Tillage on slopes thins the soil and reduces crop yields. Increased yields in regions where soil is deposited partially compensate for this reduction in crop yields at regional scales. However, continued increases in tillage intensity and climate-change-induced increases in dry spells may lead to reduced crop yields.
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References
Bakker, M. M., Govers, G., Jones, R. A. & Rounsevell, M. D. A. The effect of soil erosion on Europe's crop yields. Ecosystems 10, 1209–1219 (2007). A review article that presents the general relationship between soil loss and yield loss.
Öttl, L. K. et al. Tillage erosion as main driver of in-field biomass patterns in an intensively used hummocky landscape. Land Degrad. Dev. 32, 3077–3091 (2021). A paper that uses remote sensing to analyse the relationship between crop biomass and soil erosion patterns in the Uckermark.
Fiener, P. et al. Uncertainties in assessing tillage erosion – How appropriate are our measuring techniques? Geomorphology 304, 214–225 (2018). This paper describes work assessing soil movement by tillage in the Uckermark, Germany.
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This is a summary of: Quinton, J. N. et al. Tillage exacerbates the vulnerability of cereal crops to drought. Nat. Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00533-8 (2022).
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Tilling soils on slopes makes crop production and soils more vulnerable to drought. Nat Food 3, 497–498 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00534-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00534-7
