Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices has become necessary. The major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes associated with crop production are soil N₂O emissions, soil CO₂, and methane (CH₄) fluxes and, furthermore, CO₂ emissions associated with agricultural inputs and farm equipment operation. The processes of land conversion and agricultural intensification are a significant cause of soil quality loss. Global climate change (CC) is a significant driver of unstable weather conditions; in some regions, soil can be very dry or very wet and, hence, farmers face difficulties in accomplishing seedbed preparation at the appropriate time and, as a result, the drilling of cereals as wheat and barley is inevitably delayed, leading to decreased crop yield. When soil is worked in an unsuitable condition, damage to the soil structure and on crop production can persist for many years. Because of the repetitive application, tillage has an influence on many soil properties and processes, the depth of soil profile as well as crop performance, the sustainability of cropping systems, and the management of crop residues applied to soil. Minimum and zero tillage technologies for soil protection are suggested as specific and important approaches toward resource and energy saving in agriculture. Loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) under conventional tillage has been extensively documented in the scientific literature while conservation tillage practices (minimum and no-tillage) may play a leading role in sequestering CO₂ with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also mitigate the effects of CC. In fact, no-tillage farming is recommended for conserving soil and water, but its potential to sequester SOC varies widely due to complex interactions among climate, soil type, crop rotation, duration, and management factors. Important factors of soil fertility conservation and evaluation of agricultural system sustainability have shown the influence of soil tillage systems on soil properties and energy efficiency. Field traffic and soil tillage results in increased tire or track ground contact pressure and in tire or track slip, which can cause soil compaction. The most influential factor in determining the suitability of land for field operations is the soil moisture status. An indication of the mechanical state and likely behavior under load can be gained from surveying a range of soil properties, including penetration resistance, shear strength, bulk density, and plastic limit, the majority of which are strongly dependent on moisture status. Soil compaction may vary in terms of intensity and geographical distribution within the field and, consequently, uniform field management often results in the overapplication of inputs in areas with high nutrient levels and underapplication of inputs in areas with low nutrient levels. Subzones on the field can be identified by gathering information using the high-precision measuring techniques that are currently available, including in situ remote sensing and modeling to determine the relationship between field and region. Tillage systems are location-specific, so the degree of their success depends on soil, climate, and management practices. In this scenario, there is a need to understand the effects of tillage on soil properties, crop yield, and tractor performance of the field and region.

With the aim of determining the capacity of different soil tillage system in soil conservation, productivity, and energy efficiency as a positive action toward climate changing adaptation, the scope of this section is to assess which tillage techniques could be considered as an adaptation to field management in global climate change scenarios (CCSs). For this, the effects of different main preparatory tillage can be assessed in terms of their influence on the function of soil water content and clay content: these techniques include ploughing and harrowing to different depths as well as different conservation tillage practices (minimum and no-tillage). The effect of the adopted tillage system would be quantified in terms of wheat/crop yield together with certain soil properties (texture, SOC, porosity, soil water infiltration, structural stability, cone index, shear strength, etc.) and machine performance.

Prof. Dr. Pieranna Servadio
Guest Editor

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• Spatial variability of chemical, physical–mechanical soil properties (role of SOC) and mapping
• Soil quality indicators to asses soil workability: Spatial variability of crop yield and mapping
• Tractor/machine forward speed according to the slip, which should not exceed 0.15 and mapping
• Machine performance in term of the fossil fuel energy requirements and CO2 emissions, forward speed, and gear system slip from agricultural machinery during tillage carried out at different soil water and clay content, compared with minimum (direct seeding) and no-tillage.