Carbon plough lives on in Lemken’s Koralin cultivator

13-11-2023 | Crop solutions | News

The carbon plough is not yet a practical reality, but Lemken is heavily investing in flat cultivation to disturb the soil as little as possible. For this purpose, the manufacturer has designed the Koralin cultivator. - Photos: Martin Smits

At the Agritechnica trade fair, machinery manufacturer Lemken presents the Koralin cultivator as part of regenerative agriculture (carbon farming).

A few years ago, machinery manufacturer Lemken announced the so-called carbon plough. After that, there was silence around this Lemken Juwel CF, which is intended to work deeply underground the organic matter fixed in the topsoil. This way, CO₂ from the air can be absorbed, and the soil is enabled to store a larger amount of it underground.

The German research institute ZALF has been testing a similar system since 1961 in the east of Germany. Andreas Baur, who was involved in the project as a researcher at the time, explains that this system has been proven as a method to improve crop growth on compacted sandy soil.

At the Agritechnica trade fair, Baur shows a profile from a test plot in the east of Germany. It demonstrates that more rootable zones in the profile are created, which are still found even fifty years later. At that time, the plough was used as a method for soil improvement, now the plough may make it possible to practice carbon farming.

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The Urasi-eco-cultivator from machinery manufacturer Carré features four rows of teeth. The manufacturer has equipped the Urasi with a spring tine (80 x 12 mm) with a counter-spring. This ensures that the working depth of the chisels is uniform.

Shallow working with Koralin cultivator

The carbon plough is not yet a practical reality. However, machinery manufacturers like Lemken are heavily investing in shallow stubble cultivation to mulch, keep organic matter on the surface, and disturb the soil as little as possible.

Flat cultivation, more like hoeing, means high demands on depth control and soil formation. Lemken has specifically designed the Koralin cultivator for this purpose. The Koralin does not ride on the running roller for depth control but operates on wheels in the field.

A similar tool is the Methys from the French Sky. Also from France, machinery manufacturer Carré introduces the Urasi-eco-cultivator for precise shallow stubble cultivation.