What are the tips for land preparation?
- Choosing The Farming Location
- Loosening The Soil
- Reducing The Clod Size
- Leveling Of Soil
- Fertilizing The Soil
One of the most important steps in farming is to prepare your land to ensure that it will be ready for planting and harvesting. That’s why selecting land is the first part of cultivating a field. Before planting, you want to make sure that your field is free from crop residues or weeds. In addition, a healthy and well-prepared land recycles plant nutrients and offers soft soil suitable for direct seeding. In this blog, we’ll provide you with tips for land preparation and how our farm equipment in the Philippines can help you with it. But first, what is land preparation? Keep reading!
What Is Land Preparation?
There’s a wide range of practices of land preparation from minimum tillage that minimizes soil disturbance to puddled soil that destroys soil structure. Land preparation involves plowing to dig up, mix, and withdraw the soil; harrowing to turn the soil clods into smaller masses, and leveling the field.
Land preparation takes place after your last harvesting period for effective weed control and to enrich the soil. Typically, it takes 3-4 weeks to prepare the field before you can start planting your crops. Thus, you need to use farming equipment such as a plow, harrow, and more in preparing your land.
Tips For Land Preparation
Indeed, land preparation is an extremely important step for farming. And because it’s not easy, here are the tips for land preparation, and remember to do them for successful planting and harvesting of crops.
Choosing The Farming Location
The location of your farming is important. It’s best to choose the right one for your ideal growth of crops. Avoid choosing a random location without knowing the considerations you must look for in selecting an appropriate place for planting.
Good Amount Of Sunlight
Your crops should gain sunlight for 6 hours. Don’t pick a location with many trees or other shades that will hinder your plants from getting the sunlight they need.
Pick A Stable Drainage Site
In choosing a location for land preparation, don’t forget to spot a location with a stable drainage site to ensure well-drained soil for ideal crop growth. This prevents water from pooling when rain occurs.
Avoid Root System
During land preparation, a tree’s root system can create issues for farmers. If you have enough space for farming, try to grow your crop 10-20 feet away from a tree. However, if you have chosen a small space then you might want to check the roots by digging the land first.
Loosening The Soil
After finding the right farming location, it’s time to loosen its soil by digging it. You can loosen the soil and transfer the soil’s nutrients to the top by using a plow. Loosening the soil improves air circulation and allows plant roots to dig deeper into the soil by increasing soil air — making the plant grow better and stronger, and breathe freely.
Not only loose soil offers improved root ventilation but it also helps the growth of microorganisms that aid digestion while also increasing the humus and nutrients in the soil.
Reducing The Clod Size
Reducing the clod size of your land helps to set up a granular soil structure in the final seedbed. Once your land is clear and free from plant leftovers from previous crops, then you can implement direct harrowing or cultivator operations. Thus, other power-driven farming equipment such as rotavators helps to dissolve clods throughout a wide range of soil moisture for a uniformed and fine-sized clod in the seedbed.
Leveling Of Soil
Once the field has been shaken, the topsoil is then extremely loose. Therefore, there’s a chance that your soil will be washed away once high winds or rain occurs. That’s why you have to level the soil by using a leveler. This farming equipment also helps to aid water distribution by preventing logging during irrigation.
Fertilizing The Soil
Fertilizing your soil helps to reimpose the soil nutrients to allow the crops to grow stronger and more properly. Soils need essential nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium to enhance the land. In addition, it offers a variety of organic benefits for the soil such as improved soil structure, retention of soil moisture, and water penetration.
Key Takeaway
You’ve just read the best tips for land preparation to help your crops grow healthier and stronger for successful harvesting. With the help of farming equipment, land preparation will always be easier.
At Ford Tractor Philippines, we offer the high-class and affordable farming equipment you need for planting and harvesting crops.
Interested to know more about our farm equipment for your land preparation needs? Don’t hesitate to reach out to Ford Tractor Philippines today for more details. One of our team experts will happily provide you with the information you need about our high-quality farming equipment, spare parts, and after-sales services.
