Cultural Practices

Back to: AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE SS1

 

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In today’s class, we will be talking about cultural practices. Enjoy the class!

Cultural practices

• Pre-planting Operations
• Planting Operations
• Post-planting Operations

Cultural practices are the various activities carried out on the farm before, during and after planting to ensure proper growth and establishment of crops. Cultural practices are classified into:

1. pre-planting operation.
2. planting operation.
3. post-planting operation.

Pre-planting operations are the operations carried out before planting, while planting is the sowing of seeds and post-posting operations include thinning, irrigation, manuring, mulching and weeding.

Pre-planting operations

1. Land clearing: this is the removal of pre-existing vegetation on the farmland. It is carried out by cutting the vegetation and grasses with cutlass or hoes; trees fell with axes. It can also be done mechanically with the aid of bulldozers and tree pullers.
2. Stumping: This is the removal of stumps by digging them out manually using cutlasses and axes. It can also be done mechanically by using a bulldozer. Stumps are the leftover cut trees on the far left on the soil surface.
3. Farm layout: Farm layout is a judicious way of using the farmland where the plots are divided into sections and each section is used to give maximum yield.
4. Land preparation: this is ensuring the soil is put in the best condition and state suited to the crop needs. The process of preparing the soil involves carrying out tillage, making beds, making heaps, making ridges, levelling soil after stumping etc.

• Tillage:

Tillage is the breaking or turning of the soil with a simple tool or farm machine after the land has been cleared in preparation for planting crops. It can be done manually with a hoe or mechanically with a tractor – driven plough.

Ploughing is cutting through the soil and making it into lumps or clods of soil. It is called primary tillage. While secondary tillage (harrowing) is the use of harrow to break down the large clods of soil into fine particles and making it ready for ridging. Other implements used in carrying out tillage are spring tine cultivator, mouldboard plough etc.

Importance of tillage

1. It loosens the soil and allows air and water to reach the roots of plants.
2. It allows easy penetration of roots into the soil
3. Plant nutrients are brought to the reach of the plant root
4. Tillage helps to destroy pest by exposing them to the sun
5. It ensures proper mixture of manure and fertilizer with the soil

Ridging:

Ridging involves the making of ridges on the farm, sometimes heaps are also made to serve the purpose of ridges on slopes ridges are made across, with the ridges made at intervals to check erosion, ridges also help to provide water for plant use and aids root penetration and establishment of crops.

Self-evaluation

1. What is land clearing?
2. Define stumping.
3. Define tillage and state three importance of tillage.
4. What is ridging?
5. Differentiate between primary and secondary tillage.

Practical demonstration

1. Clear the school farm using cutlass and till the land
2. Do the layout.
3. Make ten ridges in preparation for maize cultivation.
4. State three importance of tillage
5. Differentiate between primary and secondary tillage.

Planting operations- distance, date, seed rate, nursery and nursery practice

• Definition of planting operation
• Planting method
• Basic considerations in planting operation
• Nursery and Nursery operation

Planting operation

These are the operations carried out when inserting the planting materials (cutting or seeds) into the soil. When seeds are sown in the soil, they develop root and shoots, this is called germination and the young plants that emerge are called seedlings.

A seed when planted undergoes the following processes.

1. Germination: the process whereby the embryo of a seed resumes growth under favourable conditions.
2. Emergence: this refers to the appearance of a seedling above soil level.

Conditions necessary for germination of seeds are

1. Adequate moisture
2. Viable seed (living embryo)
3. Optimum temperature
4. Adequate air

Methods of sowing

1. In-situ (directly into the field/farmland)
2. Nursery

In-situ planting/sowing is sowing directly in the field on flats (plain land) ridges or garden beds e.g. of crops sown in-situ are maize, okra, cowpea, millet etc.

Sowing/Planting methods

1. Drilling: sowing seed by drilling with a stick or knife, followed by dropping seeds and covering them.
2. Broadcasting: the sowing of seeds by spreading it broadly on a prepared seedbed
3. Dibbling: the sowing of seeds up the bed at the planting point only and placing the seeds at the correct depth.

Basic considerations in planting operations

1. Planting space/distance
2. Planting time
3. Number of seed
4. Planting depth
5. Viability of seed

Planting space: This is the space between a sown or planted seed and the next. It is the distance between two plants stands on the field. Planting is usually in rows and the distance between plants on the same row is called within row spacing (intra-row spacing) while the distance between plants in two adjacent rows is called between row spacing (inter-row spacing).

Planting time: This is the time of planting or sowing seeds in which the crop can thrive or perform well. This is largely dependent on rainfall.

Number of seeds: This is the number of seeds sown per hole per planting point (position)

Planting depth: This is the distance of the sown seed in the soil from the soil surface

Seed viability: This is the life in the seed or deadness of the seed.

 Nursery and nursery operations

A nursery is a special place prepared for raising seedlings which are later taken to the field for proper planting (transplanting). Seedlings are grown in nursery beds, seed trays or boxes, basket or polythene bags may be used as boxes. E.g. of such crops are cocoa, kola, tomatoes, citrus etc.

Why seeds are raised in nurseries:

1. The seeds are tiny hence cannot be handled easily and sown as required
2. The seedlings are weak and may not survive in the field. They require protection from sunlight and rainfall.
3. They are better protected from pest in the nursery
4. To select the healthiest or seedling with the best vigour for transplanting.

Self-evaluation:

1. What is germination?
2. Define sowing in-situ
3. What is planting space?
4. Mention two reasons why seeds are raised in the nursery.
5. State three conditions for seed germination.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about the Pre-planting, Planting and Post-Planting Operations.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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