Desire for Greener Land
Desire for Greener Land
Desire for Greener Land
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Reduce R ed tillagge<br />
of almond a ds and olives<br />
Spain<br />
– Labranzza<br />
reducida dee<br />
almendros y olivos o (Spanishh)<br />
Reduced R tillage<br />
of almondss<br />
and olives to t improve physical<br />
and chemical c soil<br />
properties<br />
and reduce runofff<br />
and soil eros sion.<br />
Reduced R tillagee<br />
of almond aand<br />
olive orch hards is used to decrease fuel use and<br />
em mission of greenhouse<br />
gasees<br />
and maintain n a higher surf rface cover by weeds during<br />
winter w time in orrder<br />
to protect tthe<br />
soil from er rosion.<br />
Above left: aalmond<br />
plantation<br />
with reduceed<br />
tillage regimee<br />
(Photo: Joris de Vente)<br />
Above right: : ploughing of a field with reduced<br />
tillage just bee<strong>for</strong>e<br />
summer starts s (Photo: Joris<br />
de<br />
Vente)<br />
Under U reducedd<br />
tillage, the fields are plo oughed twice a year: onc ce in autumn<br />
(N November) andd<br />
once in late sping (June), whereas undeer<br />
conventiona al tillage fields<br />
ar re ploughed 33-5<br />
times per year. The aim m of reduced ttillage<br />
is to maintain m better<br />
su urface cover dduring<br />
winter mmonths<br />
to redu uce runoff andd<br />
soil erosion. After several<br />
ye ears this will reesult<br />
in a higheer<br />
soil organic matter contentt,<br />
a better soil structure, and<br />
a higher soil waater<br />
infiltration ccapacity.<br />
The soil s cover by wweeds<br />
reduces the sensitivity<br />
of f the soil to suurface<br />
crustingg<br />
and reduces surface runofff<br />
and soil ero osion by up to<br />
60 0%. Workload and energy uuse<br />
with reduc ced tillage is uup<br />
to 50% lower<br />
than under<br />
co onventional aggriculture.<br />
The increased farm<br />
income prevvents<br />
land abandonment<br />
of<br />
marginal m lands with low produuctivities<br />
under r conventional farming. Redu uced tillage of Location: Muurcia<br />
al lmonds does nnot<br />
require special<br />
establishm ment activities oor<br />
investments in specialized Region: Guaadalentín<br />
catch hment<br />
eq quipment.<br />
Technology area: 10 - 100 0 km2<br />
Conservatioon<br />
measure: ag gronomic<br />
Reduced R tillage can easily be combined with h green manurre<br />
and ecologic cal agriculture Stage of inteervention:<br />
prevention<br />
of landd<br />
as s is described in QT SPA05: ecological production<br />
of almonds<br />
and olive es using green degradation, mitigation / red duction of land<br />
manure. m Soils have<br />
mostly a sshallow<br />
to medi ium depth (betwween<br />
20-60 cm m), and slopes degradation<br />
ar re gentle to mmoderate<br />
betweeen<br />
5 and 15% %. The climatte<br />
is semi-arid with a mean Origin: exterrnally<br />
- recent (
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