Conservation tillage techniques for two crops within one year in North China

The objective of this study was to investigate conservation tillage techniques suitable for semi-arid regions in North China. This paper reports on the experiment design and performances of related conservation tillage farm implements. Ten different mechanized patterns of no-till or reduced-tillage for two crops (winter wheat and summer corn) within one year were set up at the Experiment and Demonstration Site for Mechanized New Techniques and Machinery at Yangling, Shaanxi Province and these conservation tillage patterns were compared with conventional tillage. Results show that wheat yield increases by 53% and summer corn yield increases by 25%, average soil water storage increases by 1% to 1.2% at different depths, and average organic matter increases 1.03 g/kg relatively for the conservation tillage system with wheat residue cover and no-till seeding of corn immediately after wheat harvest, compared with conventional bare soil plowing. Moreover, the efficiency of yield increasing and water storage for deep soil loosening was higher than that for deep plowing; no-till seeding of corn on high stubble mulching was better than seeding on low stubble. Finally, the cost-benefit analysis results show that CT resulted in great economic returns than convention tillage due to greater yields and lower production costs resulting from reduced tillage.