Field preparation of HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Article by:- Akhila.Janjala
TILLAGE AND CULTURAL OPERATIONS
☆☆Preparation of land is important for the cultivation of ornamental crops to ensure that the field is ready for planting.
☆☆It covers various practices from ploughing to levelling of fields for cultivation.
Preparation of field (tillage)
Ploughing
☆For the cultivation of flowers, the field should be first dug out to a certain depth in order to improve aeration and drainage, and provide easy space for growth and development of roots.
☆The digging of field is done through plough and the operation is known as ‘ploughing’.
☆ Ploughing also uproots weeds and previous crop residues.
☆The depth of ploughing should be kept 20–25 cm as superficial ploughing will not favour plant development, whereas, ploughing too deep will bury nutrients and make it beyond the reach of the root zone.
Harrowing
☆The purpose of harrowing is to break clods after ploughing and smoothening the soil surface for growing ornamental crops.
☆Different types of harrow are used as per the requirement.
☆ In general, manures are applied at the time of field preparation and thoroughly mixed by harrowing.
Levelling
☆After harrowing, the soil is planked to have a uniform level and slope.
☆ Levelling of land ensures better implementation of irrigation and planting of crop.
☆Levelling is done to lower the higher parts of the field and soil from higher altitude is spread over the lower regions.
☆ After levelling of the land, the desired layout of specific dimensions used for planting, such as ridges and furrows or flat or raised bed, are prepared.
Special practices for flower cultivation
Weeding
☆It refers to the removal of all unwanted plants from the field, other than those planted or sown.
☆Periodical removal of weeds is beneficial for the growth and development of crop as this prevents competition of weeds with the main crop for sunlight, water, air and nutrients.
☆ It is also necessary as weeds harbour many Insect pests and diseases.
Mulching
☆It is a process of covering the soil around plants with organic wastes, like straw, hay, dry grass or leaves, saw dust and crop residues, etc., or synthetic materials, like plastic sheets.
☆ This method of mulching is of recent origin.
☆Mulching is a good cultural method that preserves soil moisture, soil erosion and protects weeds.
Staking
☆It is a practice to support plants growing straight and saving them from bending or lodging.
☆Therefore, this operation is done at a time when plants are not too tall.
☆ It saves the plants from being blown over by winds, rains and due to the weight of their stems when in bloom or in fruiting.
☆Bamboo stakes are most common, and other than this, branches of shrubs and trees, i.e., neem, subabool, phalsa, eucalyptus, etc., can also be used effectively for this purpose.
Earthing up
☆Digging and pulling the soil in between the rows and heaping it around the stem of plants is called earthing up.
☆ In case of bulbous ornamentals, this encourages the development of additional underground food storage structures, such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes or tubers as in case of tuberose, gladiolus, canna, begoniaand dahlia.
Deshooting
☆It is the removal of all side shoots (offshoots/offsets) emerging from the base of the plant.
☆ The main purpose of deshooting is to divert the energy of the plant towards the development of shoots or buds.
Disbudding
☆It is the removal of floral buds when a large flower on a plant is desired, as in chrysanthemum and dahlia.
☆In this way, the energy saved by disbudding is divertedtowards the development of retained bud so the flowers become large and vigorous.
Pinching
☆It is removal of the growing tips of the vegetative buds to promote bushy growth for more flowering in case of chrysanthemum.
☆It is the removal of 3–5 cm growing tips when the plants are 8–10 cm tall, i.e., when the plants are about one-month old and the second pinching about three weeks after the first pinching.
☆Pinching is also a common practice in carnation and marigold.
Training
☆It is the shaping of plants at an early stage, conforming to a particular form, commensurate to the plant’s requirement.
☆ This gives the plant a desired height, shape and strong framework with desired number of properly distributed branches and eliminates weak crotch development.
Pruning
☆The planned removal of twigs, branches, shoots, limbs, or roots is termed as pruning.
☆Pruning is done with a view to increase the usefulness of the plant.
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