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What could be the secret of generating good yield and good profits from land? How can one ensure successful cultivation without any losses? The answer is land preparation.
Land preparation forms the foundation of all farming activities. The probability of successful cultivation on a piece of land increases if the land is prepared diligently.
Good land is the key to making sure that the efforts of a grower do not go in vain. Although land preparation is really important you can use also accelerate your food and agriculture businesses with Microsoft Dynamics which can help you optimize your agriculture business and make huge profits.
A well-prepared field not only helps growers produce good yield but also controls weeds and recycle plant nutrients without letting them go to waste.
Without adequate land preparation, the farmer can not expect to generate good profits and there is a high probability of having a total crop failure at the end of the season.
Types
There are mainly 3 types and techniques of land preparations.
- Conventional Tillage
- Conservation Tillage
- Zero Tillage
All three types are explained below:
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Conventional Tillage
Conventional tillage is the series of operations used in a particular geographic area to produce a specific crop. The processes used differ greatly depending on the crops and regions.
The conventional tillage was based on moldboard plowing in the past. This moldboard plowing was mostly done in the fall.
More recently, the conventional tillage was changed and focused on using a chisel plow instead of a moldboard plow. Now, many newer combination tools have replaced the use of old tools just like they replaced the chisel plows. These tools leave additional residue than traditional moldboard plows.
A drawback to Conventional tillage is that this type of land preparation leaves the soil surface bare and reduces the soil particles, which makes them exposed to the erosive forces of wind and water. So it causes the loss of soil moisture, leads to increased wind and water erosion, and consumes significant amounts of fuel.
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Conservation Tillage
Conservation tillage systems are a type of land preparation that has the potential to preserve the soil and water and it does so by reducing the loss of soil and water, unlike conventional tillage. Conservation tillage integrates a range of residue management and no-till or reduced tillage practices.
A major benefit of using this type of land preparation is that it conserves the soil by reducing erosion. It covers 30 percent or more of the land surface with crop residue, after planting, to reduce soil erosion by water. Erosion is reduced by protecting the soil surface and allowing water to infiltrate rather than allowing it to run off.
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Zero Tillage
Zero tillage is the traditional land preparation technique where the whole idea is to avoid manipulating the soil at all costs. This technique is based on the preservation and conservation of the soil and is used to grow crops without disturbing the soil through tillage at all.
This has a huge economic advantage over other land preparation methods. No-till or zero-till farming technique decreases the amount of soil erosion which is normally caused by the tillage in soil especially sandy and dry soils.
Not only does this technique of land preparation make the soil fertile and resilient, but it also lowers fuel and labor costs because of fewer passes across the field.
Methods
If you aim to generate a good yield from your land, you do need to do some hard work, don’t you?
Land preparation needs to be done in a very effective way to ensure that it produces a high yield and minimizes losses.
Before you start cultivating the land, you need to put in some effort to clear the land.
Land clearing can be done either manually ( by hand) or mechanically (by machine).
Land clearing is the growth of land to develop a potential use for agricultural purposes. Land clearing requires the removal of native surfaces ‒ including trees, bushes, and boulders ‒ from the land surface. After removing the surface, the land is later broken to produce a workable bed which can be then used to grow the crops and where crops can be seeded more productively.
The other important steps required in the preparation of land involve:
- Pre-irrigation of the land
- First plowing or tilling is based on the most suitable method for the land.
- Harrowing allows air movement and root aeration which helps the soil to breathe and this process significantly improves water infiltration and growth of the crops.
- Flooding and ensuring access to clean and abundant amounts of water on the land.
- Leveling of the land.
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Objective
Why do we need to put in so much effort? How does all of this reward us?
The whole aim of creating an ideal land for cultivation is to provide the best soil conditions which consequently improve and ensure the successful establishment of the tissue culture plants. Land preparation is used to control crop diseases & pest invasion.
Through proper land preparation, factors that limit tree growth are reduced such as pests and weeds.
Advantages
There are numerous advantages of land preparation and a few of them are mentioned below :
- Improves the site conditions.
- Protects the land from weeds and pests by reducing the weed competition for light and nutrients.
- Improves the soil, water, and air conditions to provide an ideal environment for crops to grow.
- Loosens tight or compacted soils to allow the air to pass through them and allow the soil to breathe.
- Reduces frost exposure during mounding.
Conclusion
Land preparation is undoubtedly a very important step in cultivation which ensures that the field is ready for planting. These well-prepared fields control weeds, recycle plant nutrients, and provide a soft soil mass for transplanting and direct seeding.
