Cropping Systems, Tillage and Crop Establishment

Tillage is a critical step in land preparation before planting with the benefits of pest control, incorporation of residues, manures and lime. Moreover it provides a seedbed for seeding equipment and alters physical conditions and temperatures of the soil. Due to the raising demand for the Quinoa, the cultivation of Quinoa became more mechanized and leaves traditional farming systems behind. However the traditional farming systems are seen as much more sustainable and the intensive use of machinery affects the soil in the Quinoa producing regions in Bolivia. One of the tools used today is the plough and the sowing machine which lossens the subsoil and allows pests to breed. Moreover the rotary plough and the disc flow is used which is seen as less sustainable than the traditional farming systems. (Quinoa Production, n.d)  Even though these practices are used, the plant is naturally able to give a high yield without any of these intensive soil tillage. (Wageningen,n .d)

When we are talking about cropping systems we mean the management of crops in space and time that efficiently uses the available climatic and soil resources in that region. Cropping systems can be classified as two group which are continuous cropping and crop rotation. Crop rotation is generally used in the production of quinoa and it is a planned sequence of different crops that are grown over the year on the same land. In this case Quinoa farmers experienced that the crop is grown most efficiently when it is rotated each year with either potatoes or wheat. This should be done in order to give the plant at least one year to ´rest´. (N.Romer, 2015)

Crop establishment on the other side indicated the key factors for good crop development. So it is all about the plants requirements in order to be healthy and produce. In this case the quinoa seed should be planted in a depth of ½ to 1 cm, depending on the soil type and soil moisture. The seed should also have a good seed to soil contact and the soil moisture level need to be controlled. In case the quinoa plant is grown in rows, the space between the individual plants should be about 50 cm, leaving the plant enough space to expend. (A. F. Crop Manual, 1992)

References

Bolivia, Q. P. (n.d). Environmental Problems . year accessed:  2016 from https://sites.google.com/a/cornell.edu/quinoa-production-in-bolivia/analysis/environmental

manual, A. f. (1992). Quinoa. year accessed: 2016 from https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html

Romer, N. (23. 12 2015 ). Do you know where yor Quinoa comes from? . year acessed: 2016 from http://nacla.org/news/2015/12/23/do-you-know-where-your-quinoa-comes

Wageningen. (n.d ). Quinoa .year accessed:  2016 from http://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/show-6/Quinoa-1.htm