Abstract: Conservation tillage systems combine farming methods with planting agronomy to increase and improve healthy soil by avoiding soil disturbances to reduce farmland erosion and water loss and increase organic soil matter. At present, most of the farmland soil in China has several problems like low fertility, severe degradation, soil erosion, and aggravated pollution. The full implementation of conservation farming methods is urgent. According to the present situation of China’s agricultural production and the demand for sustainable development, the research progress of conservation tillage at home and abroad was first introduced. Then the key technologies and equipment such as straw mulching, no-tillage and less tillage, and pest control were analyzed. Finally, suggestions on the future development of conservation tillage technology were put forward. The extension area of conservation tillage in China exceeded 7.3×10~7 hm~2. If conservation tillage was carried out in two-cropping winter wheat and maize in a year, the economic benefits as high as 409 yuan/hm~2 could be achieved. Rice under conservation tillage could save 15% of fertilizer and 10% of pesticide per year. The implementation of conservation tillage is closely related to agricultural and environmental conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the conservation tillage mode suitable for the characteristics of each region according to local conditions and build a perfect supporting system of agricultural machinery and technology.