No-till is a farming practice that involves planting crops without disturbing the soil. This means that the previous crop’s residue is left on the soil surface, which helps to protect the soil from erosion and improve its fertility.
There are five fundamentals of no-till:
- Reduce soil disturbance. The aim of no-till is to reduce soil disturbance as much as possible. This means not using ploughs, discs, or other tillage equipment.
- Leave crop residue on the soil surface. The crop residue helps to protect the soil from erosion and improve its fertility.
- Use cover crops. Cover crops are planted in the off-season to help suppress weeds, improve soil health, and reduce erosion.
- Manage weeds effectively. Weeds can be a challenge in no-till systems, but there are a number of effective weed management strategies that can be used.
- Monitor soil health. It is important to monitor soil health to ensure that it is staying healthy under no-till. You can do this by taking soil samples and having them analysed.
