Evaluation of Long Term No-till Effects on Soil Fertility
The adoption of no-till seeding systems in western Canada has been driven by a variety of factors, moisture conservation and economic efficiency likely the major ones. This project was conducted to evaluate whether or not the conversion of fields to no-till has been shown to increase soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, as well as increasing soil water use efficiency by crops.
IPNI-2003-CAN-SK36
09 May 2003
Justification
- The adoption of no-till seeding systems in western Canada has been driven by a variety of factors, moisture conservation and economic efficiency likely the major ones. The conversion of fields to no-till has been shown to increase soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, as well as increasing soil water use by crops. Together these factors lead to increased productive potential of the soil. The question often asked is ‘How long will it take to improve the fertility of a field recently converted to no-till?’, and ‘Can I use fertilizers to overcome the differences in productivity between long-term and new no-till fields?’.