Water

First results from catchment studies comparing the effects of conservation tillage and conventional plough-based cultivation on stream water quality show:

•  In winter, streams in conservation-tilled catchments had lower sediment loads than streams in conventionally-tilled catchments.

• In winter, total phosphorus concentrations were lower in ‘conventional' streams and slightly elevated in ‘conservation tilled' streams; however, phosphorus levels in all of the study streams were quite low and at levels where only minor biological damage would be expected.

•  There was no difference in nitrogen concentration between ‘conservation tilled' and ‘conventional' streams; both were significantly higher than the natural woodland background level.

•  In Hungary, greater numbers and weights of earthworms were found in conservation-tilled fields than in conventionally ploughed fields under two different crop rotations in Autumn 2004.