Pro's and con's of reduced tillage in maize with respect
to weedsRommie van der Weide
Hilfred Huiting, Piet Bleeker en Marleen Riemens
Why reduced tillage? Which reduced tillage
systems? Research and results First conclusions Future
Content
Why reduced tillage?
Economic advantages: Fuel savings (15 till 80%) Less labour (till 60%) Less machinery costs (but first new
investments) Higher supporting power of the soil On term savings in nutrients
Less emission of CO2, N2O, CH4
Extra carbon in the soil up to 0.2 t.ha-1.y-1 C Better drought tolerance (1% o.s. = 150 m3/ha) Better water infiltration and less erosion (>90% by no
till and >60% by non inversion tillage) Better surfacewater quality through less superficial
emission of nutrients and pesticides
Less emission of CO2, N2O, CH4
Extra carbon in the soil up to 0.2 t.ha-1.y-1 C Better drought tolerance (1% o.s. = 150 m3/ha) Better water infiltration and less erosion (>90% by no
till and >60% by non inversion tillage) Better surfacewater quality through less superficial
emission of nutrients and pesticides
Environmental advantages:
Creating More CompetetiveAlternatives and Tecnologies: Sustainable Farming In Brasil
Creating More CompetetiveAlternatives and Tecnologies: Sustainable Farming In BrasilEfficiency: FuelPloughing = 1 lt for 50 kg kernelsNo Till = 1 lt for 96 to 123 kg kernelsNutrition: NPKPloughing = 1 kg for 15 kg kernelsNo Till = 1 kg for 26 kg kernels
Efficiency: FuelPloughing = 1 lt for 50 kg kernelsNo Till = 1 lt for 96 to 123 kg kernelsNutrition: NPKPloughing = 1 kg for 15 kg kernelsNo Till = 1 kg for 26 kg kernels
Loss of organic matter in convencional,but increase with no till Loss of organic matter in convencional,but increase with no till
1967 1976 19970.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%
3.0% 1.8%
4.4%
3.5%2.2%
6.5%
SOM (%) Fazenda FRANK'ANNA
solo arenoso
Which reduced tillage systems?
Ploughing and culture measures Ploughing and seedbed preparation are important
measures with respect to weed control Economic and environmental benefits result in
increased reduced tillage (95 M ha) (New) technical developments thereby serving the
weed control (e.g. ridge till Cloutier, 2007)
In the Netherlands non inversion tillage in some areas If needed loosening the soil
in autumn cultivation in various ways,
often in combination with a powered tool (harrow or cultivator)
Ridge tillage in Canada/USA (permanent ridges)
Ridge tillage
Before and after sowing on permanent ridges and sowing
machine
Physical weed control in case of crop residues
Strip tillage machinery (Dutch Pol/Kuipers)
No till and direct seeding:
Loosening the soil by:• increased soil fauna• rooting (green manure) crops
Soil coverage for:• erosion prevention• weed control• possibilities for precision spraying
Loosening the soil by:• increased soil fauna• rooting (green manure) crops
Soil coverage for:• erosion prevention• weed control• possibilities for precision spraying
Research and results
Objectives
to investigate the usability of ridge till /no till systems as recently developed in the US and Canada for Dutch conditions;
to investigate the interaction of tillage system, weed control method and green manure crops choice;
to investigate the consequences for weed control, crop protection and economical and environmental aspects.
In 2009 start multiple years experiment maïze in Lelystad (EL&I and SPF)Before several years grassland at marine loam soil Start with main treatments (in 3 replicates): Ploughing Ploughing with a caterpillar Non inversion tillage Ridgetill No till Experimental strips with f.e. strip tillage
Sub treatments: 4 different green manure crops and no/weedy in
fallow period Two different weed control methods
Experiment total 180 fields on 2 ha.
Mechanical weed control
Results 2009Object Weed
control
Rel. fresh yield (57.7 t/ha)
Rel. dry yield (18.9 t/ha)
Rel. VEM yield(18.5 t/ha)
% (weed) cover
Ploughing Chem. 100 100 100 6Mech. 104 100 99 20
N.I. tillage Chem. 105 107 106 3Mech. 104 107 105 29
Ridge tillage Chem. 102 106 105 20Mech. 100 103 102 37
No till Chem. 90 88 88 2Mech. 91 90 90 35
Strip till Chem. 100 106 107 Strip till no RR
Mech. 86 87 89 40
Strip till no RR
Mow. 39 43 42 75
N.I. till no RR Mech. 98 99 98 22
Results 2010Object Weed
control
Rel. fresh yield (53.0 t/ha)
Rel. dry yield (17.5 t/ha)
Rel. VEM yield(16.2 t/ha)
% (weed) cover
Ploughing Chem. 100 100 100 0Mech. 96 101 102 2
N.I. tillage Chem. 98 105 106 2Mech. 93 96 95 6
Ridge tillage Chem. 88 95 97 4Mech. 84 95 97 7
No till Chem. 83 92 91 4Mech. 79 89 89 6
Strip till Chem. 87 93 94 9Strip till no RR
Mech. 65 73 78 72
Strip till no RR
Mow. 55 60 66 83
N.I. til no RR Mech. 92 99 101 18
Weed cover % with different green manure crops:Object Treatment Rye
Oilseed rape
No/weedy
grass/clover Hairy vetch
plough chem. 0.3 0.3 0.3 2.3 1.3
mech. 0.3 0.3 2 1.3 2.3
NI tillage chem. 1.7 2 2.3 3.7 7.3
mech. 1.7 2 7 4.6 5
Ridgetill chem. 5.6 2.9 2.6 10.7 5
mech. 3.3 7.6 6 8.3 5.7
No till chem. 2.7 3.7 5.7 6.3 7.4
mech. 2.3 3.3 3.7 5 6
First conclusions
First conclusions Several soil cultivation systems gave comparable
yields in case the green manure was killed with Roundup. No till resulted in yield reduction during the first years.
For organic farming non inversion tillage instead of ploughing is possible. Mechanical equipment should be adapted to green manure residues on the soil surface (e.g. moving harrows). No till and strip till are difficult to manage organic and avoid yield losses.
More weeds left in case of non inversion tillage (2-3 times) instead of ploughing in the second year.
Also green manure crop choice influences weed pressure (less after rye and oilseed rape).
Reduced tillage systems will gain importance in Europe because of economic en environmental contraints.
The different opportunities need to be optimized and compared on a longer time scale, not only concerning yields, weeds and economics but also on the environmental effects.
Precision techniques (for sowing, nutrition and crop protection) can be used for further improvement.
Future:
Thank you for your attention, discussion and (further) support!
© Wageningen UR
Relative VEM with different green manure crops:Object Treatment Rye
Oilseed rape
No/weedy
Grass/clover Hairy vetch
plough chem. 100 109 107 100 116
mech. 107 108 110 112 106
NI tillage chem. 111 114 115 111 116
mech. 97 102 109 96 104
Ridgetill chem. 97 104 110 99 108
mech. 102 104 97 104 108
No till chem. 90 98 103 103 93
mech. 99 89 95 96 93
First calculations energy usage in MJ/ha
Object
Ploughing 630
Non inversion 606
No till 215
CCIn
filt
rati
on
Infilt
rati
on 8080
6060
4040
2020
00
100100
No Till w/ residue
No Till w/ residue
No Till w/o residue
No Till w/o residue
ConventionalTillage
ConventionalTillage
* *
Series1