**11. Future directions and research needs**

One potential research gap in precision tillage is the optimization of tillage practices for sustainable agriculture. While precision tillage techniques have gained popularity due to their potential for reducing soil erosion, improving water infiltration, and increasing crop yields, there is still a need for further research to refine and optimize these practices.

Here are a few specific research areas within precision tillage/strategic tillage that could be explored:


*Enhancing Agriculture through Strategic Tillage and Soil Management: Unleashing Potential… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113038*

tillage depths or intensities across the field. Evaluating the agronomic and economic impacts of variable rate tillage could help optimize its implementation.


## **12. Conclusion**

Throughout the centuries, tillage has been employed as a method to create a suitable seedbed for cultivating crops, as well as to manage weed growth and integrate various substances such as fertilizers, pesticides, manures, and other amendments. In the early phases, the process of converting native ecosystems through tillage played a crucial role in extracting nutrients from soil organic matter. This extraction process allowed for the utilization of naturally fertile soils to cultivate crops, thus meeting the needs of a burgeoning population with limited resources. Nevertheless, it is important to note that tillage practices have had a detrimental impact on soil organic matter and soil structure. This has resulted in an acceleration of soil erosion and the disruption of the intricate network of soil organisms [59]. In places where soil is intensively and continually farmed, the results of soil deterioration brought on by soil preparation owing to the unchecked exploitation of agricultural systems are plain to see [60].

The process of soil inversion and pulverization through repeated tillage has been found to enhance the decomposition of organic matter, thereby impacting the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. These properties are considered crucial indicators of soil quality [44]. Over the course of the last three decades, there have been significant advancements in land management systems aimed at reducing the necessity for soil tillage. Methods such as no tillage are employed to maintain

plant residues on the soil surface, thereby safeguarding the soil against erosion. If crop rotation is implemented in the reduced tillage system, it appears to be economically competitive with conventional tillage. Long-term benefits to local and global ecosystems are greater with the decreased tillage approach. A slower, pulsed release of nutrients for plant uptake results from the shift in decomposition rate from a microbial to a fungal route, and crop residue retention generally has a favorable effect on soil biotic complexity. When compared to regular tillage, crop residue retention reduces CO2 emissions to the environment and preserves the soil's useful chemical and physical qualities for the long term. High crop productivity in traditional highinput agroecosystems is accomplished not through the breakdown of SOM, but rather by the use of synthetic fertilizers (mostly nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus). Reduced retention of nitrogen and phosphorus (N and P) fertilizers and large losses of SOM in conventionally tilled systems are major problems [61].
