Occasional tillage in no-tillage systems: A global meta-analysis

No-tillage (NT) is a major component of conservation agricultural systems. Challenges that have arisen with the adoption of NT include soil compaction, weed management, and stratification of organic matter and nutrients. As an attempt to overcome these challenges, occasional tillage (OT) has been used as a soil management practice in NT systems. However, little is known about the impacts of OT on agronomic and environmental factors. For this reason, the objectives of this meta-analysis were: 1) to summarize the effects of OT on crop productivity, soil physical, chemical and biological properties, soil erosion and weed control; 2) to discuss the main aspects of NT management to optimize the use of OT; 3) to point out shortcomings in the diagnosis of soil compaction in NT systems, which may lead to erroneous decision-making processes regarding the use of OT. Overall, OT did not affect crops yields, although increased crop yields were observed in regions under water restriction and in soils with low retention capacity and water availability; OT improved soil physical properties (penetration resistance, soil bulk density, macroporosity, and total porosity), with persistence, generally, greater than 24 months, and decreased the soil aggregates stability; total organic carbon was reduced, particularly when plow/harrow was used and NT was already consolidated, and there was no effect on pH and available P; OT increased microbial biomass carbon, but had no effect on total microbial activity; soil erosion was reduced due to increased soil-water infiltration and reduced runoff, and finally, weed management was also improved by OT. It is suggested that suitable NT implementation and management, with the correct application of NT principles, will overcome problems associated with NT. As soil compaction is the main justification for the use of OT, methods of diagnosis and monitoring of soil compaction should be improved to assist in decision-making.