CROP PRODUCTION 1 (Land
Preparation)
Introduction
• A piece of land which is prepared is known as seedbed.
• A seedbed is a piece of land that is prepared ready to receive
planting materials.
Seedbed Preparation
Reasons for Seedbed Preparation;
• To enable water to infiltrate.
• To kill weeds
• To improve soil aeration.
• To destroy pests and diseases.
• To incorporate organic matter in the soil.
• For easy planting.
• To facilitate root penetration.
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Operations in Land Preparation
Land Clearing
• Clearing of land is necessary when:
• Opening up a virgin land.
• A stalk growing crop was previously planted.
• There is long interval between primary and secondary cultivation.
• Land was left fallow for a long time.
Procedure
• Tree felling and removal of stumps and roots.
• Burning
• Slashing
• Use of chemicals.
Note: Burning should be avoided where possible since it;
• Leads to loss of organic matter,
• Kills soil organisms
Destroys soil structure and plant nutrients.
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Primary Cultivation
• This is the initial breaking of land.
• It is done early before the onset of the rains to:
Give time for soil organisms to act on organic matter.
Allow gaseous exchange to take place, thus carbon dioxide diffuses
out of the soil while oxygen enters into the soil.
Allow other operations to take place in time.
Reasons for primary cultivation:
• Remove weeds.
• Burry organic matter.
• Open up soil for infiltration of water and air.
• Expose pests and disease causing organisms.
• Soften the soil for easy planting.
Operations in primary cultivation
Hand digging ;
Use of hand tools ;
Jembes, Mattocks,
Fork-jembes.
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Mechanical cultivation ;
Use of mouldboard ploughs;
Disc ploughs,
Chisel ploughs,
Subsoilers Rippers.
Use of Ox-Ploughs ;
Which can be drawn by;
Oxen,
Donkeys,
Camels Depth of
Cultivation
Depends on:
• The type of crop to be planted/size of seed.
• The implements available. The type of soil.
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Choice of Implement
Determined by:
• The condition of land.
• The type of tilth required/type of crop.
• Depth of cultivation.
Secondary Tillage
• These are refinement practices on the seedbed that follow primary
cultivation.
• It is also known as harrowing.
Reasons for secondary Tillage:
• To remove the germinating weeds.
• To break soil clods to produce required tilth.
• To level the seedbed for uniform planting. To incorporate organic
matter/manure into the soil.
Factors determining number of secondary cultivation:
• Soil moisture content.
• Size of the planting materials.
• Condition of the soil after primary cultivation. Slope of the land.
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Tertiary Operations:
Ridging ;
The process of digging soil on a continuous line and heaping on one
side to produce a furrow and a bund (ridge).
It is important for root crops, to allow root expansion and for soil and
water conservation.
Rolling:
It is the compaction of the soil to produce a firm surface which
increases seed-soil contact and prevents wind erosion.
Levelling;
Production of an even, uniform surface which promotes uniform
planting.
Subsoiling:
• This is deep cultivation into the subsoil layer to break up any hardpan
which might have developed.
It is done for the following reasons:-
To facilitate drainage.
• Bring up leached nutrients to the surface.
• Increase aeration of the soil. To improve root penetration.
• The implements used include chisel plough and subsoilers.
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Minimum Tillage:
• This is the application of a combination of farming practices with the
aim of reducing the disturbance of the soil.
Examples of which include:
Use of herbicides.
• Mulching and cover-cropping.
• Timely operations to prevent weed infestation.
• Strip cultivation.
• Uprooting and slashing of weeds.
Reasons for Minimum Tillage
• To reduce cost of cultivation.
• To control soil erosion.
• To preserve soil moisture.
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• To prevent root exposure and damage.
To reconstruct destroyed soil structure
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