Click on the pdf link for the full report.
Introduction:
Direct seeding is becoming the seeding system of choice on the prairies. Reduced
tillage and zero tillage account for over 63 percent of the annually seeded acres in
Alberta (Statistics Canada Census of Agriculture 2001). Direct seeding means seed
placement into previously untilled stubble including high and low disturbance and no-till
or zero till. The trend is to low disturbance direct seeding.
Direct seeding is a cropping system, not just a change in seeding implement. It results
in significant changes to the environment in which our plants grow. “Keeping stubble
standing and crop residues on the soil surface impacts directly soil temperature which in
turn has a large influence on germination, emergence, plant growth and development,
nutrient uptake, nutrient cycling and microbial activity” (Wierenga et al.1992). It does
have an impact on weeds, disease and insects.
This report discusses the changes in soils when one moves from multi-pass tillage systems to
one pass seeding and the pest interactions in direct seeding.
