no-tilladj.n.
/ˌnəʊˈtɪl/, U.S. /ˈnoʊˈtɪl/ Agriculture.
A. adj.
Designating a system of farming in which seed is sown in unploughed ground, with herbicides being used to kill or control any existing vegetation. Also: designating a crop grown in this way.
ΚΠ
1968 Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune 8 Apr. 5/5 (advt.) New idea on no-till planting
1970 Amer. Econ. Rev. 60 1082 The no-till system resulted in the highest profit and highest percentage of land in corn.
1976 Science 194 151 No-till corn has the advantage of requiring less labor.
1988 B. A. Mason Spence & Lila (1989) ix. 76 With no-till beans, he had to use a weed-killer a week after planting.
1999 D. T. Avery in G. Tansey & J. D'Silva Meat Business ii. 20 In the rice countries of Asia, no-till farming lets poor peasant farmers prepare their rice paddies in 14 days instead of 60 days.
B. n.
This system of farming.
ΚΠ
1976 N.Y. Times 15 Feb. iv. 7/2 According to its proponents, in some cases no-till can reduce fuel costs by up to 90 percent and labor by more than two-thirds.
1985 Implement & Tractor (Nexis) Dec. 22 Emphasis on no-till is still strong.
1994 Hanover (Ont.) Post 28 June c2/1 Fertilizers are applied as a starter rather than broadcast..to reduce tie-up of phosphorus by the soil, and in no-till, to place the fertilizer where the roots can reach it.
Derivatives
no-ˈtilled adj. (of a crop) grown under the no-till system; (of a farm) operating the non-till system.
ΚΠ
1979 Weed Abstr. 28 415/1 Data included from trials in tilled and no-tilled winter wheat grown under dryland conditions showed that though no differences in weed populations were evident, there were significant differences in volunteer grain.
1990 D. Kline Great Possessions (1993) Introd. p. xvii Their study shows that our traditionally horse-worked farms absorb almost seven times as much water before becoming saturated than the conventional no-tilled farms.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1968