‘Helicropping’ could take off.
Aerial application of herbicides, fertiliser and seeds could be the answer to preventing soil erosion.
‘No-till’ heli-cropping was successfully trialled recently on a pastoral farm in Waikato; the aim is to protect soils while maintaining productivity, says the Sustainable Helicropping Group chairman, Colin Armer.
“We are effectively putting away the plough,” he said. “The aerial no-till approach means we can establish crops and renew pastures without touching the ground or disturbing precious soil -- more like what happens in nature.”
Armer says early results from the $1 million project show potential to stem the 192 million tonnes of soil lost every year because of erosion (according to ‘Our Land 2018’, published by the Ministry for the Environment). Of these losses, 44% are from pastoral land.
He says the project to protect the soil brought together seven farmers to trial aerial no-till on their rolling hill-country properties in the central and lower North Island.