Articles
POTENTIAL FOR NO-TILLAGE IN VEGETABLE PRODUCTION IN THE TROPICS
In this region where heavy torential rains are frequent during the growing season, finely tilled soils are vulnerable to the impact of raindrops which causes soil compaction and increase run-off.
These erosion losses tend to be high in vegetable production where it is believed that a finely prepared seed bed is essential for establishment and good growth of these delicate crops.
But with certain soil types and climatic conditions tillage in the conventional sense is not a necessity for crop growth and yield (Philips and Young, 1973; Bennett, 1973, ’77; Free et al., 1963). Not only is conventional tillage no longer necessarily used in the production of some crops but higher yield are being obtained from no-tillage than from conventional tillage practices (Bennett et al. 1973, ’75, ’77; Philips and Young, 1973; Ameniya, 1977; Reicosky et al., 1977; Griffith et al., 1977; Fenster, 1977; unger et al., 1977; Papendick and Miller, 1977; Ketcheson, 1977).
In many parts of the temperate zone no-tillage is widely used in crop production but the practice is still in the experimental stages in the tropics.
Following the trend in temperate region most of the research in no-tillage work in the tropics is being done on corn (Zeamays) and other grain crops, but the system holds tremendous potential for vegetable production in the tropics.
However, this potential cannot be realized unless the proper experimentation is carried out to identify the advantages and disadvantages of no-tillage systems in the tropics.
It is with the aim of stimulating scientific interest in this field that some of the implications of no-tillage vegetable production in the tropics are being considered.