The Environmental benefits and costs of conservation tillage |
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Authors: | N D Uri J D Atwood J Sanabria |
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Institution: | (1) Resource Inventory Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA e-mail: noel.uri@usda.gov, US;(2) Resource Assessment and Strategic Planning Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Temple, TX, USA, US |
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Abstract: | Every production practice, including conservation tillage, has positive or negative environmental consequences that may involve
air, land, water, and/or the health and ecological status of wildlife. The negative impacts associated with agricultural production,
and the use of conventional tillage systems in particular, include soil erosion, energy use, leaching and runoff of agricultural
chemicals, and carbon emissions. Several of these impacts are quantified. The conclusions suggest that the use of conservation
tillage does result in less of an adverse impact on the environment from agricultural production than does conventional tillage
by reducing surface water runoff and wind erosion. Additionally, wildlife habitat will be enhanced to some extent with the
adoption of conservation tillage and the benefits to be gained from carbon sequestration will depend on the soil remaining
undisturbed. Finally, further expansion of conservation tillage on highly erodible land will unquestionably result in an increase
in social benefits, but the expected gains will be modest. |
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Keywords: | Conservation tillage environmental benefits environmental costs production agriculture Universal Soil Loss Equation |
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