A tractor with the ‘Väderstad Rapid Cultivation Drill’ in action: a light surface tillage followed by direct seeding. (Soil and Water Protection, SOW)
Conservation agriculture (CA), involving superficial non-inversion tillage, began to be widely taken up in England following advances in seed drill technology, non-selective herbicides and straw-chopping combine harvesters in the late 1980s.
This case focuses on the Game Conservancy Trust’s Allerton Project at Loddington, which in 2000 pooled resources with its neighbour to purchase a single set of cultivation equipment, and replaced conventional mouldboard ploughing (with its multiple cultivations) by state-of-the-art CA. Contract services offered by the joint venture means that 1,000 ha are now covered each year. The main winter crops are wheat, oats, and oilseed rape. Beans are sown in the spring. The heavy clay loam is vulnerable to excessive surface moisture, restricting crop establishment
‘windows’.
Immediately after harvest the soil is loosened and straw incorporated, and then soil is consolidated (using a ‘cultivation train’ combining two machines: the ‘Simba Solo’ and the ‘Cultipress’). This encourages up to 60% of the weeds to emerge in a ‘stale seedbed’. Spraying then removes all the weeds and volunteer plants of previous crops. This is followed by a light surface tillage, using the ‘Väderstad Rapid Cultivator Drill’, before sowing into the seedbed created. Equipment comprises implements with tines and/or discs which create a tilth to around 10 cm
without inverting the soil. Cambridge rollers are then used to consolidate the sown land. After crop maturity, combine harvesting takes place - with simultaneous chopping of straw/crop residues. A trash rake is used to disperse the chopped straw. This way excessive trash is incorporated rapidly into the soil. Compaction may arise in the transition phase, because of the lack of soil loosening through ploughing: minimising traffic, keeping to tramlines and headlands can all help. In time, increases in soil organic matter content and earthworm biomass make compaction less of a problem. The problem of slugs can be reduced by improving seed-to-soil contact, and by drilling deeper.
Purpose of the Technology: The main purpose of conservation agriculture is cost effective, timely and rapid crop establishment, under good soil conditions. High-speed operations are the key. Compared with conventional ploughing, labour is saved and fuel costs lowered. However, an additional application of herbicides represents an extra expenditure. Yields per hectare haven’t risen but the key difference is that about four times as many hectares can be prepared in time for autumn planting under conservation tillage, thus improving overall production. Incorporation of crop residues improves soil structure and leads to a more friable, less erodible topsoil.
Localização: Leicestershire, Reino Unido
Nº de sites de tecnologia analisados:
Difusão da tecnologia:
Em uma área permanentemente protegida?:
Data da implementação:
Tipo de introdução
| Especifique a entrada | Unidade | Quantidade | Custos por unidade (n.a.) | Custos totais por entrada (n.a.) | % dos custos arcados pelos usuários da terra |
| Equipamento | |||||
| Machine use | ha | 1,0 | 180,0 | 180,0 | 100,0 |
| Custos totais para a manutenção da tecnologia | 180.0 | ||||
| Custos totais de manutenção da Tecnologia em USD | 180.0 | ||||
Reduced yields in the early years (due to initial compaction)
Above and below ground
