Conservation tillage systems in corn production

The potential of conservation tillage systems to improve corn yields while reducing production costs and conserving soil and water resources were tested through on-farm trials in three sites, namely: San Jose, Mindoro Occidental, Clabanga, Camarines Sur and Mahaplag, Leyte [Philippines]. A total of 11 farmer-partners cooperated in the conduct of the trial. Treatments include conventional tillage, minimum tillage, zero tillage and farmers' tillage practices, which is tested either as a single factor or infactorial with variety or fertilizer. Results in Mindoro and Leyte reveal that variation in grain yield is mainly due to tillage practices. Moreover, conservation tillage practices i.e. zero and minimum tillage, resulted to the highest grain yield of about 5.29 t/ha and 3.95 t/ha for both Mindoro and Leyte, respectively. In the case of Camarines Sur, yield was not significantly affected by any of the treatments combination applied ( tillage x variety). Zero tillage obtained the highest grain yield (2.88 t/ha) followed closely by minimum tillage with 2.79 t/ha). From these trials, it is evident that conservation tillage management generally resulted to higher grain yield compared with the farmer's tillage practice. Conservation tillage practice is thus a viable option for corn production. Benefits obtained in adopting conservation tillage will be further realized in terms of economic returns, where highest net benefit obtained due to lower production costs. In addition, when the soil surface is left undisturbed, soil moisture is conserved at a time when dry periods are a problem