Comparative levels of soil disturbance under reduced and minimum tillage types with two-wheel tractor planting operations

Minimum soil disturbance is one of the key principles of conservation agriculture (CA). However, little is known about levels of soil disturbance caused by 2-wheel tractor (2WT) -based planters being used in small farms to practice CA (Haque et. al., 2013). Several types of single pass minimum soil disturbance are being used to establish crops in Bangladesh. To quantify the impact of various tillage types on soil disturbance, breakage of soil aggregates, and operational cost, a study was carried out during 2015 at two long-term CA sites at Godagari upazila, Rajshahi; and Baliakandi upazila, Rajbari. The aim was to determine which forms of planting involve minimum soil disturbance according to the requirements of CA.