Soil tillage is a costly business and intensive tillage can degrade the soil and impact the potential for crop production in the long term. New tillage systems, such as no-till and reduced tillage, were developed to slow down or stop the process of degradation. These systems, which fall under the…
Weed management is an important part of crop production, but how does the no-till farmer keep weeds under control without conventional farming methods at his disposal? Richard Findlay from the No-till Club of KwaZulu-Natal says no-till farming requires a complete mind shift. The challenge is to overcome the first years…
Correct seed placement and depth are critical for successful no-till crop production. As is the case with conventional agriculture, farmers have to use specialised planting machinery to ensure correct seed placement and depth. Richard Findlay from the No-till Club of KwaZulu-Natal, explains that one of the major differences with no-till…
Question: With reference to your opinion about the cover crop tillage… I want to know what would be the best method to prepare my soil for crops if you know there are drought conditions predicted for the region? There are several principles I can discuss. There is no single soil…
Eden Equip adapted their ox-drawn no-till planter to a fit small tractors. This two-row planter can be used to plant maize, soya beans and sorghum, among others and is designed to be drawn by category 1 tractors with engines from 10 kW to 25 kW. It plants at a rate…
Justine Mukota wrote to us:Â Good afternoon, please send info on conservation farming with no-till. Will appreciate your feedback. Dear Justine It is not possible to give a comprehensive guide on conservation agriculture and minimum tillage in one article, but here are some pointers and web-sites that will get you started.…
Bad business decisions usually have bad business outcomes. But on the one occasion that Piket Implemente, a business in the Western Cape, in South-Africa, “read the market wrong’, it turned out not to be so bad after all. It started in 2010 when this family business – which has been…
Question: About a year ago, rising fuel prices led us to switch our maize planting from conventional tillage methods to minimum till. Our deep, sandy soils, (about 2 m) range in colour from yellow to red, and the water table is 60 cm below the surface. We sprayed off the lands before…
