be used in many
situations with less favorable conditions such as climates with
unreliable or irregular rainfall, cold winters. It was also shown that
CT is not restricted to large farms with big tractors and (sowing)
machinery.
The papers in this issue show the potential of CT in a wide range
of geographical, climatological and socio-economical situations.
Evidence from research in China, Australia, Iran and Ethiopia is
presented.
So et al. showed that in Australia no-till improved the structure
of a sensitive silty loam by an increased macroporosity which led
to a higher availability of water to the crop in the semi-arid climate
of NSW. It was shown that changes do not come in a few years, but
results in the form of sustained improvement of crop yields are
rewarding.
Improved soil structure was also reported for vertolsols in
Australia by McHugh et al. They found that soil quality, indicated
by a lower bulk density, higher macroporosity and increased
available water capacity, was improved under no tillage, controlled
traffic permanent bed farming.
Li et al. underline the need for reduction of random traffic in the
field. They demonstrated that in conservation tillage and
controlled traffic farming situations, both the energy of rainfall
and the energy of wheeling play an important role in the (decrease
of) rainfall infiltration. The experimental data confirmed that
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doi:10.1016/j.still.2008.10.009
Please cite this article in press as: Hoogmoed, W.B., Conservation tillage and sustainable small farming: Introduction. Soil Tillage Res.
(2008), doi:10.1016/j.still.2008.10.009
rainfall energy is causing surface soil degradation and wheeling
energy is causing subsoil degradation. This research was carried
out in Australia, but is valid for heavy clays elsewhere in the world
as well.
Controlled Traffic Farming combined with residue cover gave
increased wheat yields on the Loess Plateau of China. Wang et al.
reported that this was mainly due to a better structure (lower bulk
density) and an increased soil water content in this semi-arid
climate. Shallow tillage and no tillage both gave similar results
when applied in a CTF system, but the lower input costs of no-
tillage made it the best option.
The potential of CTF on irrigated farms with wheat and maize in
the North China Plain was shown by Hejin et al., who found that
irrigation water requirements were reduced by more than 15%
when adopting conservation tillage. The effect was strongest with
a high crop residue cover, having a dampening effect on
temperature extremes in the top layer of the soil.
It is a fact that weakly structured soils in dry climates are
difficult to manage. Yet, in Iran, experiments reported by
Mosaddeghi et al. indicated that although reduced (chisel plowing)
or no tillage on sandy loam soils resulted in poorer structure
(expressed as higher bulk density and higher cone index) as
compared to moldboard plowing. However, this effect could
largely be offset by the application of farmyard manure, thus
allowing the use of conservation tillage under less favorable
conditions. Maize root lengths were found to be strongly related to
cone index.
Conservation tillage methods were also found to be feasible for
irrigated wheat production in Iran. Javadi et el. assessed the use of
reduced tillage methods in various parts of the country and
concluded that application of no tillage was leading to lower yields,
partly due to lack of appropriate (no tillage) sowing equipment,
and partly due to an unsatisfactory structure of the surface soil
layer. In most of the regions where tests were done, reduced tillage
by chisel instead of moldboard plowing gave yields which were not
significantly lower. This was particularly true when crop residue
was left in the field.
Small scale farming, typical for many regions in the world, is
generally seen as a less suitable condition for the application of CT
methods. The experiences of a China-Canadian project, as reported
by Lafond et al., show there is potential for CT on small farms in
Inner Mongolia. Many constraints in the introduction of the
method (e.g. dealing with crop residue, weed control, uncontrolled
grazing) could be solved by simple and specific technical solutions.
Risks for failure in adoption of the CT package could be minimized
when sufficient attention is given to training and information for
the smallholder farmers.
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This is also the case in Africa: Temesgen et al. in Ethiopia
showed that simple adaptations to the traditional animal-drawn
ard plow (Maresha) led to a considerable reduction of the draft
power needed and allowed breaking up of disturbing layers.
Reduced tillage increased yields of the staple foodgrain tef. Using
the traditional plow as a basis, chances for acceptance by the
farmers were increased.
Conclusions from the information given in the papers of this
special edition are clearly that CT does not necessarily have to be
restricted to regions with favorable conditions, although the
system should not easily be considered as a universal solution.
When judiciously applied, with careful adaptation to local
conditions, CT is able to provide a sustainable crop production
system in many parts of the world.
W.B. Hoogmoed
Farm Technology Group, Wageningen University,
The Netherlands
E-mail address: willem.hoogmoed@wur.nl

Please cite this article in press as: Hoogmoed, W.B., Conservation tillage and sustainable small farming: Introduction. Soil Tillage Res.
(2008), doi:10.1016/j.still.2008.10.009