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close this bookBetter Farming Series 07 - Crop Farming (FAO - INADES, 1976, 29 p.)
close this folderPlan of work
View the document(introduction...)
Open this folder and view contentsHow to till
View the documentDepth of tillage
View the documentWhen to plough
View the documentHarrowing

(introduction...)

FIRST WEEK
Tilling
Read pages 4 to 11.
We take a look at tilling done with a hand hoe and tilling done with a plough. Which is done quicker? Which is done better?
Is tilling done at the right time?
Look carefully at a plough and see how it works, how it turns over the earth.

SECOND WEEK
Sowing
Reread pages 4 to 11.
Read pages 12 to 18.
Reread also Booklet No. 3, page 22 on choosing seed.
Let us take a look at sowing broadcast, sowing in rows and sowing in seed holes.
Why must we sow in rows, and how is it done?
Why must we sow as early as possible?

THIRD WEEK
Looking after crops
Reread pages 12 to 18.
Read pages 19 to 24.
Is the work of looking after the crops done well and at the right time? What about weeding? Earthing up? Thinning?
Do you understand why it is important to look after the crops?

FOURTH WEEK
Harvesting
Reread pages 19 to 24.
Read pages 25 to 28.
This week's work is important.
It's no use having a fine harvest if you sell it badly.
What do you do you sell your harvest at a better price?
Reread the whole course. Answer the question paper.

HOW TO CHOOSE A FIELD
You must choose carefully the field you mean to farm.
Choose a field where plants grow well, where the grasses are tall.
Choose good land.
Choose a field near the village so as not to lose time going to and from the field.
Ask the village headman for permission to farm the field for a very long time.

PREPARING THE FIELD
During the dry season prepare your field.

· Improve the field.
If the soil is wet, drain it (see Booklet No. 6, page 20).
If the soil is short of water, irrigate it (see Booklet No. 6, page 18).
If the soil is on a slope, mark the contour lines (see Booklet No. 5, page 8).

· In order to use animal power (see Booklet No. 6, page 28), mark out a rather large right- angled field.
Clear the land and grub the trees (see Booklet No. 6, page 21 ) .

TILLING
Tilling means Burning over the soil.


Tilling

Tilling enables water and air to get right into the soil. It makes the soil less hard. It loosens the soil.

In well- tilled soil seeds germinate easily. Roots penetrate easily.

Tilling mixes earth and herbage. It cleans the soil. The herbage rots and makes humus by tilling the soil, you can mix fertilizers and manure with it.