Abstract
Tillage disturbs the soil and causes soil erosion. Various conservation tillage mechanisms are undertaken to reduce erosion, and one such is no-till. No-till (NT) is the method by which crops are raised every year without disturbing the soil. The advent of machinery that helps drilling in either through crop residues or cover crop mulch has helped reduce soil erosion and increased the spread of NT farming. The impact of NT on increasing crop yields has been researched upon with varying results. The adoption incentive is always increased yield for the producer, and cover cropping is one major recommendation for yield improvements through NT. Cover crops can be grown as sole crop or a mixture to enable exploiting different layers of the soil, help fixing atmospheric nitrogen, improve soil nutrient status, improve soil porosity, and, above all, produce maximum biomass to help build the soil and prevent erosion. Cover crops as a feature in organic or conventional rotations must be thought as to why and where they fit into the rotation. Planting and termination dates have to be coordinated between the cover crop and chosen cash crop so that they do no overlap but have a wide enough growth window. It is important for the cover crop to produce maximum biomass, but the cash crop must also be planted at the right time for the critical yield to be maintained or improved. Research that is innovative and balances conservation of soil with increased crop yields should be the best serving option that needs to be developed, and it is fairly obvious to turn to cover cropping.
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Durairaj, E.S., Stute, J.K., Sandler, L.N. (2021). No-till Farming: Agronomic Intervention through Cover Cropping for Enhancing Crop Productivity. In: Jayaraman, S., Dalal, R.C., Patra, A.K., Chaudhari, S.K. (eds) Conservation Agriculture: A Sustainable Approach for Soil Health and Food Security . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0827-8_3
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