In times of high production costs, abandoning plow tillage in favor of a no-plow system seems to be a great way to reduce fuel consumption. The issue of fuel savings in no-plough farming is explained by Prof. Tomasz Piskier from the Koszalin University of Technology.
Moving away from plowing won’t immediately save fuel
Fuel in the entire production technology is necessary at virtually every stage of agrotechnics – soil preparation for sowing and sowing, fertilization, protection and harvesting. Cultivation is particularly demanding in terms of fuel inputs, and the most fuel-consuming operation is plowing. It can therefore be assumed that abandoning it will contribute to a significant reduction in fuel consumption, and thus cost reduction.
According to prof. Tomasz Piskier from the Koszalin University of Technology, however, this is not a rule and it should not be expected that replacing plowing with the operation of units for no-plow cultivation will always and immediately contribute to large-scale savings.
– No-till farming does not save enormous amounts of fuel. We can reduce the number of treatments, but with high-power tractors and the working resistance of large, heavy cultivating units – the actual reduction in the amount of fuel used is not that big – said Prof. Piskier in an interview with the editors of farmer.pl
According to the expert, no-plow cultivation usually reduces fuel costs, but not to such an extent that it is the main reason to change the cultivation system. Prof. Piskier added, however, that farmers who are more persistent in their adventure with plowless cultivation will be able to gradually reduce fuel inputs by improving the soil structure.
– By using the no-plow cultivation system for many years, the soil begins to regenerate. We do not work in soil that is so hard, compact and dense. A better structure and texture of the soil is created, there is more organic matter. Over time, our fuel savings will increase because we will have lower working resistance of the machines – explained Prof. Tomasz Piskier.
Will fuel savings compensate for any potential yield reduction?
When talking about no-till farming, the issue of obtaining lower crop yields in this system is often mentioned. Maybe fuel savings can balance the balance of costs and income from cultivation?
– Years ago, we actually experienced a significant reduction in yields because we did not have machines that could properly perform no-plough cultivation. No-plow cultivation is a very broad term. Well-made and comprehensive, there is no risk of reducing yields – they are at least the same or much greater. However, no-plough cultivation, understood as e.g. sowing after disc cultivation, is not correct and comprehensive – said Prof. Piskier.
We encourage you to watch the entire conversation with prof. Tomasz Piskier:
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