No-till farming is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. It helps to protect the soil from erosion and structural breakdown, and reduce labor and related costs. In large-scale farming, no-till is usually accomplished with synthetic herbicides that kill off weeds chemically, and allow seeding directly into the plant residues, eliminating the tillage stage.
Farming usually involves regular tilling that agitates the soil in various ways, usually with tractor-drawn implements, to remove weeds, mix in soil amendments like fertilizers, and prepare the surface for seeding. This can lead to unfavorable effects, like soil compaction from too much heavy machine traffic, and erosion caused by pulverizing the soil and removing plant cover, allowing crucial topsoil to easily blow away or run off in rainwater. No-till can alleviate these problems.
No-till can also be accomplished without chemicals, by creating a balance in the local ecosystem of the farm, with a combination of plant selection and careful timing. Fukuoka farming is one organic no-till method.
