Our website aims to provide a layman audience with the keys to understand the controversy around Conservation Tillage.

Use our interactive crop menu to navigate the site, or find the worm and click it to follow the path of the controversy!

What is Conservation Tillage?

Tillage is defined as the act of preparing land for the raising of crops. Tilling has been used for ages almost everywhere in the world, thus, several tillage systems have been developed. Three tillage systems can be distinguished: intensive tillage where less than 15% of the crop residue remains on the soil, reduced tillage where the proportion of crop residues remaining is between 15 and 30 % and conservation tillage (more than 30% of crop residue).

A means to fight climate change?

Conventional tillage practices leave the soil bare and unprotected in times of heavy rainfall and heat, enhancing erosion damage. Intensive soil tillage accelerates organic matter mineralisation and converts plant residues to carbon dioxide, which is liberated into the atmosphere contributing to the green house effect and to global warming. While fossil fuels are the main producer of carbon dioxide, estimates are that the widespread adoption of conservation tillage could offset as much as 16% of world-wide fossil fuel emissions (CTIC, 1996).

How to use the menu ?

We invite you to dig into the controversy gradually:

First, let’s review the facts. In the What? section, you will find a comprehensive and accessible overview of CT and its effects on the soil. The Where? section will give you an idea of the geographical diffusion of CT around the world. Finally, the When? section reviews the history of CT.

Then, it’s time to get into the heart of the subject. The Who? section presents the actors involved in the diffusion of CT and the key arguments over which they disagree. The How? section provides an analysis of the interaction between these actors through a network map and a model of organization of the actors.

If you want to go even deeper and access the resources that were used in the making of this project, you can visit the Sources, Glossary and Interviews sections.