Current status of adoption of no-till farming in the world and some of its main benefits.

In 1999 no-tillage farming, synonymous of zero tillage farming or conservation agriculture, was adopted on about 45 million ha world wide, growing to 72 million ha in 2003 and to 111 million ha in 2009, corresponding to an growth rate of 6 million ha per annum. Fastest adoption rates have been experienced in South America where some countries are using no-tillage farming on about 70% of the total cultivated area. Opposite to countries like the USA where often fields under no-tillage farming are tilled every now and then, more than two thirds of the area under no-tillage systems in South America is permanently not tilled; in other words once adopted, the soil is never tilled again. The spread of no-tillage…