The study also noted that when tilled soil particles come in contact with air, soil organic matter is lost through the process of oxidation.
The findings appeared in the Soil Science Society of America Journal. Humberto Blanco-Canqui from Kansas State University and Maysoon Mikha from the Agricultural Research Service led the study.
Another recent study found that a single tillage does not harm yield or soil structure in land that is normally not tilled. Charles Wortmann at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says a one-time tillage may be used to correct a problem like aggressive weeds. His five-year study appeared in the Agronomy Journal.
Fabian Fernandez, a soil and plant nutrition expert at the University of Illinois, says no-till means less intensive labor. But he also says it does not mean an end to preparing the ground for planting.
Jimmy Wagner works at the American Plant garden center in Bethesda, Maryland. He says hand tools like tilling forks, shovels and thatching rakes require more work than a rotary tiller, but they work well and cost less.
If you till, wait until the soil is warm and dry enough. If the soil stays together in a ball, it is too wet to till.
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Jim Tedder.
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2013-11-25
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