Organic No-till with Roller/Crimpers: Agroecosystem Services and Practical Applications.

Agro-ecological Service Crops (ASC) introduced in the agro-ecosystem to provide or enhance ecological functions represent a powerful tool for organic farmers. ASC are able to positively influence the agro-ecosystem, promoting the whole soil-plant system equilibrium in space and time, and increasing soil fertility while deterring weeds, diseases and insect pests. If appropriately managed, ASC can contribute to nutrient loss reductions from the agro-ecosystem, increase soil C sink potential, influence GHG emissions and improve system energy use efficiency. The introduction of ASC in organically managed agro-ecosystems is achieved by several complementary strategies: ecological infrastructures, living mulches or interposed crops (cultivated between two subsequent cash crops). Interposed ASC are terminated in advance of the cash crop planting generally by incorporation as green manure into the soil. However, since this operation is energy and labor consuming, in addition to soil disturbing, systems that use no/reduced tillage have received increasing interest, including the roller-crimper technology that terminates through crushing the ASC. An innovation developed in Italy, the “In-Line Roller-Crimper” (ILRC), has been used to terminate ASC, and, simultaneously, prepare transplanting beds for vegetable crops. Field experiments were carried out on a range of crops (i.e. tomato, bell pepper, melon and zucchini) and no difference between the roller crimper and the control treatment (no ASC) were observed for yield and quality. In zucchini, weed above ground biomass was 91% lower in the roller crimper treatment than the control. Moreover, the ILRC technique allowed 46% of work hours and 56% of energy saving respect to the traditional management of ASC (green manure).