Three Year Results of No-Tillage Sorghum and Garbanzo Seeding in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Three year results of no-tillage sorghum and garbanzo seeding in California’s San Joaquin Valley Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and garbanzo (Cicer arietinum) are crops that are frequently no-till seeded in many parts of the world, however there is virtually no no-tillage production of either of these crops currently in California’s productive San Joaquin Valley. From 2015 – 2017, we evaluated effects of no-till seeding of these crops into standard tillage (ST) and no-till (NT) conditions with (CC) and without (NO) winter cover residues in Five Points, CA on stand establishment, crop growth and development and yields. Both plant populations and yields were similar for all treatments in the first two years (with year three results available by time of full abstract preparation). Percent surface residues following planting ranged from 95% for the NTCC systems to less than 10% for the STNO systems. Results indicate potential for producing both crops with no-tillage in this region.