No-till agriculture replaces conventional soil tillage in order to reduce costs and labour - and to provide a mulch layer on the soil surface from the residues of the previous crop: this protects the soil surface and its ecology.

Strip-till is a form of precision farming and conservation agriculture that combines minimum tillage in strips with no-till on the remainder of the field. The soil over the whole field is protected by a growing crop or mulch from sunlight, and especially from the direct impact of raindrops by providing permanent soil cover.

A cropping system for maize which reduces the reworking of the soil to the stripes, in which the seeds are planted.

Vegetative riparian buffers are strips of trees, bushes and grass alongside surface water bodies such as streams or ponds. Their main function is to provide a natural buffer strip to filter out nutrient and sediment transported from agricultural fields and prevent it reaching the water bodies - as well as maintaining undisturbed green corridors.

Riparian buffer strips refer to the permanent greening of arable land alongside streams and other water bodies. By slowing down runoff water from the land, they help to protect water bodies from diffuse pollution. Riparian buffer strips have multiple other environmental benefits, but disadvantages also.

Detention ponds are artificially excavated basins that collect stormwater runoff and eroded sediment from the upstream catchment. The water stored in these ponds is slowly released into a water body or it infiltrates into the groundwater – or both. Their primary functions are flood control, erosion control and water quality improvement.

Grass buffer zones are established along waterways in cropland to reduce the surface runoff rate, and the amounts of sediment, nutrients and pesticides in the runoff.

Freezing winter cover crops are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. They improve soil structure, diversify cropping systems, suppress weeds and pests, and prevent nutrient loss.

A small constructed wetland is a combination of ponds and vegetation filters, designed mainly to remove sediment and nutrients from streams. It is usually located in first and second order streams in agricultural landscapes.

Permanent meadows or pastures are more effective in controlling land degradation than arable cropping. They are especially appropriate in hilly regions on sloping land where the risk of water erosion is high.