2. According to paragraph 3, all of the following are practices involved in minimum tillage EXCEPT:
- A. using mechanical devices to control weeds
- B. leaving unseeded soil undisturbed
- C. disturbing the soil only once where the seeds are inserted
- D. protecting against water and wind erosion by leaving parts of the soil covered with crop residues
Paragraph 3
One of the time-tested methods of dealing with water erosion is terracing—creating hill-side ridges—to reduce runoff. Another newer, highly effective tool in the soil conservation tool kit is conservation tillage, which includes both no tillage and minimum tillage. In conventional farming, land is plowed, disked, or harrowed to prepare the seedbed, seed is drilled into the soil with a planter, and row crops are cultivated with a mechanical cultivator two or three times to control weeds. With minimum tillage, farmers simply drill seeds directly into the soil. The only tillage is a one-time disturbance in a narrow band of soil where the seeds are inserted, leaving the remainder of the soil undisturbed, covered by crop residues and thus resistant to both water and wind erosion.