No-tillage and high-residue practices reduce soil water evaporation

Reducing tillage and maintaining crop residues on the soil surface could im-prove the water use efficiency of Califor-nia crop production. In two field studies comparing no-tillage with standard till-age operations (following wheat silage harvest and before corn seeding), we es-timated that 0.89 and 0.97 inches more water was retained in the no-tillage soil than in the tilled soil. In three field stud-ies on residue coverage, we recorded that about 0.56, 0.58 and 0.42 inches more water was retained in residue-covered soil than in bare soil following 6 to 7 days of overhead sprinkler irrigation. Assum