沙漠研究 22-1, 341 -344 (2012 )Journal of Arid Land Studies"ICAL 1 / DT X"－Refereed Paper－

The Possibility to Adapt the Shaft Tillage Cultivation Methodto Arid Land Farming
Masataka JITSUNO*1), Kiyoshi TAJIMA2), Masayoshi KATO3), Nariaki TOYODA1),
Noe Velazquez LOPEZ1), Eiichiro SAKAGUCHI2) and Junya TATSUNO4)
Abstract: Desert is said to be the product of human agriculture, mainly of monoculture practices. Monoculture is considered to bea method of sweeping away all natural vegetation on the land surface and producing uniform crop. It is based on soil fertility which
was created by the previous natural forestry decomposition in the soil. Therefore, thoughtlessly the repeating of monoculture causes
deterioration of soil which at the same time increases the risk of desertification. Most of the recent studies on sustainable agriculture
have focused on maintaining the biodiversity of farmland. Nowadays, agro-forestry in which agriculture coexists with forest has
been introduced and is being carried out in arid land.
In this study we propose the shaft tillage cultivation method which is under developing as a new cultivation system for fullautomatic solar powered farming system, and as a sustainable cultivation method for arid land agriculture. Shaft Tillage Cultivation
was designed to minimize power requirements and to reduce damage on soil structure when tilling. It has also big merits on keeping
the natural cycle in the farm land. This paper explains the possibility to adapt Shaft Tillage Cultivation to arid land farming.
Key words: Arid land farming, Shaft Tillage Cultivation, Shaft Tillage tool

1. Introduction
Desert is said to be the product of human agriculture,mainly of monoculture practices. Monoculture is considereda practice of sweeping away all natural vegetation on the land
surface and producing one single crop. It is based on soil
fertility which was created by the previous natural forestry
decomposition in the soil. Average depth of topsoil covering
the earth is said to be 30 cm (Encyclopedia Nipponica).
Therefore, thoughtlessly repeating monoculture practices
causes deterioration of soil which at the same time increases
the risk of desertification (Gebhardt et al., 1985).
Most of the recent studies on sustainable agriculture havefocused on how maintaining the biodiversity of farmland.
Nowadays, the introduction of agro-forestry in which
agriculture coexists with forest is being carried out in arid land
(Jama et al. 2005).
The authors propose Shaft Tillage Cultivation which isunder developing as a new cultivation system for fully
automatic solar powered farming system and cultivation
experiments have been repeated (Tajima et al., 2000). Shaft
Tillage Cultivation was developed as a method to reduce
power requirements by minimizing tillage area and soil stirring.

characterized as a futuristic farming method aimed to maintainthe natural cycle of farmland.
This feature is considered to have potential as a farming
method while maintaining the biodiversity needed in arid landfarms.
This paper explains the possibility to adapt Shaft Tillage
Cultivation to arid land farming.

2. Shaft Tillage Cultivation Features
Currently, large-scale agriculture in the United States andother advanced countries, cover crops or living mulch has been
introduced for the redeeming of monoculture farming method.
Such farming method is a way to continue growing withoutbarring land and apply of allelopathy, as a result it is expectedwater retention, prevention of erosion, saving farmlandbiodiversity, and maintain nitrogen fixation.
Shaft Tillage Cultivation is a farming method promoting
crop coexistent with weeds. These were mowed at 3~5 cm
while the aim of maintaining biodiversity in vegetation as close
as possible to nature.
Figure 1 shows the utilization of sunlight under Shaft
Tillage Cultivation. Efficiency is high in the use of sunlightbecause the sunlight is fixed into the whole farmland by the* Corresponding Author: 45612001@nodai.ac.jp
1-1-1, Sakuragaoka, Setagaya, Tokyo, 156-8502, Japan
1) Agriculture Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture3) Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture2) Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture4) Faculty of Engineering, Kinki University

At the same time, Shaft Tillage Cultivation has beenSunlight

HarvestPhotosynthesis

Crop

Weeds Cutting

Seedling
Planting

Residue
Inorganic
MatterActive Soil
Condition
Ｓoil
Organism

Organic
Matterground levelsectionshaft digger

Fig. 1. Utilization of sunlight under Shaft Tillage Cultivation.

sectionplanting hole digger

Yield

Fig. 3. The Shaft Tillage tool and the shape of seedling.
vegetable
cut weed
weed root

Fig. 2. The image of Shaft tillage cultivation.

photosynthesis of the weed in Shaft Tillage Cultivation and caninflect as organic matter.

intensive
fertilizing portion 30-35mm

plug seedling
contact surface

clearance

fertilizer

Fig. 4. The image of mechanism of root taking.

3. Tillage and Planting by Shaft Tillage Cultivation
Figure 2 shows the image of Shaft Tillage Cultivation.
Weeds are mowed certain height around non-growing season
and stabilize coating with vegetation of the perennial weeds.
The Shaft Tillage Cultivation is carried out by transplanting.
Planting is performed by inserting the seedling into the molded
planting hole, which is molded while tilling, for preventing thehole from covering with soil.
Figure 3 shows the Shaft Tillage tool. This tool mold adeep vertical shaft by roating the tillage tool, at the same time
mold the planting hole which have the same shape as seedlings.
Furthermore, this tool has no direction of rotating, whichallows repeating alternative reverse when planting. These
prevent accumulation of weeds residues and roots on the tool.
Figure 4 shows the image of the mechanism of root taking
when planting. Transplanting has improved plants survival

Fig. 5. The state of seedling after planting.

rates compared with direct sowing. Also, crops differentiatethemselves with the surrounding weeds by adding water andfertilizer directly under the deep vertical shaft before planting.
Figure 5 shows the state of seedling after planting seedlingtakes root. Due to the sidewall of the seedling adheres with
the inner wall of the planting hole. The surrounding of thesince it is possible to maintain biodiversity by weed cover.
(5) It is possible to differentiate between weeds and crops bywatering and fertilizing before planting.
(6) Cultivation is possible even if the surface is arid due to theshaft can induce roots to deep parts.
Figure 6 shows the state of the experimental plots in theShaft Tillage Cultivation field. Figure 7 shows the state ofcultivation experiment in a dry conditioned greenhouse.

5. Possibility to Adapt Shaft Tillage Cultivation to Arid
Land Farming
Fig. 6. The state of the cultivation.

Fig. 7. The state of cultivation in dry conditioned greenhouse.

planting hole is covered with cut weeds and residues. Shaft
Tillage Cultivation is a farming method where roots are left in
the field after harvesting, and crop residues on the field are nottilled but only the position of planting is changed.
The shaft which has strong walls was molded by acylindrical tool with a smooth surface under the planting hole,which allows obtaining tillage effect. Therefore, the power
requirement is the minimum and the soil is not mixed. In
addition, the air permeability in the field is maintained byrepeating cultivation.

4. Notable Points Obtained from the Result of theCultivation Experiments
The obtained experiment results of Shaft Tillage
Cultivation adapted to the cultivation of Chinese cabbage(Brassica rapa var. chinensis) are as follows.
(1) Soil erosion is low due to the surface is covered withweeds.
(2) Weeds cover surface prevent soil from splashing upward
by rainfall, help to avoid disease’s infections from woundsof the crops.
(3) It is possible to prevent a conflict between weeds and crops
since weeds vegetation are stabilized by regular pruning.
(4) There is the effect to reduce a single type of pest outbreaks

Considering the possibility to adapt Shaft Tillage
Cultivation to arid land farming from the notable points
acquired by cultivation experiment.
(1) Ensuring erosion resistanceIn conventional farming method is necessary to remove thecovering of soil surface such as vegetation and rocks whentilling, therefore soil after tillage is easily eroded by windand rain. However in Shaft Tillage Cultivation is lesslikely to be impaired in soil erosion resistance because mostof the topsoil is maintained.
(2) Ensuring biodiversity
Shaft Tillage Cultivation can maintain biodiversity because
it does not destroy the plow layer as well as ground surface.
Advantages of the Shaft Tillage Cultivation are theaccumulation of organic matter and maintain soil structure.
As a result, Shaft Tillage Cultivation leads to prevention ofsoil degradation.
(3) Because a root is induced in the deep part of the shaft, it canabsorb deeper water after planting in a short term, thisallows for cultivation in the land where soil is hard.
(4) It is possible to avoid conflicts between crops and surface
vegetation since irrigation and fertilization are carried out
before planting.
(5) The possibility of cultivation in land which is hard tocultivate increases by putting water-retentive material andsoil conditioning preparations into the shaft.
(6) Because it is thought that use efficiency of the sunlight ishigh as much as a weed fixes it by photosynthesis in Shaft
Tillage Cultivation, it is thought that the effectiveness ishigh in the arid land of the region in a low latitude area that
there is the sun light abundantly.
(7) Because the organic increase in the soil is effective inwater-holding improvement of the soil, we can expect theeffectiveness of Shaft Tillage Cultivation from theviewpoint of harvesting of the surface water.

6. Conclusion
Cultivation experiment has been conducted for 15 years sofar, comparing growth and yield of Shaft Tillage Cultivation
field with full-scale tilling field (Tajima et al. 2001).
Although growth of plants in full-scale tilling field is generally
superior to in Shaft Tillage Cultivation field, in the case severe
environment condition, more individuals survive in the Shaft
Tillage Cultivation field.
In the future, we want to verify the adequacy of Shaft
Tillage Cultivation in arid land farming by the experimenting
there.

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