– Fallow Technique:
– Arable land left unsown for one or more vegetative cycles
– Allows land to recover, store organic matter, retain moisture
– Disrupts pest life cycles and soil borne pathogens
– Part of crop rotation systems
– Intensive farming and use of cover crops reduce fallow land
– Fallow Syndrome:
– Crop nutrient uptake issue post fallow period
– Lack of arbuscular mycorhizae (AM fungi) in soil
– Crops like corn prone to fallow syndrome
– Planting cover crops can prevent fallow syndrome
– Plant roots, including weeds, can reduce fallow syndrome
– Importance of Fallow:
– Reduces erosion and weed growth
– Provides green manure
– Helps in preventing fallow syndrome
– Enhances soil fertility
– Contributes to sustainable farming practices
– Related Concepts:
– Dryland farming
– Crop rotation
– No-till farming
– Shifting cultivation
– Shmita
– References:
– Benefits of fallowing soil
– Farmland bird decline linked to loss of fallowland
– Preventing fallow syndrome in corn
– Scientific Reports on farmland birds
– Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2020) |
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycles and soil borne pathogens by temporarily removing their hosts. Crop rotation systems typically called for some of a farmer's fields to be left fallow each year.
The increase in intensive farming, including the use of cover crops in lieu of fallow practices, has caused a loss of acreage of fallow land, as well as field margins, hedges, and wasteland. This has reduced biodiversity; fallows have been the primary habitat for farmland bird populations.[failed verification]