Continuous Application of No-Tillage to Ohio Soils: Changes in Crop Yields and Organic Matter-Related Soil Properties

Abstract

Agriculture presumably began as a no-tillage (NT) system where a pointed stick was used to place seed directly into untilled soil. In many parts of the tropics, NT is still a part of slash and burn agriculture. After clearing an area of forest by controlled burning, seed is placed into the soil without benefit of tillage. However, as humans developed a more systematic agriculture, cultivation of the soil became an accepted practice for preparation of a more suitable environment for plant growth. Pictures in ancient Egyptian tombs portray a farmer tilling his fields using a plow and oxen prior to planting of the seed. Indeed, tillage, as symbolized by the moldboard plow, became almost synonymous with agriculture.