Agricultural Practices (Preparation of Soil)

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What are the Different Agricultural Practices?

There are various processes used in the activity of agriculture. These include:

• Preparation of soil
• Sowing
• Adding manure and fertilisers
• Irrigation
• Protecting from weeds
• Harvesting
• Storage

We will learn about each of these in detail in this and in the upcoming segments. Let us begin with the most important requirement for agriculture, that is soil.

How is Soil Prepared for Agriculture?

Preparing the soil means making it ready for sowing of crops. This basically involves softening and loosening of the soil, as the soil is usually found solidified into hard chunks.

There are two ways in which soil is prepared; by natural agents and by man.

Earthworms present in the soil are natural agents that help loosen the soil and aerate it as well.

Man uses the method of Tilling, also known as Ploughing to prepare the soil for cultivation.

What is Tilling or Ploughing?

In agriculture, the process of loosening and turning of soil is called Tilling or Ploughing.

This is done by using a plough. If the soil is dry, it may have to be watered before ploughing. After ploughing, if huge chunks of soil are left behind, they are broken down into smaller fragments. The soil is then levelled so that the land is even and sowing of seeds can take place on this land.

Sometimes manure is added before the tilling process so that it can mix well with the soil.

What are the Advantages of Tilling?

• Tilling helps the soil to retain water. This leads to the growth of favourable microbes. These microbes help in the decomposition of dead matter and convert it into nutrient- rich humus. It is what plants depend on for

• Plants mostly take nutrients from the top layers of soil as their roots are unable to go deeper into the Loosening up of soil helps to turn the lower soil, thus bringing the nutrients from the lower layers to the upper layers of the soil.

• Loosening of the soil allows more air to pass to the roots of the plants, which in turn aids the growth of the plant leading to good crop

Which Equipment is Used for Tilling?

There are three main types of equipment used in this first stage of agriculture; plough, hoe and cultivator.

Summary

Did you know?

Agriculture began for the first time in 10,000 BC.