Summer fallow, sometimes called fallow cropland, is cropland that is purposely kept out of production during a regular growing season. Resting the ground in this manner allows one crop to be grown using the moisture and nutrients of more than one crop cycle. The summer fallow technique provides enough extra moisture and nutrients to allow the growth of crops which might otherwise not be possible and is closely associated with
dryland farming
Dryland farming and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of crops. Dryland farming is associated with drylands, areas characterized by a cool wet season (which charges the soil with virtually ...
.
Usually this is done in semi-arid regions in order to conserve moisture for the next season. It also provides additional time for crop residues to break down and return nutrients to the soil for the subsequent crop, though this function has become less important since the widespread adoption of
chemical fertilizers enabled farmers to artificially add vital nutrients. Fields which are fallow may be tilled or sprayed to control weeds and conserve moisture in the soil. The 1997
Census of Agriculture
A census of agriculture is a statistical operation for collecting, processing and disseminating data on the structure of agriculture, covering the whole or a significant part of a country. Typical structural data collected in a census of agricultur ...
reported that , almost 5% of the of all cropland, was fallow that year.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Summer Fallow
Agriculture