Soil Conservation

Tillage is used to improve soil conditions for water storage and crop growth, incorporate crop residues, control weeds, and prepare the seedbed. However, tillage and other bare soil management systems using herbicides significantly increase the risk of soil erosion. These problems have led to the development of conservation tillage techniques that typically rely on keeping plant residues on the ground and reducing tillage operations. When conservation tillage is combined with crop rotations or cover crops in woody crops, it is termed conservation agriculture. Conservation tillage usually requires herbicides and, in the case of annual crops, specific direct drills for sowing. The transition from conventional to conservation tillage is dynamic and should be gradual as different problems may arise as the adoption progresses (e.g., compaction). In this case, sporadic tillage or controlled traffic could then be adopted. In woody crops, there are some options for soil conservation, such as introducing no-tillage and cover crops controlled by herbicide or mowing. In tree orchards in the Mediterranean region, conservation agriculture may be implemented with temporary cover crops that protect the soil during the rainy season and are killed in the early spring to avoid competition for water with the trees.