In the 1700's, IIRC, the king of England tasked a researcher to find out why the Huron in what is now Essex County had three times the productivity of settlers growing maize.
The report was inconclusive but I believe it was no till, mounded in a certain way, and carefully managed in spacing and irrigation.
Interestingly the farms were usually tended by professionals who lived at the farm, but worked on behalf of families who had plots and participated at crunch times.
Huron villages were pretty sophisticated.