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Integrated Crop Management and the Direct-Seeding Advantage - Direct Seeding Advantage 2006
Author: Neil Harker & George Clayton, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Date Created: November 22, 2006
Last Reviewed: March 01, 2007
Direct-seeding and diversified cropping are two building blocks that are imperative in achieving sustainable cropping systems. A third building block is the interactions of synthetic technologies with nature’s resources. Integrated Crop Management (ICM) exploits synergies that are possible when technologies are combined with natural resources for sustainable and profitable crop production goals. Crop management solutions are often so urgent that “quick-fix” solutions seem imperative. In response, research and extension personnel have often stressed single tools (usually a technological input). However, crop management challenges are the result of many decisions over a long time period where all positive and negative biological participants in agroecosystems find their own niche in response to decisions made previously.  Direct-seeding systems conserve crop residues that are critical for nutrient management, microbial biodiversity, and soil and crop health. Crop residues increase biological life in soils and contribute to long-term sustainability by providing nutrients (Soon and Clayton 2002), biological diversity (Lupwayi et al. 1998, 1999), and disease suppression. Crop residues also influence weeds and weed management. Open the PDF for the complete paper