You reap what you sow...

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Note added at 1 min (2009-02-24 18:46:47 GMT)
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Oops! not "sol" , but "soil". More haste less speed.

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Note added at 3 mins (2009-02-24 18:48:20 GMT)
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Note: Direct seeding, like no-till, is a cropping system which aims to improve soil and soil moisture conservation. Direct seeding is more flexible than no-till; it allows some tillage to solve immediate weed problems and to deal with high moisture and heavy clay soil conditions.


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Note added at 3 mins (2009-02-24 18:48:48 GMT)
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Literally seeding/sowing without disturbing the soil (much).

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Note added at 8 mins (2009-02-24 18:53:10 GMT)
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Direct Seeding in Argentina, but might be no-till elsewhere

Direct seeding, like no-till, is a cropping system which aims to improve soil and soil moisture conservation. Direct seeding is more flexible than no-till; it allows some tillage to solve immediate weed problems and to deal with high moisture and heavy clay soil conditions.

In direct seeding, soil is not tilled in the spring before planting. This is to conserve soil moisture in the seedbed. Any fall tillage must leave the soil surface compact and level to preserve soil moisture. Most of the crop residue remains on the surface with at least half the stubble remaining upright and anchored to trap as much snow as possible. Typical operations are fall fertilizer banding with knives, and redistributing crop residue and incorporating herbicides with heavy or rotary harrows.
No-till (Zero Tillage)

In a no-till cropping system, planting is the only operation which disturbs the soil. Only 25 to 35 per cent of the soil surface is disturbed. Most openers require that much disturbance to place the seed and fertilizer into a seedbed. Many farmers, however, strive for less than 25 per cent disturbance. No-till is similar to low disturbance direct seeding except that direct seeding systems allow some tillage to deal with unusual conditions.

No-till aims to minimize soil disturbance and maintain as much crop residue cover as possible because:
• low disturbance reduces soil moisture loss.
• weed seeds are less likely to germinate and grow on the undisturbed soil surface.
• low disturbance systems use less fuel for field operations.
• crop residue cover protects soil from wind and water erosion.
• standing stubble traps snow.

No-till sowing of corn near Plymouth, Iowa. No-till farming (sometimes called zero tillage) is a way of growing crops from year to year without disturbing ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming - 49k -