Effects of reduced tillage on (cash) crop yields, soil quality and other ecosystem services : results from 2009 till 2022 of the long term experiment BASIS, the Netherlands

Abstract

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture aims to manage agricultural soils in a sustainable way by 2030. Reduced tillage is proposed, offering a positive effect on multiple ecosystem services like improved soil quality, but with possible drawbacks such as compaction and yield reduction. The Dutch BASIS long term experiment (established by Wageningen University in 2009) assesses reduced tillage combined with controlled traffic farming on sandy loam soil for common Dutch crop rotations in a conventional and organic system. Three tillage systems (conventional and reduced with and without sub-soiling) are studied. The BASIS experiment shows that reduced tillage is a viable option for most of the Dutch crops and indicates a trend towards improved soil quality.