Conservation tillage practices reduce erosion by protecting the soil surface and allowing water to infiltrate instead of running off. It also contribute to soil fertility by increasing the organic matter of the soil.

Conservation tillage practices are grouped into three types:

• no-till: planting crops directly into residue that either hasn't been tilled at all (no-till) or has been tilled only in narrow strips with the rest of the field left untilled (strip-till).
• ridge- till: planting row crops on permanent ridges about 0.1 m high. The previous crop's residue is cleared off ridge-tops into adjacent furrows to make way for the new crop being planted on ridges.
• mulch-till: any other reduced tillage system that leaves at least one third of the soil surface covered with crop residue