min till traditonally increased grass
weeds and reduces BLW
90% of grass weeds
germinate in top 2-3 cm of
soil so increased with MT
small BLW germination from seed bank
at any one time, min till only encourages
top seeds to germinate deep ones
never initiated so reduce
seed bank
reduces with min
till as seed are
not being
continously
burried
vol. rape, forget me knot and field
pansy reduce with MT, AMG and
chickweed increase.
ploughing may increase
dormancy of a seed as
dormancy develops in
response to rapid
burying of seed after
harvest
for sterile brome
ploughing better as its
seed only survives one
year
also couch grass as discs
chop rhizomes rather than
bury encouraging spreading
control
rotation breaks up chemistry
stale seed bed technique most
effective for MT
meadow grasses,
bromes, black grass,
italian ryegrass and
volunteers most
effected
Herbicide efficacy
best with fine, firm, clod free seed beds, low OM.
Propyzamide (KERB) will exhibit poor control on black
grass germinating from depth or that which is below
activity layer, shallow min till or no till provides good
results, best with no till. autocast very good suggesting
trash not a problem
Cousins developed super low disturbance min till deep till legs
to help efficacy
ploughing mixes up seed
bank, widening gene pool of
germinating seed, min till
keeps sam species in top
soil increasing resistance
within germinating weeds if
used annually
Pests
Beneficials increase
predatory ground
beetles and parasitic
wasps increase with
MT DEFRA
carabid beetles
increase, possible
reductions in slug
numbers
Slugs
ploughing kills slugs
and eggs
straw rake
reduces no.s
and eggs
leave fine, firm, well
consolidated seed bed,
rolling in moist cool
condisitons also kills
slugs on surface
Increase in volunteers, lossed
seed on surface provide alternative
food source and increase
predatory beetle numbers
increase in slug pellet use
nema slug offers effective
alternate control over slugs
with beneficial nematodes but
commercail ability of the
product (gardens mainly) is
limiting
Wire worm
years of min till
increasing wire
worm in arable
rotations
Aphids
MT had less
BYDV and
aphid no.s
compared to
CT
MT plots with more
incorporated straw
had even less BYDV
and aphid no.s as
less visual cues for
aphids as plants
masked with straw
and residues
increase in OM over
time though makes top
soil darker and green
more visible
need to control green bridge or aphid landing increases
predators also
increase with
MT
Diseases
Wheat/cereals
Takeall
CT 42% incidence, MT 37% over 3 year seasons
however, with compaction, volunteers and grass
weeds the better rooting experiecned with MT won't
be as effective in reducing take all, increase in
herbicide use
Eye Spot
trash borne, saprophite but
6% less incidence compared
to ploughing over a 3 yr
period
fungi does not overwinter well close
to surface, shallow buried trash will
encourage disease though
Fusarium
problem with MT and maize rotation
plough between maize
and wheat, also reduces
weeds when rotational
2% higher incidence
over 3 years with MT
cephalosporium leaf stripe
rare with CT possible with MT
fungi slow
growing over
many years on
cereal trash
common on
heavy poorley
drained soils,
wheat crops
successive over
2 years
ploughing reduces
incidence as growth
disrupted 2-3 year
break also good, OSR
and oats and barley
which do not support
the fungi
Ergot
develops on grain
head, in MT remains
on surface, infects
next crop
ploughing reduces
incidence as the fungi
rarely survives more than
1 year in ground
OSR
Light leaf spot and Phoma
saprophite pathogen, MT increases , up
to 2 years survival on stubble, 10-20%
yield loss, worth £11-31 million per year
in UK
needs 20 days of rain in autumn to sporalate, early
drilling with min till can reduce as crop establishes
quicker when sown earlier in season so in a better
position to tolerate infection as rain less in earlier
sowing (traditional)
deep ploughing
reduces , 1 in 3
rotation
Sclerotinia
sclerotia survive in
soil, become less
viable as length of time
buried and depth
increase
ploughing reduces,
but ploughing before
rape may increase as
buried sclerotia
brought back up
volunteers/weeds
between crops can
sustain disease burdens,
volunteers higher in MT
need controlling, stale
seed bed technique
Soil
structure improved with
min till, soil quality
organisation suggest
only the minimum
amount of tillage should
be done to support
establishment and
increase structure
increased OM,
adding stabiliyt,
increased soil
life and quality
tillage practise should
be suited to soil type,
easily compacting soils
may not suit MT
(especially shallow) and
in wet years MT may not
work at all, a
comprimising approach
within UK is needed
increase in
earthworm
numbers, added soil
health
Erosion and Run-off
build up of OM reduces
run off and erosion, MT
on silty clay loam
reduced run off by 48%
and erosion by 68%
compared to CT
higher filtration in MT
contour tillage with MT
redutions of 70% in run
off and erosion but not
significant (stevens et
al, 2009)
stevens et al 2009, no sign.
differences in erosion or run off from
MT vs CT exp. sediment loss, or toal
phosphorous loss
increased losses of available
phoshourous within top soil due to
high concentrations held in OMand
top soil
Yield
banding min till rape
0.5t/ha increase
1t/ha higher than ploughing
christian and bacon, 1990, long term
trial over crops, soil types and
cultivations, no significant difference on
average but the only sig. differences
which did occure were where min till
was higher, suggesting that when yield
was lower it was not dramatically
reduced by the practise
Hao, 2001, also found
no significant
differences between MT
and CT, highlighted
how min till benefits root
crops as well as
cominable on clay loamy
soils
HGCA, OSR
autocast better
than CT, MT
inbetween
HGCA trials
(KNIGHT) over early
2000's show MT
highest yielding on
light soils, variability
within systems
increase as clay
content increases
Drilling
Presents possibilities for direct drilling or
different drilling methods such as banding
for OSR or strip tilling
Experience on placment in
cambridgeshire on a field trial
showed a difference of .5t/ha
in banded vs broadcast OSR
direct drilling
can not be as
reliable in poor
draining soils
and compacted
soils
Nutrition
increase in OM increases
carbon to nitrogen ratio,
increasing the amount of
denitrification by
microorganisms, reducing the
amount of available nitrogen
in the soil
OM increase water
holding, structure,
plant health and root
development
reduced run off so
more availabiltiy
increased loss of
phoshourous from top
soil with incresed OM
Biodiversity
increased earthworm
numbers and other
beneficial insects, such as
ground beetles and
parasitic wasps
reduced erosion
and run off
stabilising habitats
increased
trash and om
beneficial to
ground nesting
birds
increase in pesticide use such as
seed treatments effecting birds
eating seeds and bees on
attractive crops such as OSR,
(modesto clothianidin
neonicitinoid) seed treatments
may increase with min till to
protect against pest and diseases
as fields are drilled earlier in
favourable conditions for certain
pests and diseases which require
warm weather e.g. aphids
Expenses
More expensive equipment
Greater reliance on pesticides
Slug pellets
Herbicides
May be cheaper
though such as
more use of
glyphosate
Seed treatments, fungicides
Horsepower requirements for
individual tractors may go up
increasing purchase price
Savings
Time
Min till increases the
timelyness of operations
increasing the area covered
per day and per date such as
finnishing in Oct or Nov where
the amount of time to reach
150 day degrees for
emergence is reduced from 26
Nov to 15 Oct (HGCA wheat
growth guide)
drilled into warmer seed bed earlier
plough 60150
mins/ha min till
shallow
25-60mins/ha
direct drill 20-30
mins/ha
Nix state
a 1.2-0.9
hr
saving/ha
Fuel
ploughing at 72p/l
£22-36/ha adapted from
Bailey, 2007. Shallow
min till £18-20/ha,
Direct drill £6-8
Labour
Nix state
a 1.2-0.9
hr /ha
saving
£10/hr for above
average operator
around £10/ha saving
Money
plough
£70-100/ha
min till shallow
£50-60/ha
direct drill
£20-30
Horsepower requirement,
smaller tractors and cheaper
purchase price, but may
need more tractors
HGCA trials show
MT cheaper on light
soils but CT cheaper
on heavy soils
Legislation
Soil protection
review praises min
till in
circumstances
where erosion and
run off can be
reduced
Seed treatment
stewardship, no
treated seed on
surface, if
broadcasting and
min tiling need to
cinsider this