No-Till Farming

Farmers around the world are beginning to reconsider the age-old practice of tilling their land before planting new crops, instead hoping to increase their sustainability by letting old plant matter remain on the fields. Reducing soil erosion is a major concern, considering that on average, it takes 700-1000 years for just an inch of new soil to be created, and most farmland only has 12-36 inches of topsoil to begin with. Unfortunately, no-till farming is expensive and requires the increased use of pesticides to maintain crop yields, but organic farming, particularly its use of crop rotation, can serve as a model. There is an article about no-till farming in the July issue of Scientific American, which you can find here.