Summary
This narrative review synthesises the adoption literature on sustainable farming practices and their effects on soil health and crop productivity. The authors examine conservation tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping and related approaches, concluding that conservation systems generally improve soil health more than conventional tillage, whilst diversified cropping systems boost yields beyond monoculture whilst maintaining or improving soil quality. The paper identifies practical opportunities and challenges for scaling these practices.
UK applicability
These findings are broadly applicable to UK temperate arable and mixed farming systems. Conservation tillage and cover cropping are increasingly adopted in UK practice; however, the review's conclusion that zero tillage boosts yields may require validation under UK-specific soil, climate and management conditions, where conventional tillage remains common.
Key measures
Soil biodiversity, nutrient cycling, organic matter content, soil fertility, crop yield, soil health resilience under different tillage and cropping systems
Outcomes reported
The review synthesised evidence on how tillage systems, crop rotation, cover cropping and fertiliser application affect soil health indicators and crop yields. It identified conservation tillage as more beneficial to soil health than conventional tillage, and found that intercropping, crop rotation and cover crops increase yields more than monoculture.
Topic tags
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