The point you raised may put a challenge for the CA professionals and of course, you are right. In the case of potatoes, we are doing an experiment to evaluate the potato farming system compared to the CA techniques on improving the soil quality including soil loss and runoff. It is an ongoing experiment,. I assure you that potato growing is almost equivalent to the best practice of CA for three main reasons: 1) the rows of potato are along the contour and act as a soil bund, 2) potato is growing fast and fully cover the land at peak soil lose 3) the whole biomass except the tuber is returned to the soil that improves soil quality including SOC. Therefore, we have to justify the other tuber and root crops in case they are naturally playing the CA roles! Potato is the best case!

@ Tadele Amare Kassie, thank you for your response with an example of potato crop being cultivated under the CA. My key concern is about the decrease in yield of potato due to the reduced tillage or no tillage - which is said to reduce the process mineralization of soil organic matter thereby reducing the emission of CO2. For the some crops with underground edible parts like carrots or potatoes, loose soil is an essential component to facilitate the enlargement process - for tuber enlargement from tuber initiation in in the case of potatoes. When the soil is not loose enough the economic harvestable part does not grow to its optimum potential because of physical restriction of hard soil. Best regards

@ Yadunath Bajgai, thank you for initiating the discussion. The negative impact of CA on crop yield could be addressed by proper organic fertilization practices. However, as we well know, this requires several years for a positive outcome due to the slow soil incorporation process of organic fertilizers. This could be quite challenging for small scale farmers, therefore, will necessitate proper support and planning. Other agronomic practices could also contribute in improving mineral availability (e.g. mulching and common cover crops).

I also find the publication below useful in working toward reaching a balance in CA production.

@ Mireille Mvondo-She, thank you for adding to the discussion. Your right organic fertilization is one that can loosen the soil to help the root/tuber crops grow horizontally and vertically under the soil. However, the quantity of organic manure, compost or such needed to fertilize farms in high for farmers. Due to selection of better breeds of cattle, the their population is decreasing and the thus the quantity of farmyard manure. Further, incorporation of organic fertilizers involve soil cultivation which can accelerate mineralization of soil organic matter. Thank you again for your comment, suggestion and the paper. Best regards

This is a very challenging task, you can use nanofertilizers to increase the fertility of the soil in your experiment..

@ Kalyan Singh Kushwah, thanks for your kind response. However, it would be useful to know the ways and means in reducing emission of greenhouse gases while we one still cultivates for optimum yield of the root/rhizome/tuber or suck like crops. Other option could that the reduce till or no-till does not negatively impact the yield of the underground-harvestable crops. Best regards

The question that may arise is for how long have you been using CA in potato production? When you shift the tillage practice from conventional means to CA, there is always a transition that may take 2-3 years before one could see the benefits of CA in yield increase.

you may be use bio-fertilizer , or bacterial fertilizer , to increase the fertility of the soil for growth and growing tuber potato especially under greenhouse

@ Kafula Chisanga, Thank you for your comment. The question is about reduction in yield of root/underground crops after transition to reduce-till or zero-till. Organic fertilization is one that can loosen the soil to help the root/tuber crops grow horizontally and vertically under the soil, but this incorporation itself challeged in the CA tillage. For the some crops with underground edible parts like carrots or potatoes, loose soil is an essential component to facilitate the enlargement process - for tuber enlargement from tuber initiation in in the case of potatoes. When the soil is not loose enough the economic harvestable part does not grow to its optimum potential because of physical restriction of hard soil. This as presented in my earlier posts above please. Best regards

@ Kamal Esho, thank you for suggesting bio-fertilizers as a way to deal with increase soil fertility for growing potato. However, potato in general in a very versatile crop with can fit with different agroecological conditions, and greenhouse cultivation may not be required. However, bio-fertilizers may be used under conservation tillage cultivation. But the role of biofertilizer in loosening soil to facilitate underground enlargement process - for which manures and compost are essential. Best regrads.