## 1 Introduction  
About one-third of the land surface in the world is arid or semi-arid. Growing population, increasing food demand, and technological advances may soon lead to intensifying land use in semi-arid regions [1; 2]. The semi-arid land represents regions of the world where the precipitation is low, irregular, and unpredictable, which is rarely sufficient for crop production and negatively affects the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil [1; 2; 3; 4]. Due to the mentioned climatic problems and lack of proper agricultural and soil management practices, soil organic matter (SOM) and mineral nutrient contents are very low. Most semi-arid regions are classified as winter-dominant rainfall areas. Wheat is extremely well adapted to endure in such an environment, where its productivity and stability of production are exceeded only by barley [4]. Therefore, the dominant cultivation of semi-arid regions is often based on winter cereals with a \"wheat or barley/fallow rotation\". However, it was shown that crop biodiversity has a noticeable effect on soil fertility [5]. This is a main problem in the semi-arid highlands in northwest Iran, where successive wheat or barley farming ended up reducing infiltration rates and SOM. Furthermore, inadequate vegetation and imbalanced precipitation contributed to the creation of runoffs which tend to erode the soil even more extensively [6; 7; 8]. Lack of interest, smallholdings, frequent dry spells, drought, low profitability, unsustainable management practices, low research commitment, and problems of complexity resulted in a shortage of low-tillage technologies for improving soil properties across semi-arid regions [9]; Poor soil and water conservation measures lead to land degradation. Arable soils are under significant threat due to unsustainable cultivation practices. Cautious soil management is essential to obtain sustainable agricultural production especially in drought-prone areas [10]. Tilling and turning the soil layer is common practice for the preparation of seedbeds. However, the tillage intensity can greatly affect the properties of soils and the plant yield. This is especially important in soils with low organic matter, such as semi-arid regions. Conventional tillage or plowing turns over the soil completely, bringing soil materials from under the plow layer to the surface and burying materials from fertile topsoil to a lower depth. However, continuous and frequent conventional tillage can lead to degradation of soil structure, due to the gradual loss of stable aggregates, leading to soil erosion and compaction, which then result in low moisture availability for plants [11]. On the contrary, conservation tillage or reduced tillage (RT) is an agricultural management approach that aims to minimize the frequency or intensity of tillage operations. RT potentially produces benefits that result from soil C accumulation in the surface soil, such as improved infiltration, water-holding capacity, erosion reduction, nutrient cycling, and soil biodiversity. Continuous and frequent conventional tillage can significantly change the soil physical properties within a growing season [12; 13]. Inorganic fertilizers play a critical role in the world's food security; however, they do not add to or maintain soil organic matter, and their inappropriate continued use can damage the soil and endanger sustainability of production in the long term [14]. Furthermore, some studies emphasized associated problems with the inappropriate application and improper management of inorganic fertilizers, including increased consumption of fossil fuels, leach out of soil, pollution of water basins, destruction of micro-organisms and advantageous insects, increased sensitivity of the crop to diseases, and reduced soil fertility, all of which tend to impose irreparable damage to the overall system. On the other end of the spectrum, organic fertilizers seem to be capable of addressing these problems [15; 16].