Active Food & Agriculture Plants, Animals & Ecology

The effects of conventional tillage operations vs. innovative alternatives on soil health and crop yields in potato production

Funder BBSRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation Harper Adams University
Funding Not disclosed
Period Jan 2025 — Jan 2029

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Potato farmers tear up soil with heavy machinery to harvest the crop, leaving the ground vulnerable to erosion and gas loss. This project tests whether gentler cultivation methods—reduced tillage and smarter crop rotation—can keep soil healthy and productive without sacrificing yields. Conventional potato production damages soil structure and releases greenhouse gases, but growers lack clear evidence on whether alternative systems actually work at scale. The researchers will measure emissions, track soil recovery after harvest, and monitor how subsequent crops perform under both conventional and regenerative management. They also aim to define what “soil recovery” even means for a field that has just grown potatoes—a concept that currently has no agreed scientific definition. If successful, the work could give UK farmers practical, evidence-based alternatives to standard tillage that maintain crop quality while reducing environmental harm. The findings would inform soil management recommendations for both potato and arable rotations, helping to sustain food production while protecting the soil systems that underpin it. This is applied agricultural science with a direct route to on-farm practice.

View original technical description
This project aims to assess the potential of novel soil management systems, namely reduced tillage and advanced crop rotation, to minimise greenhouse gas emissions and soil damage, during the production of potato crops and in the subsequent follow-on crops in the rotation. Additionally, to establish whether regenerately managed soils have more resilience and faster recovery rates after a potato crop than conventionally managed soils. The objectives of this project are to: 1. Conduct detailed assessment of the impact of cultivation systems on soil health, resilience and ecosystem functions. 2. Conduct detailed assessment of the impact of crop rotation on soil health, resilience and ecosystem functions. 3. Conduct detailed greenhouse gas emission measurements from potato production under different cultivation and crop rotation systems. 4. Define the term 'soil recovery' and establish what it means for a soil to 'recover' after a potato crop. 5. Monitor the effect of different cultivation systems on soil health, recovery and consecutive crop growth at both conventional and regenerative field sites. 6. Recommend improved soil management practices for both potato and arable production to maintain crop yields and quality, and improve soil health, resilience and ecosystem functions.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Potato LITE – Low Intensity Tillage Enhancements for Sustaining Potato Production in Future Regenerative Agricultural Systems
Genetic Control And Physiology Of The Potato Root System In Hybrid Potatoes
Multispectral imaging of potato to improve yields under drought stress
TRIP-Transformative Reduced input Potatoes
16AGRITECHCAT5: Strategies to reduce waste due to greening in potato tubers

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