The effect of conservation tillage on crop yield in China

Abstract

Traditional agricultural practices have resulted in decreased soil fertility, shortage of water resources and deterioration of agricultural ecological environment, which are seriously affecting grain production. Conservation tillage (CT) research has been developed and applied in China since the 1960s and 1970s, and a series of development policies have been issued by the Chinese government. Recent research and application have shown that CT has positive effects on crop yields in China. According to the data from the Conservation Tillage Research Center (CTRC), Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the mean crop yield increase can be at least 4% in double cropping systems in the North China Plain and 6% in single cropping systems in the dryland areas of North-east and North-west China. Crop yield increase was particularly significant in dryland areas and drought years. The mechanism for the yield increase in CT system can be attributed to enhanced soil water content and improved soil properties. Development strategies have been implemented to accelerate the adoption of CT in China.

Keywords

conservation tillage / crop yield / soil structure / development strategies

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support provided by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and the Innovative Research Team in University of China (IRT13039), and the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201503136).

Compliance with ethics guidelines Hongwen Li, Jin He, Huanwen Gao, Ying Chen and Zhiqiang Zhang declare that they have no conflict of interest or financial conflicts to disclose

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg