Productivity increases are common in well managed CA systems. Yield increases of 12-20% were measured in wheat, barley, lentil and chickpea, when all principles of CA were employed along with early sowing in experiments over four years. A key step in achieving grain yield improvement is the successful establishment of the ZT crop. The average wheat yields of farmer who used ZT and early sowing were 160-495 kg/ha greater than farmers using conventional tillage and sowing times. Yield increases are also evident in both dry and favorable seasons, and in fields where supplemental irrigation is used. These yield increases can be attributed to increased rainfall infiltration (reduced run-off), moisture conservation over summer and during the growing season, enhanced water-use efficiency of the early sown crops, and improved soil structure and fertility. So CA helped avoid the effects of drought and enabled crops to produce useful yields even in the driest conditions.
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