PREPARE THE LAND

Basic Competncy 5

Tillage
1. Component of The Soil

Constituent parts of the land can be described as

follows:
In order for optimal plant growth, soil balanse was
needed

Example: optimal considered arrangements for plant

growth on the top layer of 0-30 cm soil and clay- dust
textured :
1. 45 percent of the mineral,
2. 5 percent organic material (humus)
3. 25 percent water, and
4. 25 percent air.
Of these four components can be grouped into 3 phases:

- Phase solid (organic and inorganic materials)

- phase liquid (water and solute in porous soil and fill
the pores)
- the gas phase (soil air filled soil pores)
The third phase relations in the aggregate is described
as follows :
Chart the relationship between the three phases of land in
the weight and contents

Description:
lu = air content
He = water content
lp = solid content
If = contents of the pore (air +
water)
It = the content of total (Iu + It + Ip)
Bu = weight of air (considered 0)
Ba = weight of water;
Padat Bp = weight of solid (soil particles)
Bt = total weight (Bu + Ba + Bp)
2. Relation ship between Mass
and Volume and soil component

a. Grain density
Grain density is the weight of solid divided by the
volume of the solid part
the density of soil grain = grain specific gravity
(particle density),
ρp = BP .......... g/cm3
Ip
b. The weight of dry content (dry bulk density) / Weight
of the contents of dry weight is the weight content of
the solid part or weight of dry soil is divided by the
total content, including the grains content of the solid
and pore space contents.

ρ b = BP = Bp ......... g/cm3
It Ip + Iu + He
c . The weight of wet contents or the total (wet bulk
density):

ρ t = Bt = Bp + Ba .........g/cm3
It Ip + Iu + la

this quantity was the total weight of soil, are solid

and water per unit of content. The most often used is
the dry weight content generally called just weight
content
Table of weight content of soil in many place of
Indonesia
Jenis tanah Bobot Isi (BI) = g/cm3
1. Podsolik merah kuning (ultisol) 1,10 - 1,35
2. Regosol (entisol) 1,07 - 1,48
3. Aluvial (entisol/inseptisol) 1,02 - 1,42
4. Grumusol (vertisol) 0,98 - 1,37
5. Mediteran (alfisol/inseptisol) 0,97 - 1,48
6. Latosol (Inseptisol) O,93 - 1,11
7. Gley humus rendah (gleisol) 0,90 - 1,22
8. Andosol (Inseptisol) 0,68 - 0,86
9. Organosol (histosol) 0,14 - 0,21
Weight value content can be influenced by several
factors, including
a. The tillage
b. cultivation
c. organic materials
d. compaction by farm equipment,
d. texture,
e. structures
f. soil water content
This value is much used in the calculations of:

1. determining irrigation water needs

2. Fertilization
3. land management, etc.
d. Soil porosity
Soil porosity or total pore space contents can be
formulated in another form, :

f = (1.0 - the weight of the contents (ρ b)) x 100%

density of grains (ρ p)

e. The space ratio = e

Space ratio (void ratio) is also an index of the
contents of the soil pores, which is expressed in
terms of solid content, but the total content of the
soil
 e= If = Iu + Ia
It - If Ip

f, The contents of dry = dry type Ib Fill a dry soil mass

was declared a compaction index of the soil and is
expressed in cm3 per gram

Ib = It = 1
Bp ρ b
c. Soil moisture
Humidity (water content) soil can be expressed by a
variety of ways 1. Comparison of heavy water to wet the
soil weight (X)

Ba
X = (Ba + Bp ) x 100%

This X value is the ratio between the weight of water to

the weight of the total land is Ba + Bp + Bu, heavy air
here is considered almost equal to 0 therefore can be
ignored
2. Comparison of soil water content weight to the weight
of dry soil (U) or gravimetric water content

U = ( Ba ) x 100%
Bp

U value is generally called the percentage of water

content by weight of dry soil
3. Comparisons content Volumetric water content or
water content, the soil moisture content based on
content, it can be formulated as follows

Kandungan air tanah (% isi) = ( Ia ) x 100%

lt

These water contents obtained from the value of

water weight in grams multiplied by the weight of the
content (g/m3
3. Kinds of The Land As Planting
Media
Many types of cultivated land for food crops and horticulture,
among others:
1. Many Dryland crops used for vegetable, fruit and
crops
2. In the rice field is dominated by rice plants as the
main crop
3. Problematic Land
a. Peatlands
Peatlands generally have low pH, the
ratio C / N is high, poor drainage, sometimes
high-yield Al and usually yield P, K, and low Ca
 b. Sour Land sulfate
major constraint to rice production is a water
shortage that caused the land becomes very
sour and salty for the sea water prior attempts

To reduce the influence of acidity from acid

sulfate land is washing, Calcification,
organic and inorganic fertilization, and manage
watersheds
 c. Salty Land
Salty land varies in Phisic , chemical, and hydrology
Characteristic, These include
(1) the level and nature of salts,
(2) distribution in the layer of salt though and profiles,
(3) soil pH,
(4) the level and nature of clay minerals,
(5) levels of organic material,
(6) levels of nutrients
( 7) state of water,
(8) relief,
(9) temperature.
Reclamation of salty land with leaching so no longer salt
poisoning
d. Land Berkapur dry land is characterized by the Land
problematic Berkapur. This Lahan semacam high-yield and
lower Ca availability of certain elements, such as Zn, K and
Fe How easy and cheap to overcome Zn deficiency is by
dipping roots of rice seedlings in a solution of 2% ZnO or
ZnSO4.
d. Tidal Land
Area tidal There is also a peat soil, sulfuric acid and
salty, then the problems mentioned earlier also apply to
land difficult tidal water control system is a determining
factor of paddy cultivation in tidal lands
 4. Roots Characteristic

Plants absorb nutrients from the soil generally in the form of

ion

Diserap Tanaman (Donahue at al, 1977)

Nutrient elements can be available around the roots of
plants in ways as follows:
1. The mass flow (mass flow)
2. Diffusion
3. Root interception

In this process there are two things to note are:

1. Metabolic energy is required
2. The process of nutrient absorption is a selective
process (selecting a certain element).
 5. Tillage Technique

According to Arsyad (1979), processing of land is an attempt

to land the mechanical manipulation to create a good
condition for plant growth.
Meanwhile, according Sinukaban and Rahman (1982) The
purpose tilling may include various aspects, among others:
a. Improve the physical condition of soil in relation to
plant growth through:
1) create a balance of water and air in the soil that
is necessary for seed germination.
2) prepare good conditions for seedling growth and
root development through the creation of soil
crumb structure
 3) alter soil structure that has a water holding
capacity and infiltration of the ideal so that water
can easily enter into the soil, easily available to
plants, and do not move in the soil profile with a high
speed that can enhance nutrient laundering
b. Combat and dismantle the plant bullies (weeds)
c. Buried the remains of plants (organic material)
d. Processing can also be done at once to sink and
fertilizers into the soil Calcification
Before the land cultivated things to note:

1. Topography (land surface appearance) do not

exceed 300 for mechanical processing
2. Vegetation (plants growing on the land)
3. Rock
Processing of land can be grouped into:

1. Traditional processing system / conventional

- the land treatment system is made to the entire
surface of the intensive agricultural land before
planting
- have aggregates of small to very small.
- Requires a lot of time, effort, and cost
– in the long run will reduce the porosity or to compact
soil.
2. Minimum tillage

- processing the necessary land required just as the

plants
- the soil and suppress damage to save time, effort
and cost but still notice requirements for plant
growth
3. Zero tillage
- Direct planting without tilling preceded by
- Save time and reduce erosion, especially on lands
that are sensitive to erosion
- the eradication of nuisance plants (weeds) is carried
out through chemical means
4. Olah tanah Konservasi (Achmad Rachman
dkk, 2004)
The Advantages of Land Conservation
a). Saves labor and time
b). Increasing soil organic matter content
c). Increasing available water in the soil
d). Improving soil friability and porosity
e). Reduce soil erosion
 f). Improving Water Quality
g). Increasing the content of the soil fauna
h). Reduce the use of Agricultural machines such
tractors
i). Save Fuel usage
j). Improving air quality
OTK's success in reducing evaporation and erosion are:
1. Sufficient quantities remaining plants in the ground
2. Condition rough terrain
3. The combination of both

OTK efficiency is the use of plants remaining as mulch

and without mulch, OTK is a mistake (Suwarjo, 1981)
How to prepare the land with OTK system was introduced,
among others:

a. Zerro Tillage
- There is no land preparation
- developed countries planting seed planter
machine, while developing countries use Portugal
b. Land if necessary (Reduce Tillage)

- Processing of land if the land is already

experiencing compaction, at the heavy soil tillage
done once and a year and at intermediate soil dan
once in 2 years
- Plants remaining in place over on land after tilling
c. Strip Tillage
- Processing of land in the path or strip that will be
planted, following the contours
- Time of plants in place between the two strips in
place that are not processed / disturb
In OTK, the needed of tillage depend of:
- Density Land
Regard to the use of agricultural machines,
Force of rain droplets and the vertical movement of soil
particles that cause blockage of soil pores
- Soil strength
Soil require treatment if the soil strength as measured by
penetrometer reaches 1.5 MPa or hardness aggregate
> 0.01MPa (hard to do farmer)
- Soil aeration processing done when the soil aeration
pores <12% Volume
 For degraded land, OTK can not be done immediately,
but the soil should be in rehab first, for example by planting
ground cover plants