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| NoTill farming |
Firstly, let us consider about the meaning of the word Zero Tillage farming. In simple word, Zero tillage farming, which is also called as "no till farming", which is becoming more and most popular with farmers in the United State and throughout the world because of its many different applications. So, in this article, we will discuss about- What is No- till farming ( zero tillage farming) ? What are the advantages and disadvantages of no- till farming?
What Is No Till Farming?
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| What is no till farming? |
After the second world war, zero tillage farming initiate taking hold in the United State With conventional tillage planting, we dig, stir up the soil, and turn it over to making the ground for seeds. This often takes two or more passes over the field. With zero tillage farming, we don’t till the soil. Instead, we use a no till drill or no till planter to cut a seed furrow which is a V-slot, place the seeds, and close the furrow- whole in one pass across the field. We do whole of this by cutting through the remains of previous crops. So, this is the No- tillage farming.
Advantages Of Zero Tillage Farming
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| Advantages of no till farming |
Zero tillage advantages have many advantages like-
1) less soil erosion from wind and water (because the mulch cover of previous crops covers the soil)
2) less soil compaction
3) more fertile and resilient soils
4) less moisture evaporation
5) lower fuel and labor costs (because there are less passes across the field)
This are the some advantages of No-Till farming.
Disadvantages Of Zero Tillage Farming
There are also disvantages of zero tillage Farming
1) Starting price of zero tillage techniques ( the upfront prices can be maximum, but they should be recouped through higher crop yields and fuel and labor savings)
2) Gullies may created in the fields (low-pressure tires and changing traffic patterns across the field may help prevent these)
3) Maximum uses of herbicides
4) Learning curve for zero tillage farming
This are the some disadvantages of the No- till farming.
At Exapta, we’re constantly researching and enhancing looking for the better zero till techniques, parts, add-ons, and after market products for drills and planter.
Zero Tillage farming in India
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| Zero tillage farming in India |
No till approach initiated from the year of 1960s by farmers in India country. The zero-tillage technique is being followed in the Indo-Gangetic plains where rice-wheat cropping is available. Wheat will be planted after rice harvest except any procedure. Hundreds of farmers are following the same techniques and getting more product yeild and profits by lowering the price of cultivation. In South, the outhern districts such as Guntur and some parts of West Godavari of Andhra Pradesh state follow the ZT process in rice-maize cropping process.
The green revolution covered the way for the rice and wheat cultivation process in the north-western parts of India. But in due course of time, the production of rice and wheat become stagnant because of non suitable soil and water controlling process and late planting of wheat, as in the hot season rice is being grown and in the winter wheat follows the rice. In the year of 1990’s the zero tillage came to less harsh the situation, by planting the wheat by drilling without any land preparation and tillage.
The success of zero tillage depend on the machinery to drill seed in the uncultivated land. In late 1980’s, CIMMYT introduced a prototype for drilling the seed. In India, the first localized seed drill was creating by GB Pant University with a motor to reduce the cost and make it available and affordable. The drills are tractor drawn and used in rice-wheat cropping process.
Zero tillage proves better for direct-seeded rice, maize, soybean, cotton, pigeonpea, mungbean, clusterbean, pearlmillet during kharif season and wheat, barley, chickpea, mustard and lentil during rabi season. Wheat sowing after rice may be advanced by 10-12 days by adopting this process compared to conventionally tilled wheat, and wheat yield decreases due to late sowing may be avoided. ZT provides opportunity to escape wheat crop from terminal heat stress. Zero tillage minimize price of cultivation about Rs 2,500-3,000/ha through lowering in price of land preparation, and lowering diesel consumption by 50-60 litres per hectare. Zero tillage reduces water requirement of crop and the loss of organic carbon by oxidation. Zero tillage decreases Phalaris minor Situation or problems in wheat. The carbon status of soil is significantly enhanced in surface soil (0-5 cm), particularly under crop residue retention with zero tillage.
