Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Weeds must also be removed in sowings. Seeds sown on a contour trench or
a ditch fence will sprout surrounded by a large population of weeds. A thorough
weeding operation must be carried out to give a lead to the germinated plants. A
careful and constant examination of the germination of sown plants should be made,
and whenever weeds are seen to affect the plants, weeding should be carried out. It is
desirable, in fact, that all the weeds intervening between the sowing lines should be
effectively removed. In most cases, this operation may have to be carried out twice
a season.
Weeding may have to be carried out during the subsequent years as well. Provision
for weeding should be kept in the treatment plan for at least 3 years beginning with
the planting year. In soils with poorer seedbank, however, 2 years' weeding may be
adequate. What is important to understand is that it is not enough to weed out the
unwanted plants just in the planting year; instead, one should look for growth of
weeds during the subsequent years also, and take appropriate steps as required.
6.9
Hoeing the Plants
Moisture conservation being a critically important factor in arid and semiarid areas,
hoeing of the plants is of utmost importance. Hoeing is not only a means of moisture
conservation, but it also enables root aeration and soil temperature moderation. In
all soils except moving sand, hoeing is an essential operation. Its timing will depend
upon the time of rainfall or watering, nature of the soil, and the atmospheric aridity
and temperature.
The essential guide in timing of hoeing operation is to ask whether the soil in the
saucers of the plants has dried up and encrusted. Crust formation will be accompanied
by cracks in heavier soils indicating that hoeing has in fact become overdue. Often,
the first hoeing is timed 2 weeks after the last rains of the season. Thereafter, whenever
an erratic rainfall is seen or a watering is given to the plants, hoeing should follow.
Heavier soils may dry a little slower but to a much greater depth, whereas lighter
and sandy soils will dry immediately but to a smaller depth. For this reason, hoeing
should be timed earlier in sandy soils than in clayey soils. It is often appropriate to
time hoeing operation about 1-2 weeks after watering or rainfall. Hoeing in moist or
just-irrigated soil will serve no purpose because the capillaries will form again after
the hoeing operation.
The hoeing operation should be carried out with appropriate tools, and to an
adequate depth. Soil should be dug out to a depth of 10-15 cm covering the entire
bed of the saucer; all clumps of soil should be broken and pulverised, and spread
over the saucer. In hard soils, digging with a pickaxe may be required. In lighter
soils, hoeing may be a simple matter of just disturbing or dislodging soil particles
from their place and spreading the soil around to break the capillaries. Along with
the hoeing operation the saucer should be repaired if breached or eroded in its bund.
Care should be taken not to disturb or damage the roots of the plants.
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