Zero Tillage

Subject – Agriculture

Context – Farmers can save ₹180 crore through zero tillage

Concept –

Zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without prior land preparation and disturbing the soil where previous crop stubbles are present.
Zero tillage not only reduce the cost of cultivation it also reduces the soil erosion, crop duration and irrigation requirement and weed effect which is better than tillage.
Zero Tillage (ZT) also called No Tillage or Nil Tillage.
No Till approach started from 1960s by farmers in India.

Advantages of zero tillage

Reduction in the crop duration and thereby early cropping can be obtained to get higher yields.
Reduction in the cost of inputs for land preparation and therefore a saving of around 80%.
Residual moisture can be effectively utilized and number of irrigations can be reduced.
Dry matter and organic matter get added to the soil.
Environmentally safe – Greenhouse effect will get reduced due to carbon sequestration.
No tillage reduces the compaction of the soil and reduces the water loss by runoff and prevent soil erosion.
As the soil is intact and no disturbance is done, No Till lands have more useful flora and fauna