Land Preparation

Land Preparation
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE
FORM 4
LESSON #4
Objectives
At the end of this lesson students of form 4 should be able to:
- Explain the different types of tillage.
- State the different equipment that can be used manually or mechanically for each practice
outline.
- State the effects of both primary and secondary tillage.
- Demonstrate the process from start to finish in how one should prepare a parcel of land for
planting.
Land preparation ensures that the soil is well-prepared before a crop is planted.
It involves:
❑Clearing of the land
❑Tillage- Primary and Secondary
❑Fertilizing the soil – (addition of manure)
❑Liming of the soil
❑Creation of Drainage
❑Levelling the land
❑Bed Formation
Land Clearing
❖This is normally the first operation. It involves the removal of trees, shrubs, grasses, crop
residuals etc.
❖Clearing of overgrown trees and dense foliage can be done manually using axe, cutlass etc. or
mechanically using chain or power saw, bulldozer.
https://images.app.goo.gl/9tMgiWTBfuU4MLoW6
Land Clearing Cont’d
Clearing of grass, brush or crop residues can be done manually using a brushing cutlass or
mechanically using a weed wacker or brush cutter attached to a tractor.
https://images.app.goo.gl/N4wXqvMuHBUXsXaD9 https://images.app.goo.gl/ciuiN4Ms5drEgKi68
Land Clearing Cont’d
When a land is being bulldozed it is important to save the topsoil.
The steps in bulldozing a land are as follows:
o Trees are removed and heaped in heaps (windrows)
oTopsoil is scraped off and placed in heaps
oLand is graded, filling in any depressions
oTopsoil is then spread over the entire area
oN.B.: Tree trunks and twigs which have been chopped or bulldozed should be placed in
windrows and allowed to decompose. The decomposed materials can now be used to add
nutrients and improve soil structure of the soil.
Tillage
Tillage refers to the breaking up of the soil surface and incorporating organic matter into the soil.
Two types of tillage are:
1. Primary Tillage – This is where the soil is broken up by ploughing
2. Secondary Tillage – This involves the refining of the soil.
Primary Tillage
This is land which has been cleared is dug either manually using a garden fork or ploughed
mechanically using a tractor. The tractor can be hand held with a rotary plough or a four-wheel
drive with a mouldboard or disc plough attached to it.
https://images.app.goo.gl/HktdECHwgcC5zvD66 https://images.app.goo.gl/PfYRM1Ey5kfom5R79
https://images.app.goo.gl/Cb37cJ1zV5ruoorLA
The Effects of Primary Tillage
It loosen or break up the soil surface
It allows air and water to enter the soil more freely
It bury or mixes the organic matter with the soil.
N.B.: At the end of primary tillage the soil is in large clods or lumps.
Secondary Tillage
It refers to the breaking up of the large clods of soil into smaller pieces (aggregates) and the
production of a fine tilth. The process can be done manually using a garden hoe, garden rake, or
cutlass and mechanically using a rotavator or harrow.
https://images.app.goo.gl/si6LnJ8s6rPwub956 https://images.app.goo.gl/mNtf3phQ9gRN4A9Q7
The Effects of Secondary Tillage
To obtain a tilth suited to the crop
Produce a seed-bed for the cultivation of crops
Cut up and mix organic matter (crop residues or stubble) into the soil
Allow the roots of crops plants to penetrate easily and grow freely in the soil
Stubble- the cut stalks of cereal plants left sticking out of the ground after the grain is harvested.
Manual methods vs Mechanical
Methods
Manual Methods Mechanical Methods
Commonly used by small-scale and peasant farmers. Used extensively by large-scale farmers.
Can be used on hilly terrain as well as on flat or Difficult or sometimes impossible to use on hilly
undulating land. terrain.
Require physical strength or physical power. Rely on power from machines.
Laborious, tedious and time-consuming Speedy, effective and economical.
May be seriously affected by a scarcity of labourers. Greatly reduce the need for manual labour.
Drainage
▪It is essential to provide drainage for the removal of excess water from the surface and
subsurface of the soil.
▪Drainage can be simple channels to complex systems which can also provide irrigation especially
in the dry season.
▪The construction of drainage can be done manually using a garden fork, spade, hoe or rake. It
can also be done mechanically using a ridger/banker or a back-hoe.
https://images.app.goo.gl/fGe9NuDaocgK7kvA6 https://images.app.goo.gl/SRf2Jc1NGRBqJ64J8
Levelling and Making Beds
After the drains have been dug, the land needs to be levelled to form beds suited to the crop,
soil type, the season or weather conditions.
During the dry season, flat-topped beds may be used.
During the rainy season, cambered beds should be used since it have a slightly sloping top which
helps to remove/ drain excess water from the soil.
Ridges and furrows bed creates channels for water to drain away and mounds have raised
portions in the centre.
N.B.: The farmer may use a variety of beds such as: cambered beds, ridges and furrows, mounds
on cambered beds and ridge s and furrows on cambered beds.
Pictures of Bed
Ridge and
furrows Flat top bed
https://images.app.goo.gl/f7znmV4CMSh6HvMK8 https://images.app.goo.gl/xEpdA2H4WGeh2cUn6
https://images.app.goo.gl/jSsTDyKKa9Q8QnMd8
References
❖Ramharacksingh. R (2011). Agricultural Science for CSEC Examination, Macmillan
❖https://agriculture.gov.tt/publications/land-preparation/
❖https://www.agrimontgroup.com/images/catalogues/Secondary_Tillage_Farm_Machinery.jpg
❖https://www.fao.org/3/y4360e/y4360e0a.htm

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Require physical strength or physical power. Rely on power from machines.

Laborious, tedious and time-consuming Speedy, effective and economical.

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