More is now known about agriculture's impact on global warming, particularly about Methane from livestock and the negative impact of tillage or cultivation on soil carbon.
There is no doubt about it on a global scale that reduced cultivation can be a factor in reducing carbon emissions from agriculture and increasing
carbon sequestration in soil. Many farmers are already using techniques that reduce the intensity of farming and systems that regenerate the soil. For an organic farmer, it has been shown that a systems approach with different crop rotations, livestock and the incorporation of fertility-enhancing meadows increases soil organic matter despite ploughing.
Ploughing is often highlighted as one of the main causes of soil organic matter loss, especially when it comes to aggressive crops. All crops come with some degree of organic matter loss and while we all try to select the best cultivators for the type of soil and conditions, there is no one size fits all or perfect machine. Potentially greater problems are caused by deep and foraging plants in crop systems, particularly
with crop rotations based on crops sown continuously through winter without attempting to increase or preserve organic matter.
One way to mitigate the effects of crops is to add more organic matter. In mixed farming systems, this often comes from livestock manure and grass rotation meadows.
However, compost, green manure and chopped straw instead of bales can help maintain healthy soil.
The benefits of green manure are not only in adding organic matter to the soil but also in maintaining a healthy biological state. ground activity. This is achieved by transporting carbohydrates from photosynthesis into the soil to be used by bacteria and fungi in exchange for nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.
The methods without investment, such as Crops such as minimal tillage are also being explored by organic farmers, but there are a variety of machines and techniques at work. Many non-plough-based systems are referred to as min-tillage, but min-tillage is generally defined as shallow, less than 100mm deep.
In organic systems, if soil type permits, shallow minimum tillage can be used as a method of preparing seedbeds, especially those with low weed populations. Shallow minimum tillage is a good way to minimize soil organic matter loss, but may not be as effective for weed control.
Non-tillage methods do not involve cultivation. In combination with the use of cover crops, no-till is referred to as conservation agriculture.
The use of cover crops or green manure is a common practice in conservation farming systems and many farmers are now looking to incorporate livestock into their cropping systems.
For some organic farmers, adding green manure has been part of the fertility of their systems, thereby recycling nutrients and soil improvements. Health as part of a non-stock biosystem. Many CA farmers base their strategy on herbicide-controlled cover crops while maintaining a relatively high-input system of only moving the soil directly around the seed during planting. For organic farmers
there are obvious difficulties with this type of approach, particularly when using herbicides and fertilizers, but there are benefits to adopting some of these alternative strategies.