Dear readers, to plant a crop you must prepare the soil by means of a set of mechanical operations that modify the physical conditions of the soil and partially control weeds, to select the correct tillage system you must know the type of soil, the climate that prevails in the area and of course the type of crop you want to plant. Among the tillage oppressions we have the conventional and the ecological, which will be described below.
Conventional tillage: this tillage consists of a set of primary and secondary operations with the intention of preparing the soil for planting. This tillage can be divided as mentioned above into primary and secondary tillage. Primary tillage consists of turning the soil surface with an agricultural implement known as a plow, and secondary tillage consists of breaking up the soil clods using an implement known as a harrow. The implements used in primary and secondary tillage are described below.
- Plow: is an agricultural implement that is coupled to the tractor and whose function is to cut and turn the soil, there are two types of plows, disc and moldboard, the most used in the southern area of Lake Maracaibo is the disc plow that can be seen in the following image.
- Rastra: the same as the plow is an implement that is coupled to the agricultural tractor, it has a kind of discs with teeth that are used to weed and even out the land to be used for planting, in addition to controlling the weeds that are on the ground, the harrow can be seen in the following image.
Ecological tillage: this type of tillage consists of using the residues of the previous harvest, with the intention of covering approximately 30% of the soil, which increases the organic matter content of the soil in the medium and long term, and also reduces erosion. Within conservation tillage we have minimum tillage and zero tillage, which will be described below.
- Minimum tillage: which consists of fewer passes of machinery, currently there are some implements that have integrated plows and harrows simultaneously with the intention of making as few passes as possible on the soil surface.
- Zero tillage: In this type of tillage, no implements are used, planting is done directly, leaving the stubble from the previous harvest.
After describing the types of tillage it is necessary to know what are the advantages and disadvantages of each one, let's start with the advantages, in the case of conventional tillage we can mention among its advantages is the easy soil tillage and the preparation of large areas of land in a short time, as for minimum tillage and zero tillage some advantages in common would be that it minimizes the risk of soil erosion by the presence of stubble and little soil compaction by the excessive passage of agricultural machinery.
As for the disadvantages of conventional tillage, the following can be mentioned:
- Different attachments are required for different operations
- Higher fuel consumption for tractors.
- There is a risk of soil structure deterioration
Final considerations
Dear readers, tillage is an essential agricultural activity for planting because many times the soil does not present the adequate structure for planting, the use of agricultural implements is essential but should not be used indiscriminately because it can deteriorate the soil structure and the loss of edaphic biota, that is why the combined use of tillage type named in this publication can be an alternative for the good development of agricultural crops.
Referencias bibliográficas
- Hernandez, H. (2015). Manual of administration and management of agricultural machinery. Universidad Nacional Experimental Sur del Lago.
Hi @amestyj the preparation of the soil offers the optimal conditions for the growth and development of plants, forming an optimal structure that allows the storage and absorption of water and the decomposition of organic matter, increasing the porosity of the soil to achieve a good development of what will be planted there, very interesting your explanation, I learned, thank you and much success.
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Hello dear @aplausos thank you for your comment, I am pleased to know that you have knowledge about it, no doubt the tillage allows to loosen the soil to achieve good aeration that also benefits the germination of seeds.
See you later, have a great week.
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