how is soil prepared for crop production?give a brief description
Answers
Hey dude,
The soil serves as a reservoir of different nutrients required for the growth of plants. Preparation of soil is the first step in cultivating crop for food production. The soil is prepared for sowing the seeds of the crop, by ploughing, levelling and manuring.
@BavanaMadhooo
Answer:
Explanation:
oil Preparation
As we discussed, soil preparation is the first step to be followed when we start the agricultural process. It usually entails the loosening up of the top layer of soil i.e. topsoil. Plants absorb water and nutrients from the soil through their roots, hence it is essential to prepare the soil, so we can have a healthy and bountiful produce.
The soil is prepared by the following methods
Ploughing
Levelling
Manuring
Ploughing
Plough
Ploughing is the process of loosening and turning the soil. Its also known as tilling. Ploughing of soil is important for the following reasons
Allows roots of the plants to penetrate deeply into the soil. This firmly roots the plant.
Loose soil also provides better aeration to the roots allowing them to breathe easily.
It assists the growth of microbes and worms, which perform decomposing and add nutrients and humus to the soil
Ploughing also removes weeds and other waste materials from the field.
It brings nutrient-rich soil to the top, which helps in the growth of plants
The tools we use for ploughing are:
Plough: This is the most ancient tool used for ploughing. A plough may be made of wood or a metal such as iron. It has a blade or sticks attached to the front that is used to cut through the soil. Ploughs are traditionally drawn by cattle such as ox or cows, but in modern times tractors are used. Ploughs till the soil, add manure and fertilizers and scrapes the soil.
Hoe: A hoe is also an ancient agricultural tool. We use it to till the land, remove weeds and dig up soil. They generally have a long wooden rod with a bent iron plate at one end. The other end may be attached to an animal. Hoe was used for tilling in olden times, but these days are only used to remove weeds.
Cultivator: This is the modern mechanism we use currently to plough our farms. It involves the use of a tractor to drive the cultivator. They dig up and pulverize the soil. Cultivators also kill weeds and dig up unwanted vegetation. Cultivator may be more expensive than the traditional methods, but it saves a lot of time and labour force.
Levelling
Once the field is ploughed, the topsoil is quite loose. There is a strong possibility that strong winds or rain will wash away the topsoil. The soil then needs to be levelled again to ensure its strong foundation. This levelling of soil is done with an implement called the leveller, which is a heavy wooden or iron plank. Levelling of the field also helps in uniform distribution of water during irrigation. This is the final step of soil preparation.
Manuring
To increase the fertility of the soil, we add manure to the soil even before we begin sowing the seeds. We add the manure before we plough the field, so it gets properly incorporated into the soil.
Learn more about Manure and Fertilizers here in detail.
Sowing of Seeds
Seed Drill
This is the second step in crop production. Once the soil preparation is done, it is now time to sow the seeds. Sowing is the actual process of planting the seeds in the soil. The seeds that are sown have to be selected very carefully and have to of high quality.
Methods of sowing seeds
The various methods of sowing the seeds are
Sowing by hand: The scattering of seeds by hand is the simplest method of sowing seeds. This method is also called broadcasting. This is the most economical method that can be employed. However the distribution of seeds is not uniform, it may result in clusters of seeds on the field.
Seed Drill: This is a modern method of sowing seeds. It is better and more efficient method than sowing by hand. It is usually done by attaching iron drills to a tractor. Seed drills ensure that the seeds are planted at equal intervals and at the correct depth in the soil.
Precautions to be taken while sowing seeds
Sowing seeds is essentially the most important part of crop production. It is necessary to focus on even the smallest details. The following precautions should be taken when sowing seeds,
Seeds must be planted at the correct distance or intervals from each other. This is to ensure that all plants get their fair share of light, water and nutrients for growth and development. Planting seeds at equidistance have been proved to increase the yield of the farm.
Seeds must be sown at the correct depth in the soil. If seeds are simply scattered on the top they are likely to be blown away or eaten by animals or birds. If we sow them too deep into the ground, they will not germinate due to lack of air.
The seeds that you sow should be of the highest quality. They have to germ and disease free.