THE ROLE OF PUBLIC-POLICY IN THE USE OF CONSERVATION TILLAGE IN THE USA

A number of policy tools are used to reduce soil erosion from agricult ural lands in the United States, including education and technical ass istance, financial assistance, land retirement and conservation compli ance requirements. Education and technical assistance by public and pr ivate sources can be effective in promoting the adoption of conservati on tillage by farmers for whom that practice will be profitable. Finan cial incentives may be necessary to induce the voluntary adoption of c onservation tillage by farmers for whom the practice would not be more profitable than conventional tillage but on whose land the use of con servation tillage would provide substantial offsite benefits. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.