Performing soil work in good weather conditions
1. Presentation
Characterization of the technique
Description of the technique:
| Gilles Grandeau | INRA | gilles.grandeau(at)grignon.inra.fr | Grignon (78) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rémy Ballot | INRA | remy.ballot(at)grignon.inra.fr | Grignon (78) |
Spam control: To use these addresses, replace (at) with @
Work on sufficiently dried soil to minimize the risk of compaction.
Implementation period On established crop
Spatial scale of implementation Plot
Application of the technique to...
All crops: Sometimes difficult to generalize
The planting periods of certain crops may coincide with climatic conditions unfavorable to drying (winter crops: pea or winter faba bean…) for some soil types.
All soil types: Sometimes difficult to generalize
The drying speed of soils varies notably depending on texture and subsoil. Intervention windows will therefore be wider on sandy soils than on loamy or clay soils.
All climatic contexts: Sometimes difficult to generalize
The intervention windows for carrying out soil work depend directly on the regional climatic context.
Regulation
2. Services provided by the technique
3. Effects on the sustainability of the cropping system
"Environmental" criteria
Effect on fossil resource consumption: Decrease
Fossil energy consumption: DECREASE
Phosphorus consumption: DECREASE
Other: No effect (neutral)
Carrying out soil work under sufficiently dried conditions prevents compaction which increases soil mechanical resistance, thus the energy required for soil work and related greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, reduced oxygenation of compacted soils favors denitrifying bacteria, and thus emissions of nitrous oxide (nitrogen oxide).
"Agronomic" criteria
Productivity: Increase
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions helps avoid structural degradation that can penalize yield potential variably depending on the crop, soil type, and type of soil work performed.
Soil fertility: Increase
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions prevents structural degradation that reduces soil/atmosphere gas exchanges. Maintaining soil oxygenation favors mineralization.
Water stress: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions allows (1) preserving soil infiltrability, thus promoting recharge of the available water reserve during rainfall events and (2) maintaining mechanical resistance conditions favorable to root exploration, thus optimizing use of the available water reserve.
Functional Biodiversity: Increase
Carrying out soil work in good climatic conditions promotes soil-atmosphere gas exchanges, which helps maintain conditions favorable to soil life in general.
"Economic" criteria
Operational costs: No effect (neutral)
Mechanization costs: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions prevents compaction that would increase soil mechanical resistance. Preserving an undamaged structure helps limit fuel consumption needed for soil work. A degraded structure can lead to an increase in required traction power by 50 to 100% for the same cultural operation.
Margin: Increase
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions helps preserve the yield potential of plots without generating additional costs, or even allowing fuel consumption reduction.
Other economic criteria: Decrease
Fuel consumption: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions prevents compaction that would increase soil mechanical resistance. Preserving an undamaged structure helps limit fuel consumption needed for soil work. A degraded structure can lead to an increase in required traction power by 50 to 100% for the same cultural operation.
"Social" criteria
Working time: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions prevents structural degradation that reduces work rates.
Peak period: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions prevents structural degradation that reduces work rates.
Work spreading: Decrease
Carrying out soil work in good drying conditions can lead to less spreading of planting operations.
Observation time: No effect (neutral)
4. Favored or disadvantaged organisms
Favored Bioagressors
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Type | Details |
|---|
Disadvantaged Bioagressors
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Type | Details |
|---|
Favored Auxiliaries
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Type | Details |
|---|
Disadvantaged Auxiliaries
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Type | Details |
|---|
Favored climatic and physiological accidents
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Details |
|---|
Disadvantaged climatic and physiological accidents
| Organism | Impact of the technique | Details |
|---|
5. For more information
6. Keywords
Bioagressor control method:
Mode of action:
Type of strategy regarding pesticide use:
