Soil Compaction Management in Continuous No-Tillage.

Crop acres managed with no-tillage production practices are increasing in the Western Hemisphere and in South Asia, representing each year a larger share of total crop acreage. Research shows that continous use of no-tillage leads to the greatest improvement of soil aggregation, organic carbon content, infiltration capacity, evaporation reduction, soil microbial activity, earthworm actvity, nitrogen cycling, and phosphorus availability, to name just a few soil properties. However, soil compaction remains a concern. Many no-till farmers seem to be successful in the management of soil compaction, but others are not. This suggests there are key principles that need to be elucidated for successful compaction management without tillage. We will suggest a repertoir of compaction management solutions for successful, continuous no-tillage from a complete cropping systems point of view.