Tillage Practices and Soil Performance in Agricultural Systems
Summary
Tillage remains a cornerstone of crop management, encompassing a spectrum of soil-disturbance practices from conventional ploughing to zero-tillage and intermediate reduced-tillage methods such as subsoiling and rotary tillage. By altering soil structure, tillage influences porosity, bulk density and aggregate stability, with direct consequences for root penetration, water infiltration and retention. Conservation-oriented systems that retain crop residues and minimise mechanical disturbance promote organic carbon sequestration, enhance soil nutrient cycling and mitigate erosion. At the same time, strategic tillage rotations can alleviate compaction layers, redistributing roots into deeper horizons and improving access to water and nutrients. The interplay among tillage intensity, residue management and crop rotation dictates spatial distributions of moisture, nitrogen and microbial activity, thereby regulating water use efficiency, nutrient availability and ultimately yield stability across diverse climatic zones. Globally, the adoption of integrated tillage regimes has underpinned more sustainable cropping systems by balancing production goals with soil health preservation and environmental protection.
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Tillage Practices and Soil Performance in Agricultural Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in tillage practices and soil performance in agricultural systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Bulk density: Mass of oven-dry soil per unit volume, reflecting compaction and pore space.
Soil aggregation: Organisation of primary particles into clusters that influence aeration, root growth and erosion resistance.
Conservation tillage: Practices that minimise mechanical soil disturbance and retain crop residues to protect soil structure.
Stoichiometric ratios: Proportional relationships among soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus that regulate nutrient balance and biological activity.
Water use efficiency: Yield produced per unit of water consumed, indicating the effectiveness of water capture and utilisation by crops.
References
- Long-term conservation tillage improves soil stoichiometry balance and crop productivity based on a 17-year experiment in a semi-arid area of northern China. The Science of The Total Environment (2023).
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