Controlled traffic farming

MASOLA, J.; ALESSO, C.A.; CARRIZO, M.E.; IMHOFF, S.

FAO and ITPS (Eds.) Recarbonizing global soils: A technical manual of best management practices

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2021; p. 1 - 8

Soil compaction by machinery traffic is the main process of soil degradation in agricultural lands, decreasing crop productivity (Horn et al., 1995; Imhoff et al., 2010). Degraded soils by compaction have higher microporosity, which favors the occurrence of anaerobic processes that lead to higher emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O. As a result, these soils may contribute to the global warming (Håkansson, 2005; Horn et al., 1995). Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a field machinery management system that avoids soil compaction by confining the machinery traffic to permanent traffic lanes. This system generates two permanent areas: cropped or non-cropped permanent traffic lanes (PTL) and non-trafficked or permanent crop bed (PCB) (Hamza and Anderson, 2005; Tullberg et al., 2007). Depending on the machinery configuration, the PTL occupy only about 10-15% of the total field; this percentage is generally accepted as a critical point for considering CTF as a beneficial practice. In this area soil has greater strength which results in better soil trafficability for the agricultural machinery. In contrast, the PCB occupies about 85-90% of the field, and it is characterized by better soil physical condition because it does not undergo compaction. This allows a better development of roots, and as a result, a higher crop productivity.