A No-Till System with Crop Residue Management for Medium Scale

No-till technology: a no-till system with crop residue management for medium scale wheat and barley farming Source WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) network Keywords No tillage, yields, soil erosion, nutrients, conserving water Country of first practice Morocco ID and publishing year 7507 and 2012 Sustainable Development Goals Life on land and industry, innovation and infrastructure

Summary The following describes the development Spacing between rows is adjusted according of a special no-till drill with the purpose of to crop type: 20 cm for wheat or barley, and simultaneously planting seed and fertilizing 40 cm for lentils and chickpeas. Tillage depth annual crops. Information is given on is between 5 to 12 cm depending on soil how to drill cuts, how to plants seeds, workability and moisture content. special herbicide application, and tillage Crops, planted in rotation with a fallow replacement. The advantages of using period, are barley, wheat, legumes (lentils such a technology, which include low cost, and chickpea) and also fodder species. improved resource use and higher yields, are Application of special herbicides replaces also given. tillage for weed control, and enables the Description farmer to have an 18-month fallow period (a ‘chemical fallow’) after two crops have been 1. A no-till system taken over a six-month period. The following describes a no-till system Fallowing is essential for water conservation with crop residue management for medium in this semi‑arid area. NTT reduces passes scale wheat and barley farming. This no-till with heavy machines to three times per year. technology (NTT) system, with direct seeding Residue management involves maintaining and crop residue management, was designed the soil partially covered with stubble and by the National Institute of Agricultural straw. Overall, yields are higher and costs Research (INRA) in Settat, Morocco. A special are lower than under conventional tillage. no-till drill was developed to simultaneously NTT reduces soil erosion and soil compaction seed and fertilize annual crops. The drill while conserving water in the soil. Optimum cuts through residue, opens a 20 cm wide use of scarce and low rainfall to stabilise/ slot which, after seed and N/P-fertilizers are increase crop yields is dropped into it, is closed firmly to encourage essential in this area. contact between seed and soil. Seeding The use of the special no-till TECA is earlier than in the case of conventional drill ensures both minimal TECHNOLOGIES tillage which requires seedbed preparation. working of the soils, and and PRACTICES for SMALL AGRICULTURAL 1/2 PRODUCERS Agricultural Mechanization

precise incorporation of phosphate fertilizer 2. Agro-ecological zones beneath seeds. Depending on the specific • Tropics, warm site, residue management is adjusted 3. Objectives fulfilled by the project from low residue maintenance (stubble/ controlled grazing) to medium surface 3.1 Labour-saving technology (LST) cover (stubble/straw maintenance, forage The technology requires minimal soil work crops and exclusion of grazing). Erosion through precise steps and techniques. and evaporation suppression/ control are 3.2 Resource use efficiency the main impacts of the system. Runoff The technology reduces soil erosion and concentrated flow in watersheds are and compaction. It also increases water reduced. Chemicals are applied for weed conservation. It also improves crop residue control, but this takes into account the maintenance, increases soil organic matter environment, and can be reduced over and reduces carbon dioxide emissions. time. Maintaining crop residues in the fields, increases soil organic matter and 3.3 Pro-poor technology thus the amount of carbon sequestered, as The technology provides higher yields and well as nutrient levels. Hence application of lower costs. inorganic fertilizers can be reduced.

TECA TECHNOLOGIES and PRACTICES for SMALL AGRICULTURAL 2/2 PRODUCERS