Abstract

Desale Kidane Asmamaw

Soil degradation and declining agricultural productivity due to soil erosion and poor soil management using repeated cross plowing by the traditional plow had been the major problem in the Ethiopian highlands. To reduce the impacts of land degradation, research institutes, researchers and NGOs cooperatively developed and or adopted conservation tillage tools and had been implemented in an on-farm experiment for the last decades. Thus, this paper reviewed scientific conservation tillage researches which had been conducted on its impact on soil fertility, soil water properties, runoff, soil loss and agricultural productivity in the Ethiopian highlands. Majority of the implemented conservation tillage had brought significant effect on soil fertility improvement, moisture conservation, increased yield, reduced runoff and soil loss compared to the traditional tillage. Although, tillage changes soil properties, the effects had been usually inconsistent and not repeatable from site to site and time to time. Environmental and socioeconomic factors especially weed infestations and unaffordable costs are among the major challenges for its adoption in Ethiopia. To optimize the productivity and maintain the sustainability of soils, further studies on the effect of long-term tillage particularly on soils and soil water properties under various tillage practices and environments would be essential.