No-tillage (NT) is a crucial component of conservation tillage and an efficient approach for implementing sustainable agriculture. However, prolonged NT (≥5 years) may have negative impacts, such as soil compaction, weed control issues, and increased incidence of soil- and plant-vectored infections, which ultimately reduce crop yields, especially when NT is adopted alone and not together with the other pillars of conservation agriculture. In cases where such problems occur, occasional tillage (OT) has been proposed as a potential solution to alleviate these problems, but it is unclear how often NT systems should be tilled to optimize yields. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess how OT affects crop yields and soil properties, as well as identifying the key factors that determine yield performance and the operational time required for OT in long-term NT systems. We investigated the effects of OT versus NT on crop yields and soil properties based on 94 articles and 1079 paired comparisons from around the world. The results showed that OT significantly increased crop yields (overall effect value for all crops) by 3.2 % compared with NT. The key factors that influenced crop yields under OT included tillage practices, crop types, mean annual temperature (MAT), experimental duration (ED), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and soil type. Specifically, the yield response to OT varied significantly among subgroups. Notably higher relative increases were observed for Phaeozems (WRB classification; 26.4 %), subsoiler use (>30 cm depth; 7.1 %), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; 6.3 %), biannual cropping (5.5 %), and under specific climatic conditions (MAT 8–16℃: 6.8 %; MAP >1200 mm: 3.6 %). Critically, a single OT operation was most effective when implemented early in the NT phase (<6 years), coinciding with the initial onset of soil compaction. Compared with NT, OT led to reductions in the soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen, and improved the soil water content, soil porosity, available phosphorus and potassium. These changes in the soil properties partly explain the crop yield increases under OT. In summary, this meta-analysis demonstrates that OT is an effective strategy for mitigating the adverse effects of long-term NT under specific conditions to promote sustainable agricultural development. However, adopting OT requires a careful assessment of local conditions and system-specific constraints to ensure its efficacy and sustainability.
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