Subsurface drip, conservation tillage projects

University of California’s sustainable agriculture projects show that conservation tillage and the use of underground drip irrigation reduce weeds and pests, cut energy costs and lessen environmental impacts while maintaining yields in some crops.

Will Horwath, coordinator of the UC Davis Center for Integrated Farming Systems (CIFS) sustainable farming project reports, "Under subsurface drip irrigation, there are fewer weeds and less need for herbicides, which are produced from petroleum products, compared to furrow irrigation where water saturates the soil surface. This makes it easier to implement reduced tillage, a practice often plagued by weeds. We also show less emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.”

There is extra costs to these sustainable measures, but as the cost of fuel and health care goes up and water supplies go down -- cost ratios will be more sustainable