Center for Agroecology Executive Director Darryl Wong and Faculty Affiliate Hannah Waterhouse are examining the impact of no-till agriculture on crop productivity, carbon sequestration, and farm revenues.
Given that 53% of the nation’s organic fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in California, moving towards sustainable no-till practices here could have a significant national impact on agriculture and food production, while reducing agriculture’s negative contributions to climate change (Klonsky, 2010).
Phase 1 of the project entailed a thorough analysis of no-till experiments in organic specialty crops on commercial farms around the country and a review of relevant literature on no-till projects in specialty crops. Phase 2 of the study is comparing the effects of three treatments in a replicated field trial on a quarter-acre plot at the UCSC Farm: no-till, reduced tillage, and the standard Center for Agroecology tillage practices, using mustard as a winter cover crop prior to a romaine crop, and buckwheat as a summer cover prior to a broccoli crop.
Center for Agroecology/UCSC participants: Hannah Waterhouse, Darryl Wong
Funding: Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation