PREPARE LAND

FOR
AGRICULTURAL CROP PRODUCTION
 Learning Outcomes

•Know how to plan and critical factors of planning a farm

•Learn the factors of selecting location farm site
•Describe the different activities on land preparation
•Know the tools and equipments of land preparation activities
•Learn the importance and know how to collect soil sample for soil analysis
•Know the nursery work
 Farm plan

Planning- Is One Of The Stages In The Farmer’s Decision making Process

Some of the decisions of thefarmers :
what crop should I produce and what variety ?
What area of land do I need?
How much should I produce?
When should it be produced?
How much labour will I need?
Do I have enough cash to buy inputs and materials or will I
need to get more?
• A garden planting plan is a map of your garden space. It can
be the entire garden space or your specific planting areas.
Design it, keeping in mind the types of things you and your
family like to eat, the season you will be planting and what is
appropriate for planting at that time, how much space you
have available and how many hours of sunlight that area gets
(full sun or partial shade).

Map/draw it out or use sticky notes

Plan for crop successions and rotations
Just enough space
Critical factors to consider during this planning exercise are summarised as follows :

- Availability and quality of irrigation water;

- Field selection;
- Mechanical actions to be implemented;
- Chemical needs for pre-plant soil improvement;
- Tools and equipment needed for cultivation;
- Labour needs;
- Irrigation design and installation;
- Hole preparation;
- Financial requirements and
- Time schedule.
 LAND PREPARATION
It is done in accordance with the requirements
of the crops, whether they grow under dryland or
wetland systems.
To provide a favorable soil environment for the
germination and growth of a particular crop.
.
 WHAT ARE THE FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN LOCATION AND FARM SITE
SELECTION?
1.  SOIL REQUIREMENT -Includes such specific characteristics as :

soil type
Soil depth-The depth of soil to which the roots of a plant can readily penetrate to in order to reach water
and nutrients.

Texture - refers to relative proportion of mineral particles (sand, silt, and clay) in soil. Many properties of
soils; e.G. Drainage, water holding capacity, aeration and the nutrient availability; depend largely on soil
texture.
• Sandy: low fertility and water holding capacity but good aeration.
silt – slighty acidic and slighty alkaline,easy to compact.
. • Clayey: high fertility and poor aeration, hard to plough.
• Loamy: medium fertility and good aeration

 organic matter content

ph (soil sampling), and fertility-
Soil ph(potential hydrogen) is of utmost importance in plant growth as it
influences nutrient availability, toxicities and the activity of soil organisms.

• Tips for soil ph management

• • acid soils are to be corrected by using lime, quantity of lime application is
as per soil test report.
2. THE TOPOGRAPHIC REQUIREMENT Of a crop refers to its natural
adaptation or tolerance to land features such as

Elevation
 slope
3. CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE CROP -That can influence the growth and yield
of crops include

 temperature

 water or rainfall

 light (including photoperiod or light duration),

 wind.
4. ACCESSIBILITY. A farm that is managed as a business must have access to supplies,
equipment, and the market. It must be provided with infrastructures (e.G. Roads) and, if
the product is intended to be marketed elsewhere, shipping facilities or airports.
5.AVAILABILITY OF WATER -
The sustainability of the water source,
(ii) the quantity of water available for irrigation,
(iii) the distance to the field, and
(iv) the quality of the water.
TYPES OF LAND PREPARATION
• LOWLAND /WETLAND PREPARATION
• UPLAND /DRYLAND PREPARATION
THE ACTIVITIES OF LAND
PREPARATION
•Clearing-It is done to remove
unwanted vegetation and objects
from the field
• Manual –ex. slashing , burning
• Mechanical –using equipments
• Chemical-using herbicides
Laying out the field

Plotting

Digging holes
• Ploughing-crop farmers plough fields so as to break up surface soil
and to turn the top soil to a desirable depth. In this way the sub soil is
exposed to sunlight and other atmospheric conditions.
• Harrowing-harrowing or chipping is done after ploughing to break
up large soil clods into smaller ones. In this way a soil structure of
suitable tilth so that seeds can be in close contact with soil
•In Low/wetland preparation
•Bunds or dikes enable the field to hold water. This is important
especially in areas where water supply is not reliable.
•Irrigate the field with 2−3 cm of water for about 3−7 days or
until it is soft enough and suitable for an equipment to be used.
•Plow the field.
Primary tillage is normally undertaken when the soil is wet
enough to allow the field to be plowed and strong enough to
give reasonable levels of traction.
Flood the field
• Perform the secondary tillage operation
Depending on climate and soil type, this should
be done 10−14 days after primary workings.
Puddle the field.
Harrow the field 2−3 times 

• Land leveling
THE MAIN REASON FOR CULTIVATION IS TO :

• –Control weeds,
• –improve soil aeration,
• –the conservation of soil moisture and
• –loosening compacted soils.
TILLAGE AND PLANTING EQUIPMENT

MULBOARD PLOW
Disc plow
The disk plow are best adapted to dry hard
soils.

Disk harrow
are used to reduce the size of larger soil clods by fracturing
them by cleavage and pressure

• –Spike-tooth,
• –spring-tooth
 SPIKE-TOOTH HARROW

 FLOATING TILLER
SOIL SAMPLING
• What is soil sampling?
A soil test commonly refers to the analysis of a soil sample to determine nutrient
content, composition, and other characteristics such as the acidity or ph level.

• Best time to do sampling

 Early in the morning or late in the afternoon
 How to collect samples?

• Selecting sampling spot

• Remove the surface litter at the sampling spot
• Make a ‘V’ shaped cut to depth of 15cm
• Mix the sample througly
• Quartering is done
• Two opposite quarters are discarded
• Collect the sample in a clean bag
• Label
A SOIL SAMPLE CAN HELP:

• Determine nutrient application recommendations

• Assess ph and the need for liming
• Measure change in soil nutrient status over time
• Avoid excessive nutrient applications or soluble salt accumulation
 HOW DO I COLLECT MY SOIL SAMPLE?

Sample where the crop will be planted if you are using raised beds, such as for
vegetable crops, take your samples in the beds instead of the areas between the beds
where there are minimal roots.

 Avoid unusual areas avoid sampling in small areas where you know that conditions
are different from the rest of the field (for example, former manure piles, fertilizer
bands, or fence lines). near in the road

Take 15 to 20 subsamples each sample

Use appropriate tools
 NURSERY MANAGEMENT
WHAT IS NURSERY?
A vegetable nursery is a place where we grow and develop healthy seedlings. It is an area
where young/infant seedlings are maintained under intensive care for up to their planting.
 GREENHOUSES
TYPES OF
STRUCTURES

SHADE NET HOUSE

•A vegetable nursery seeks to provide the following
growing conditions:
• protection from diseases, pests, and higher animals
like birds and dogs.
•protection from rain and flooding.
• protection from excessive sunlight and temperature.
PREPARATION OF MEDIA

• Preparation of media in a nursery. Top-soil and other components

of media-mix are sieve to obtain relatively uniform size of grain.

• Ratio -1:1:1
1 part Garden soil
1 part Fine Sand
1 part Organic matter
SEED GERMINATION
1.Seed scarification-it involves weakening,opening, scratching,
Etching, burning, or altering the coat of the
Seed to encourage germination
• Mechanical treatment –seeds scratch
By sand paper, cutting each seed using
knife, use hammer to crack the coat.
• Physical scarification-(soaking in cold
water ,hot water)
• Chemical scarification – treatment with
sulfuric acid and organic
SEEDLING RAISING METHODS
A. TRAY METHOD
Is raising seedlings in trays. The tray
should be kept in a shelter place, especially
during unfavorable conditions.
Seedling that raised in tray is convenient to
transport to distant fields.
B.LUKONG METHOD -Banana leaves are
rolled into a dimension of 2 cm in diameter by
15 cm long.
B. SEEDLING CONTAINER (POT)
METHOD

Separate pots or containers to provide

adequate nutrients and growing
medium for healthy root development
and seedling growth.
C. SEED BED

• Raised seedbed:it is more applicable

during rainy seasons in order to facilitate
drainage and in areas with poorly
drained soils (clay soil).
• Sunken seedbeds: like basin,
applicable in dry seasons and light
drained soils like sand, low rainfall areas
and low land areas.
Sky nursery bed (For rainy season)

• Sky nursery beds are prepared in rainy season for

producing seedlings of winter vegetables.
PRICKING OUT
-This is the act of lifting seedlings from the seedbed
into the transplant bed or pots.

Poor pricking out practices include;

waiting until plants are large and have
long roots, pricking out plants into dry
soil and then watering them, constructing
shade after pricking out is done,
 SEED GERMINATION
SEED TESTING
-To determine the standard of the
seeds,physical purity,moisture,germination.
Examples :
•Petri dish method- where seeds are small
germinated in petri dish a over a filter paper .
Sand test –seeds are pressed
on all sides to facilitate normal
growth

Ragdoll method -place a

Seeds inside a damp piece
Of cloth of germination.
• METHODS OF PLANTING CROPS
• 1.DIRECT SEEDING-Planting at the crop area with the use of seeds 
• 2. TRANSPLANTING-Is planting with the use of pre-grown seedlings or plants that had been
propagated from seeds.

• Sowing / transplanting
 Sow 3-4 seeds in a 2-3 cm deep trench.
 After a month of germination, a healthier seedling should be kept and the rest should be removed.
 In case of transplanting seedlings, it should 7-10 cm tall with 4 - 5 true leaves in each seedling.
 One seedling should be transplanted at one place.
 In case of growing more than one pumpkin plant, bottle gourd or sponge gourd, the space should be
at least 1.2 – 2.4 meter apart. Cucumber varieties can be spaced 0.9 meter apart.
• PROVIDING SUPPORTING TRELLIS
• To get more yields, supporting the vine in vertical way is preferred.  Wooden stake or
tree branches can be put near the plant as trellis.
Trellis sample design
THANK YOU