Soil use and management, “tillage”, is one of the major factors of agricultural production. The diversity of soil and climatic conditions throughout the world has led to the development of various farming systems to match husbandry requirements of crops grown in a given area.
Economic considerations and, in more recent years, also environmental concerns, have made it imperative to re-examine the technologies employed in tillage.
Current topics at ISTRO symposiums and conferences vary from the traditional to futuristic agriculture. Because of the impact of agriculture on the environment, agricultural scientists are seeking new approaches to identifying total systems of soil use and management for crop and livestock production that take into account the protection of the environment, energy expenditures, economics, and associated aspects of farming.