No-till

“America is addicted to oil” as President George W. Bush acknowledged in his 2006 State of the Union Speech. And, it is not just a US problem, nor is the addiction only to oil. Oil, coal and natural gas are the fossil reserves which power our planet, but now the spotlight is on crop biomass to provide a significant alternative source of energy and materials.
No-till farming and paraquat have a vital role to play in producing enough biomass while sustaining food production and protecting the environment.
At present, biofuels are manufactured from the parts of crops otherwise harvested for food, eg grain. This leads to two problems:

Not enough fuel
Potentially not enough food

The yield of fuel – biodiesel or bioethanol – from the oils or starch found in seeds is relatively low. With the economic and environmental motivation to grow more crops for biofuels, in future, they may take up valuable land that should be used for growing food, especially in poor Third World countries. Already, in Mexico the rising price of corn tortillas, a staple food for many poorer people, has been a problem. This has been due to the higher price of US corn, driven-up by the demand for ethanol.
To address both fuel and food issues, it would be much more attractive to use unharvested parts such as corn stover or wheat straw for biofuel production.

In Asia alone, more than two billion people obtain over 60% of their calories from rice. It is the most rapidly growing source of food in Africa and is critical to food security. Long grain rices are typically of the indica race and include the fragrant Jasmine rice from Thailand and Basmati rice from India. Short grain rice, typically japonica, is usually more sticky than long grain and is favoured in Japan. Saki rice is grown in Japan to make rice wine, and in Indonesia there are red and black grained varieties. About 80% of the world's rice is grown by smallholders in these places. In Asia, women are often responsible for rice farming as men have moved to work in the cities.
Efficient and productive rice-based production systems are essential for economic development and for improved quality of life for much of the world's population. Plant breeding, crop protection, water management and fertilization have increased productivity and reduced the costs of production.
Weeds can reduce the yield and quality of rice by competing with the crop for light, nutrients and space; and their seeds can contaminate the harvested grain. Some of the most widespread and aggressive weeds are the Echinochloa species (barnyardgrass). Infestations of only ten of these weeds per square metre have been recorded to reduce yields by 25%.

Will farming and soil quality collide?
World Agriculture and the Environment is an important new book addressing the fear that increasing demand for food and fiber is on a “collision course” with soil quality.
This article is in two parts. In Part One, some of the main issues discussed in the book are reviewed. Part Two then explains how more than 40 years of research and practical use have shown that controlling weeds with paraquat can help provide improved and sustainable crop management practices to improve soil quality.
Part One: What ‘World Agriculture and the Environment’ says
In World Agriculture and the Environment authorJason Clay (World Wildlife Fund-US vice president, Center for Conservation Innovation) reviews the production and environmental impact of 21 of the world’s major food commodities. The main threats to the environment posed by crops, fish and meat are identified and explored, as well as the trends that shape those threats.
Major Issues
A fundamental acknowledgement in the book is that low intensity cropping can not support current, let alone future, levels of world population. There are two underlying reasons. First, using more land for farming destroys natural forests and grasslands.

Extensive long-term field studies confirm - and governments and regulatory authorities, worldwide, agree - that normal use of paraquat in accordance with the approved label instructions does not cause an unacceptable environmental impact.
These studies have shown that:
Paraquat is inactive in soil
When paraquat residues come into contact with the soil the paraquat active ingredient rapidly becomes adsorbed and strongly bound to clay and organic matter in the soil. It becomes biologically inert and as a result it cannot be taken up by plant roots or other organisms. Paraquat treated soils still maintain an active soil ecosystem with no adverse effects on soil microbes, microorganisms and earthworms. Paraquat cannot be released from the soil or re-activated by the application of water or other agrochemicals.
All agricultural soils, not only those with high clay content, have a high capacity to absorb paraquat.