Identification of environment friendly tillage implement as a strategy for energy efficiency and mitigation of climate change in semiarid rainfed agro ecosystems

A Life Cycle Assessment of Biomass Production from Energy Crops in Crop Rotation Using Different Tillage System

“…When tillage treatments were compared, the results with ReCiPe endpoint and midpoint methods, respectively, revealed that the RT II S (Reduced Tillage II using strip tillage) treatment presented the best environmental performance compared to all the other tillage treatments in all the important impact categories. This result is in agreement with several studies [22,28,38,39]. However, the differences in the methodology and the way the "Reduced" and "No Tillage" agricultural practices are defined (even the conventional tillage found to use other than ploughing machinery) makes it difficult to have identical results.…”

“…However, the differences in the methodology and the way the "Reduced" and "No Tillage" agricultural practices are defined (even the conventional tillage found to use other than ploughing machinery) makes it difficult to have identical results. In a general perspective, though, it is highlighted that with respect to conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no tillage could achieve better environmental performances [22,28,38,39]. The reduction of the environmental load was mainly due to lower diesel fuel consumption and secondly to other inputs like fertilization, water, and seed use.…”

“…Adopting an innovative double crop rotation system of energy crops, using conservation tillage is aimed to improve the environmental and economic performance of the cropping system, while leading to more sustainable cultivation by improving soil organic matter content, i.e., C sequestration, decreasing soil erosion, reducing fertilizer use by using N-fixing legume crops, and finally, reducing pesticides inputs by restricting pest presence and damage, using crop rotation. Many environmental research studies have focused on the environmental profile of specific crops [9,22], while a substantial number was concerned with the environmental impacts from different agricultural practices or different cropping systems [21,22,38,39]. Crop residue management and land use management changes, from monoculture (using conventional tillage and, in most cases, burning or removal of the residues) to a crop rotation using conservation tillage (reduced and no-till tillage) were also issues under consideration in the current study.…”

Integrated crop residue and subsoiling management strategies influence soil quality and agricultural sustainability

“…However, the intensive tillage destroys soil structural stability, deteriorates soil biological characteristics, and reduces the nutrient reserve and supply of soil (Nouri et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2018). Recently, the PT is gradually substituted with RT for higher energy efficiency and economic benefit under adopting the RT (He, Shi, & Yu, 2019; Pratibha et al., 2019; Sharma, Abrol, & Sharma, 2011). Nevertheless, continuous adoption of RT would raise and thicken the plow sole due to the shallow working depth (<15 cm), which impedes root proliferation and downgrowth, and is not conducive to the maintenance of soil productivity (He et al., 2019; Schneider, Don, Hennings, Schmittmann, & Seidel, 2017).…”

Applications of artificial neural networks in three agro-environmental systems: microalgae production, nutritional characterization of soils and meteorological variables management

“…Tillage is a significant contributor to energy consumption and carbon emissary in the sector. Different management practices such as non-tillage, rotations and cover crops can mitigate GHG emissions, especially the ones related to CO2 and NO2 from savings in fuel and nitrogen volatility (Bais-Moleman et al, 2019;Pratibha et al, 2019;Sanz-Cobena et al, 2017b). Non-tillage contributes to organic matter (OM) accumulation, increasing the soil water retention capacity, biological activity, increase the efficiency of fertilization and reduces its use (Rusco et al, 2001;Sanz-Cobena et al, 2017b).…”