Land development or soil management before planting seeds is the most costly process in farming. It requires multiple steps from wild plants clearance to soil opening using deep tillage equipment like a rotavator and mould-board plough. Tasks like moving soil from high spots to low spots, making road or path ways on farm, field bundling and leveling etc. needs lots of hard work to do. Farmers have to use these operations using some self-propelled and heavy farm equipment like crawler tractors, heavy duty plough, high horsepower tractors that can pull mould-board ploughs, rotary tillers, terracers, subsoilers, levellers etc. Soil tillage is a mechanical manipulation of soil that is performed to prepare the desired seedbed with a purpose to provide optimum environment for seed germination and plant growth. This process for preparing seedbed before for sowing or planting of different crops is done in two steps - primary and Secondary tillage. Seedbed Preparation for Highland Crops The ideal seedbed preparation for raising crops in uplands includes the following unit operations: Loosening of soil This is done to attain a desired soil structure for a seedbed and to allow fast infiltration and good preservation of moisture, to provide suitable air circulation in the soil and improve root penetration and growth. A disc plough and disc harrow are traditional and basic implements used for loosening of soil. These are simple equipment designed to break the top layer of the soil and a farmers has to make multi-passes using it to prepare seedbed. Mould board plough, reversible mould-board plough, ridger plough, tillage sweeps, etc. are some of the improved implements designed for breaking soil. These Ploughs are majorly used worldwide to break soil and invert furrow slice and control weeds etc. Breaking Clods in the Soil Clod breaking is required to create a granulated soil structure to make the final seedbed. Equipment like a tractor cultivator and disc harrow are used for breaking the clods in the soil. Usually after one round of mould- board plough, round of harrowing or cultivator is also performed to make soil clean and free from previous plant residues. Tractor power driven implements like a rotavator also is used to disintegrate the clods of the soil moisture providing it a uniform structure. Sorting Clods sorting Equipment like ripper with narrow tines or comb harrow and spike tooth harrow provides a sorting effect in loosened soil, bringing larger clods on surface. In some areas clods are recommended on the surface because of their stability in rainy season that helps in reducing soil erosion. Compaction Wide and backward inclined implements make soil compact and also break clods in top surface. Direct compaction at proper seed depth can be best achieved with narrow press discs. Soil Smoothening Smooth soil helps in performing sowing seeds with ease. It also helps in quick water irrigation and disposal of excess rainwater rapidly. Different types of harrows and blades are used to make soil smoother.
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