Some farmers in usa stop using plow to get better crops

About 5,000 years after man invented the plow, farmers are learning that they can do better without it.

More than 1,500 agriculture experts from five mid-Atlantic states met to discuss the problem known as "no-tillage farming", which has been applied on millions of acres, about 2 per cent of cropland in production, in the last half dozen years.

No-tillage, or no-till, as it is usually called, means exactly – do not plow the earth. Its increasing application - the Department of Agriculture says more than half of the United States' cropland will be farmed without plowing in 30 years – marks "one of the truly basic changes in the liistory of the USA's agriculture".

Essentially, the process works like this: after the fall harvest, a winter "cover crop", usually rye, is planted in the field. In the spring the rye is killed with herbicides and the main crop is seeded into the resultant mulch by a special planter. Not a furrow is turned, and the field need not to be entered again until harvest time when the cycle begins anew.

The savings¹ in time and money over traditional plowing, which includes numerous tractor trips over the field to turn the earth and control weeds, are great. Field tests comparing no-till with plowing showed no-till required a third to a sixth the amount of fuel to plant the same acreage.

The unplowed soil, aided by the protective mulch layer, retains 50 per cent more soil moisture than a plowed field, and cuts erosion by as much as 90 per cent.

The ability of the no-till method to control erosion even on hilly lands also means it can open millions of acres to productive farming that previously had to be kept fallow² or in pasture.

Crop yields from no-till farming have proved equal to or slightly better than those achieved by plowing. In one popular variation of the process, a practice known as "double cropping", the time saved by not plowing allows farmers to realize an extra harvest of winter wheat or barley before they plant their main crop. A no-till field, with the seedlings³ is not as aesthetic as the neat furrows of a plowed field.

For all its promise no-till is not the panacea for farmers' worries. Insects that were kept in check⁴ by deep plowing tend to thrive⁵ in the unplowed soil and mulch of a no-till field. The selection of wrong insecticides can bring disaster. Likewise, correct herbicides must be used to produce enough mulch to check erosion without suppressing the seedlings. The insecticides and herbicides are broken down rapidly in the soil and are not absorbed by the plants.

Notes and Commentary

¹ savings - заощадження

² fallow – під паром

³ seedling - паросток

⁴ to keep in check - стримувати

⁵ thrive –сильно розповсюджуватися

Advantages and disadvantages of no-tillage planting

There are several advantages for the popularity of the zero-tillage planting. They are:

1. The experiments show that no-tillage corn yields 20 per cent more than corn grown with conventional tillage. This is mainly due to the fact that the soil organic matter increases considerably without tillage.

2. The crop residue and untreated upper soil layer reduce moisture loss. This is a very important factor for growers in areas where spring moisture is usually less than ideal for proper germination of seed and early growth.

3. Conventional moldboard plowing - especially spring plowing - cannot often be done early enough because of weather or soil conditions. This results in late planting and that means lower yields. The reduction in spring work, resulting in more timely planting is probably one of the most attractive advantages of no-tillage system.

4. Due to early planting it is possible to practice double-cropping, that is, growing two crops on the same soil during one growing season. More than 100,000 acres are now double-cropped in some states of America.

5. The presence of crop residue on the soil surface protects the soil from wind and water erosion. Erosion control is the main reason why the no-till production of corn is practiced by the farmers in hilly areas where the rainfall is relatively high during the growing season.

6. Corn is very cheap to grow with zero-tillage method. Since fewer trips across the field are necessary during the growing season and less soil preparation equipment is required, labour, machinery and fuel costs are minimized.

7. No-tillage planting also provides a better footing for heavy harvest machines if there is much rain at the time of harvest. Under such conditions no-tillage farmers will be able to harvest while conventional-tillage farmers will wait for fields to dry.