Open AccessEffects of no-ploughing methods on soil physical properties: Consequences on soil erosion in a temperate climate
Author(s) -
Jean Roger-Estrade,
Jérôme Labreuche,
Guy Richard
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
agricultures/cahiers agricultures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.381
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1777-5949
pISSN - 1166-7699
DOI - 10.1684/agr.2011.0490
Subject(s) - plough , environmental science , tillage , erosion , soil structure , soil science , no till farming , soil retrogression and degradation , porosity , mulch till , agronomy , soil fertility , soil water , geology , geotechnical engineering , biology , paleontology
In this paper, we present a review of the literature on the effects of no-ploughing on soil structure, porosity and stability. In the second part, we discuss the consequences on soil erosion in a temperate environment. The effect of reduced tillage on soil physical properties has firstly to be evaluated on soil structure. If carbon accumulation on the soil surface improves aggregate stability, no-ploughing also greatly affects soil porosity. Not only does it decrease during the period following adoption of no-ploughing, but it also changes in nature and connectivity due to weathering, roots and biological activity. However, the efficiency of these factors is site-dependent and varies with the duration of no-ploughing and the crop sequence. Under tropical climates, reduced tillage systems have been proposed to prevent soil erosion while in temperate areas the present increase of no-till is motivated firstly by the decrease of production and mechanization costs. However, the efficiency of the numerous no-plough tillage systems on erosion control is not systematic. The soil must be sufficiently covered by crop residues and the infiltration rate has to remain high enough. This note critically assesses the available results on these two aspects of the effect of reduced tillage on soil physics