We are looking to plant no-till wheat in the current winter season, following the harvest of rice just now. The planned plot soils are medium to heavy, black. Please share your experience if you have done this.
i studied and continue to study no till and alternatives to conventional farming. But with vegetables and cover crops and animal fodder. Not with wheat. But here is what i can share.
Pros:
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you stop carbon emissions.
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you start building up soil.
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you save money
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you save working hours.
Cons:
- bugs
- weeds
- nutrients are not where the roots reach.
Looking at these things you should know your land and soil and then decide. The nutrient problem can be solved by cutting in between rows to drop in the nutrients. The weed problem can be solved by herbicides or better still by covering the soil with landscape fabric. Bugs problem can be solved by again specific natural pesticides OR better still finding the friendly bugs that will devour the enemy bugs and let them loose on your farm.
i hope you have not taken out the rice leftovers by burning them already. if not then let them be there. And sow early the wheat seeds.
Hope that helps.
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Thanks. We don’t burn stubble. Bugs and weeds are manageable too, though we grow organic.
The issue we have is that of zero tillage equipment. Typically there are special seeders that cut the soil nicely and plant sufficiently deep. Without such equipment, we have to broadcast the seeds that may impact plant stand. The other option is to dibble the seeds but the process is cumbersome.
Our plot also have a bit of salinity that needs to be considered - we didn’t have much success with dibbling jowar last year.
Regardless, we plan to go ahead and try wheat and a few others the broadcast route.