Crop Rotation
The need for crop rotation is an essential part of a successful crop management programme. Growing the same crops in succession can result in weed, pest and disease-prone crops and contribute towards soil exhaustion.
Mzuri recommendation: A minimum four-year rotation (cereals, green crop, cereals, green crop).
Crop Rotation is important because it:
- Allows a better spread of labour due to different timings of the operation
- Helps to control weeds and reduces their resistance to chemicals
- Reduces crop disease
- Assists with surface straw management
- Enables users to alternate between narrow and wide row spacings for optimum light interception
Most crops can be strip-tilled with Mzuri Pro-Til but more thought is required about the rotation. Some possible crop rotations include:
- Winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter wheat, spring beans
- Winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter wheat, winter beans
- Winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter wheat, spring linseed
When using the Pro-Til to drill directly into stubble, a lot more rotation options are available which can also be effectively used to control grass weeds. Including a spring crop in the rotation may be crucial to knock grass weeds.
Although the Pro-Til can drill directly into surface straw, some farmers may prefer to create a stale seedbed prior to strip tilling. This is particularly pertinent for farms with a blackgrass or slug problem or for users who wish to accelerate straw decomposition. For these situations, Mzuri offers the Rezult – a low disturbance tilth generator which is highly effective at destroying slug populations and encouraging weed germination prior to chemical treatment.
