FAQ: General

1. How much is the loss in productivity due to late planting?
It is observed that right time for seeding of wheat in North-west parts of the IGP is around 10-15 November for good seed germination. In the eastern Gangetic plains wheat should be seeded by 3rd week of November for good yields. Any delay would result in 30-35Kg/ha /day loss in grain yields in North-west and 50-60kg/ha/day in eastern plains. Greater productivity losses in eastern parts are mainly due to shorter winter window.

2. What are the ways to avoid late planting of wheat?
By adopting zero tillage farmers can avoid late planting of wheat crop. Farmers can also adopt bed planting and permanent beds where they don’t need to remake the beds every year so that they can immediately sow the wheat crop after harvesting the previous rice crop grown on the same beds.

3. What is zero-tillage?
Zero till- or No-till system refers to planting of crops with minimum of soil disturbance. In this system seed is directly placed into a narrow 3-4 cm wide and 4-7cm deep slits made with a drill fitted with chisel or "inverted T" type openers without prior land preparation. . No-till system build and rely on the soil life to build and maintain an open pore structure in soil. This biological tillage replaces mechanical tillage. Presence of residues on the soil surface helps conserve soil moisture and also serve as source of energy for soil macro and micro fauna for bio-tillage. .

4. Are farmers accepting the zero tillage in South Asia?
Yes, farmers are accepting the zero tillage because of many advantages and profits it is offering to them. Though there is a need for changing the attitude of the farmer before he adopts zero-tillage and start getting the benefits from its adoption.

The current area under zero tillage in various countries of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is given in the table below. The estimated total area under zero tillage in South Asia is 5.61 million hectares with an estimated 1.07 million farmers practicing this technology using 14000 zero-till drills.

5. What is a Zero-Till-Ferti-Seed Drill?
Conventional seed drills, generally have a seed box and a fertilizer box, wide furrow openers and seed metering device and seed and fertilizer delivery tubes. Zero-Till-Ferti-Seed Drill have all the indicated components except that the wide furrow openers are replaced with chisel or "inverted T" type openers to place seed and fertilizer in narrow the slits . Where as planking is required to cover crop seed planted with conventional seed drills, Zero-Till-Ferti-Seed Drill planted crop has no such requirement. It is better to avoid planking to cover seed.

6. Why should we shift to zero tillage system? What are its advantages over the conventional systems of planting wheat and other upland crops?
Sowing of wheat after rice requires 6-8 passes of the tractor with disc harrow and cultivator followed by 2-3 planking. This increases the cost of production, delays planting, and also results in loss of residual soil moisture after harvest of rice which could be used with advantage for establishment of a wheat crop. Conventional tilled fields have higher weed population. Thus the challenge of producing more at reduced costs can be handled successfully with zero tillage system. Zero tillage saves time in planting, save fuel, water, improves efficiency of phosphatic fertilizers, and weakens density of Phalaris minor, reduces the wear and tear of tractor, promotes residue management and helps reduce air pollution. It is observed that zero-till increases farmer profit by INR 2500-3500/ha ( US$55-75) .

7. Why do farmers harvesting good crops with intensive tillage, say that "No-till farmers are lazy farmers"?
Yes, "No-till farms look untidy" in the initial stages of crop growth. Ridiculous comments on practitioners of No-till agriculture epitomizes a symptomatic problem arising from a deep rooted belief that tillage is the only way to create soil fertility. However, development of no-till agriculture and its adoption in more than 55 million hectares globally clearly brings out that no-till/ zero-till agriculture is an efficient strategy for management of land and water resources for producing more at reduced costs.

8. Does ZT offer any advantage in alkali/partially reclaimed soils?
In partially reclaimed fields, whereas surface soil layers are fully reclaimed, the underlying layers are still at various stages of reclamation. Tillage brings unreclaimed soil to the surface, increasing sodicity in the surface around seed and hence lower germination of salt sensitive cultivars. Therefore the crop stand is expected to be better in no-till conditions.

9. Is ZT possible in all type of soils (light to heavy texture)?
Yes, Zero-till system could be used in all soils.

10. What planting system should be adopted in marginal (Partially/slightly/moderately reclaimed alkali soils?
Zero tillage technique is useful in planting the crop in partially reclaimed soils. Seed placed in undisturbed partially reclaimed surface soil layers facilitate germination and growth. Whereas the tillage of such soils brings the subsurface sodic soil to the surface seed zone adversely affecting germination and crop stands.

11. How much area can be sown with ZT machine?
Normally, a good tractor operator can plant one acre wheat in an hour. Thus farmers can easily plant 10-12 acres wheat per day ( 4-5 ha). It facilitating timely planting of crops. Custom service providers who often operate in double shifts cover about 10-12 ha in a day.

12. How long ZT be practiced?
Zero tillage can be practiced for several years with out any disadvantage, if weeds are not a problem and herbicides are readily available and are economically viable. In zero till system it is important to remember that at least some crop residues must be retained in the field for long term sustainability of the system.

13. What is proper moisture regime for ZT?
Relatively a higher soil moisture content in no-till than in conventionally plowed fields facilitate germination and better crop stand.

14. What is the fuel consumption/acre in ZT plots?
Energy required of the pulling 9- 11 tynes conventional seed drill and the zero till drill is nearly the same. The fuel consumption usually ranges between 10-12 liters per hectare. A properly serviced 25 HP tractor can easily pull a zero-till-ferti-drill without any extra load on the tractor..

15. Is there a way out for reducing soil compaction due to tractor movement in no-till situation?
A large faction of available tractor power is used only to compact the soil in tracks. So the first step in reducing compaction is to reduce ‘free-wheeling’ of tractor. It can be best accomplished if crops are planted in tramlines or controlled traffic. The tracks can subsequently be used as operation galleries for irrigation, inter-culture operations and for chemical sprays and deep placement of fertilizer nutrients in standing crop. Tramlines facilitate tractor movement in the same tracks every time and thus restrict soil compaction to track zones.

16. Will farmers have to suffer some yield losses in zero till system?
Zero till system allows timely planting of crops. Timely planted crops generally yield higher than a late planted tilled or no-till crop. Since there is no need for ploughing in No-till system, the turn around time between rice and wheat crop can be reduced substantially for timely seeding. Delayed planting reduces crop yields.

17. What are the pre-requisites in ZT for obtaining higher yield?
For good results in no-till system, it is important that fields are properly leveled, relatively weed free, have sufficient soil moisture and the drill is properly calibrated and maintained.

18. Is partial tilling advisable in no-till system?
Tillage with a disc plow or harrow or cultivator adds to the cost. Therefore if it is possible to manage weeds with out tilling the land it is advisable to keep practicing no-till system. However, in some situations such as planting wheat after sugarcane it becomes necessary to use a disc harrow to make it easier to work with a zero-till drill for wheat planting and avoid damage to drill from the sugarcane root stocks. Tillage may also become necessary if weeds are a problem and it is difficult to control them otherwise.

19. What conditions could facilitate adoption of zero tillage technology for planting of wheat?
Conditions that facilitate uniform application of irrigation water optimize the nutrient-water interactions needed for higher productivity. Therefore, precision land leveling is a precursor technology for improvements in benefit of zero-tillage technology.

20. Is bed planting beneficial over other planting systems?
Bed planting system in well leveled land has many advantages over the other planting systems in the situations where we want to save water and seed, reduce herbicide dependence through inter-culture tillage. It facilitates seeding in dry conditions, inter-cropping and relay cropping., promotes crop crop diversification in poorly drained soil.

21. Is there some way one can reduce risk of floods and be able to raise crops ?
Floods are common in the eastern Gangetic plains during monsoon season. In some years even when [SP3] the plains are reeling under drought, heavy monsoon rains in the upper catchments of Nepal or India causes floods in low lying areas of the plains. The best strategy is to plant several crops in combination out of moongbean, sesame, rice, sorghum, maize, Sesbania and rice. These crops can be planted in lines. Depending upon the flood timings, its intensity and duration, farmers will definitely be able to harvest one or more crops. In such areas ( usually low lying areas) it is always beneficial to apply full dose of fertilizer as basal in between seed row.