Conservation tillage
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The major objective is to conserve soil and soil moisture. It is a system of tillage in which organic residues are not inverted into the soil such that they remain on surface as protective cover against erosion and evaporation losses of soil moisture. If stubble form the protective cover on the surface it is usually referred to as stubble mulch tillage. Sweep or blades are generally used to cut the soil up to 12-15 cm depth in the first operation after harvest and the depth of cut reduced during the subsequent operation. This hastens the decomposition.

Advantages

1. Energy conservation through reduced tillage operations.
2. Improve the soil physical properties.
3. To reduce the water runoff from fields.


Characteristics of good seedbed

A good seedbed should have the following qualities

1. It should have a loose, friable and fine granular structure on the surface.
2. It should resist the washing away of soil through erosion.
3. It should permit easy penetration of rain water, and does not form a hard surface crust after a rain.
4. It should facilitate quick germination of seeds.
5. It should provide good media for the growth of plant roots.