Learn: Methods of improving the fertility of the land, Organic manure, Chemical manure, Green manure, Leaching method, craping the saltish crust, Surface drainage.

METHODS OF IMPROVING FERTILITY OF LAND

  • If deficiencies of any land are made good it becomes suitable for growing crops.
  • If the land is too clayey it can be improved by adding sand to it.
  • Similarly, sandy soils can be improved by adding a suitable amount of clay to it.
  • Soils can be improved as regards its fertility by adding:
  1. Organic manure;
  2. Chemical manure;
  3. Green manure.
  • Cowdung manure is organic manure.
  • It is available in the village in large amounts, as every villager maintains animals.
  • All the manures manufactured by large companies are chemical manures.
  • Superphosphate, urea, potassium sulfate, are the forms of chemical manures.
  • Green manure is developed by sowing some crops in the field. When crop becomes about 10-20 cm high
  • It is plowed in the field which after decomposition gives nutrients to the crops to be gown over it.

METHODS OF IMPROVING FERTILITY OF LAND

 

Land Reclamation.

  • When, due to over-irrigation or any other reason, a lot of harmful salts get deposited on top layers of soil, it becomes unproductive.
  • If the amount of harmful salts exceeds the certain limit the land may not be in a position to grow any crop.
  • Such lands have to be reclaimed.
  • Such land is known as kallar land.
  • The following are the methods of land reclamation.
  1. Leaching method.
  2. craping the saltish crust.
  3. Surface drainage.
  4. By adding some chemicals so as to neutralize the harmful salts.
  5. By sowing some special crop that would neutralize the harmful salts.
  • Out of these methods, the leaching method is very common.
  • In this method, the land is always kept filled with water.
  • The salts get dissolved in water and percolate deep in the land.
  • Thus the concentration of salts at the surface is reduced.
  • Deep ditches are also constructed along both sides of the field.
  • In the scraping method, the top layer of soil is scrapped completely
  • The concentration of harmful salts is reduced.
  • In the surface drainage method, water is filled in the field.
  • The water is agitated by moving animals in the field.
  • The salts get dissolved in water.
  • The water is lastly drained out of fields by means of drainage ditches constructed along with the fields.

Preparation of Land for Irrigation.

Whenever a new area of land is brought under irrigation the following steps are taken so that irrigation water could profitably be applied to this new area.

  1. The area is cleared from jungles, bushes, wild trees and grass etc.
  2. The deep roots of the trees and bushes should be extracted.
  3. The land should thereafter be cleared and levelled.
  4. Higher patches should be scraped and filled into the depressions.
  5. The process of leveling the land is very very important as unless this is done, irrigation water will
  6. fill only the depressions and duty of water will be very slow.
  7. A small regular falling gradient should be provided to the field.
  8. The land should be properly plowed.
  9. The land should be divided into small suitable sized plots with the help of small earthen levees
  10. According to the method of irrigation to be adopted.
  11. Field channels should be made at the proper interval to facilitate proper distribution of water to the entire field.
  12. If there is a possibility of waterlogging proper drainage measures should be taken.

 

 

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