The document outlines the critical processes of soil sampling and preparation for planting crops, emphasizing the significance of soil analysis for effective nutrient management and environmental protection. It details steps for collecting and preparing soil samples, including necessary tools and techniques, and explains the objectives and methods for land preparation, tillage, and planting systems. Additionally, it compares methods of transplanting seedlings with direct sowing, highlighting their respective benefits.

1. PLANT CROPS

2. SOIL SAMPLE
The Importance of Sampling Soil
A soil test is essential to determine soil
fertility levels and make good nutrient
management decisions. Appropriate nutrient
application can increase yields, reduce
production costs, and prevent surface and
groundwater pollution.

3. Steps in Collecting Soil Sample for
Analysis
1. Prepare the following: pail, shovel, bolo, plastic and meter
stick.
2. Divide your farm according to the kind of crops grown or
to be grown, type of soil (sandy, clayey or loamy) and
topography (level, flat, sloping or hilly). Collect soil
samples separately from the different soil unit areas and
place them in separate containers.
3. Brush away stone, rubbish, trash or grass on the surface of
the land.
4. Using the shovel, push it down the surface or topsoil to a
depth of approximately 15 cm and get a slice of soil
sample 2 cm thick and 5 cm wide. Place this in a container.

4. 5. Get similar samples at random from as many as 10 sites and
mix them in a container. Get a composite soil sample of
about 1 kilo to represent the soil unit area.
6. For areas to be devoted to orchard, for instance citrus
orchard, get subsoil samples from below the 25 centimeters
down from where the topsoil sample was taken. A composite
subsoil sample is also required for fruit trees/permanent
crops.
NOTE: For fruit trees, soil samples should be taken directly
below the rim of the crown of the tree as illustrated below.
• 0 to 25 cm depth for shallow rooted plants like rice, corn
and vegetables.
• 25 to 30 cm depth for fruit trees/permanent crops like
coconut.

5. 7. Air dry the soil samples by spreading them in
old newspapers or mats under the shade or
indoor. Be sure to avoid contaminations among
the samples and keep them away from dirt or
foreign matters.
NOTE: A soil unit area is any section of the farm
where the soil type, its topography and
vegetation are more or less similar.

6. Steps after Collecting Soil Samples for
Analysis
1. Air-drying
Air dry the soil samples by spreading them in
old newspapers or mats under the shade or indoor.
2. Pulverizing
Pulverizing is needed
to reduce (a substance) to fine particles, as by crush
ing or grinding, or (of a substance) to be reduced.

7. 3. Sieving
A sieve analysis (or gradation test) is a practice or
procedure used to assess the particle size distribution
(also called gradation) of a granular material.
4. Packaging
Pack soil samples firmly in the shipping bag or
container.
One kilo air-dried soil is equivalent to 3 cans of
condensed milk-full of soil.
5. Labeling
Label the bags or cans properly and send them to
the nearest Regional or Provincial Soils Laboratory.

8. LAND PREPARATION
Objectives of Land Preparation
• To prepare a seed bed which permits optimal soil
water air relations
• Good physical conditions for early root
penetration and proliferation
• To incorporate preceding crop residues and
organic manures
• To destroy weeds and hibernating pest & disease
organisms
• To facilitate proper soil chemical and microbial
activity

9. Activities in Land Preparation
1. Land clearing and soil preparation - These
farmers practice zero tillage, a necessary
requisite of no till farming in which crops are
grown without cultivating the soil.

10. Here are how they practice land clearing in
preparation for the planting of glyphosate-
resistant corn in sloping cogonal lands:

11. WEED SLASHING

12. RAKING

13. BURNING

14. SPRAYING HERBICIDE

15. 2. Plowing – to "till" or dig-up, mix, and
overturn the soil. May be done by hand with a
traditional hoe, by tractor or with an animal-
drawn plow.
3. Flooding - flood the field. Keep it submerged
for at least two weeks. Let the water drain
naturally to allow volunteer seeds and weed
seeds to germinate.

16. 4. Harrowing - to break the soil clods into smaller
mass and incorporate plant residue.
5. Leveling facilitates water management and weed
control. Leveling is usually done in two phases:
• A first rough leveling to lower the higher parts of
the field, from which soil will be spread out over
the lower areas.
• A second more precise leveling after plowing and
flooding.

17. 6. Furrowing –
a narrow groove made in the ground, especially by
a plow.
7. Field layout – constructs ridges & furrows and
shapes them.
8. Digging of the Hole – is one of the last actions
before planting takes place, but it must be
emphasized that this is not the final preparation for
the planting operation itself.

18. The Importance of Preparing Soil for
Planting
1. Water Efficiency
2. Addition of Nutrients
3. Weed Control
4. Production Maximization

19. Methods of Controlling Weeds
• Cultivation
• Cover cropping
• Mowing or cutting
• Pasturing
• Burning
• Mulching
• Use of chemicals

20. Benefits of Preparing the Field before
Planting
• Gives the soil a fine tilth to increase nutrient
absorption
• Control pests
• Incorporate crop residues and other inputs (e.g.
fertilizer)
• Mixes the soil to bring up leached deposits
• Levels the field
• Prepares the soil for subsequent farm operations
• Increases soil porosity and aerate the soil

21. Porosity
Soil porosity is the percentage of a soil that
is pore space or voids.
Aeration
Aeration is the process of puncturing the
soil to allow better water penetration and to
introduce more oxygen into the soil.

22. Importance of Soil Aeration
a. Plant and root growth: The supply of oxygen to
roots in adequate quantities and the removal of
CO2 from the soil atmosphere are very essential
for healthy plant growth.
b. Microorganism population and activity: The
microorganisms living in the soil also require oxygen
for respiration and metabolism. Some of the
important microbial activities such as the
decomposition of organic matter, nitrification,
Sulphur oxidation etc. depend upon oxygen present
in the soil air.

23. c. Formation of toxic material: Poor aeration
results in the development of toxin and other
injurious substances such as ferrous oxide, H2S gas,
CO2 gas etc. in the soil.
d. Water and nutrient absorption: A deficiency of
oxygen has been found to check the nutrient and
water absorption by plants. The energy of
respiration is utilized in absorption of water and
nutrients.
e. Development of plant diseases: Insufficient
aeration of the soil also leads to the development
of diseases.

24. TILLAGE
Soil tillage is the agricultural preparation of
soil by mechanical agitation of various types,
such as digging, stirring, and overturning.

26. Tilth and Tillage: Types of Tillage
Operations
1. Preparatory tillage: Tillage operations that
are carried out from the time of harvest of a
crop to the sowing of the next crop are
known as preparatory cultivation/ Tillage.

27. Preparatory Tillage includes primary
& secondary tillage:
a. Primary tillage: It mainly includes the plowing
operation which is opening of the compacted soil
with the help of different ploughs. Plowing is done
to:
1) Open the hard soil,
2) Separate the top soil from lower layers,
3) Invert the soil whenever necessary and
4) Uproot the weeds & stubbles.

28. The objectives of primary tillage are:
• to attain a reasonable depth (10-15 cm) of soft
soil with varying clod sizes;
• kill weeds by burying or cutting and exposing the
roots
• soil aeration and water accumulation; depending
on the soil type and the plough the soil will
normally be inverted aerating the deep layers and
trapping water during a rainfall event
• chop and incorporate crop residues.

29. Types of Primary Tillage
Deep Tillage
Deep plowing turns out large sized clods, which are
baked by the hot sun when it is done in summer.
Subsoiling
Hard pans may be present in the soil which
restricts root growth of crops. These may be silt pans,
iron or aluminum pans, clay pans or -man-made pans.
Year-round Tillage
Tillage operations carried out throughout the year
are known as year-round tillage.

30. b. Secondary tillage : Lighter or finer operation
performed on the soil after primary tillage are
known as secondary tillage which includes the
operations performed after plowing, leveling,
discing, harrowing etc.
Secondary tillage is any working completed after
primary tillage and is undertaken for
• reducing clod size,
• weed control,
• incorporation of fertilizers,
• pudding and
• leveling soil surface

31. 2. Seedbed preparation: when the soil is
brought to a condition suitable for germination
of seeds & growth of crops, called as SEEDBED.
3. Inter tillage/ Inter cultivation/ Interculture/
after care operation: The tillage operations that
are carried out in the standing crop are called
inter tillage operations. The tillage operation
done in the field after sowing or planting and
prior to the harvesting of crop plants known as
inter cultivation.

32. Forms of Tillage
1. Conventional Tillage
Conventional tillage practice is where farmers
loosen the soil by turning it over.
2. Conservation Tillage (or minimum tillage, as it is
often termed)
Defined as "the least amount possible of
cultivation or soil disturbance done to prepare a
suitable seedbed.

33. Main reasons to use min-till are:
• To reduce energy consumption
• To reduce labor costs
• To conserve moisture
• To retain plant cover to minimize erosion

34. 3. Zero Tillage
Also known as No-tillage is the kind of
conservation tillage, where there is no (or very
little) disruption of the topsoil.

35. Negative Effects of Soil Tillage
• Soil Erosion
Tillage causes the soil to break down into smaller
particles.
• Reduction of amount of soil organisms
Soil organisms are very vital to organic matter
decomposition and their activities are vital to soil improvements.
• Loss of nitrogen
Microorganisms, during the breakdown of organic matter,
release nitrogen, an essential plant nutrient for plant growth.
• Soil Compaction
After continuous tillage and exposure to several impacts,
the soil forms a hardpan just below the depth of tillage. This
hardpan prevents soil water drainage and root development.

36. • Additional cost to production
Soil tillage is an additional cost to farmers and is
expensive. Consider the cost of fuel and maintenance of
machinery and if manual, the cost of labor.
• Environmental damage
Heavy tillage exposes soils to both water and wind
erosion when soil with accumulated toxic substances from
chemicals used on the farm, wash or blow into streams, rivers
and ponds they cause pollution.
• Not sustainable in the current climate change
Soil tillage is not a sustainable agricultural practice.
Tillage makes the soil non-productive for food production after a
period.

37. PLANTING SYSTEM
1. Square Planting
It is most easy and popular method of
planting fruit plant. In this system row to row
and plant to plant distances are kept similar.

38. 2. Rectangular
The field is laid out into rectangular shape
plot keeping more space between row and row.
The plant to plant distance is kept comparatively
less.

39. 3. Quincunx or Diagonal
This system is similar to square system
except one additional plant is planted in the
center of each square. The plants that are
planted in the center of each square along with
tall growing plants at the corners of squares are
termed as “filler” plants.
FILLER PLANT

40. 4. Triangular or Hexagonal
This system accommodates 15% more plants
than square system. The plants are planted at the
corner of equilateral triangle.

41. 5. Contour system
It is adopted in hilly areas for planting fruit
plants where land is undulated and soils erosion
is a great there.

42. ESTIMATION
Plant Population:
𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 =
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
Example: Compute the plant population of 5000 sq. meters planted
with tomato to a planting distance of 50cm between hills and 50cm
between rows.
Solution: 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 =
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 =
5000 𝑠𝑞.𝑚
(0.5𝑚)(0.5𝑚)
= 20, 000 tomato plants

43. TRANSPLANTING SEEDLINGS VS.
DIRECT SOWING SEEDS
Benefits of Transplanting Seedlings
• Control the Environment
• Maximize Garden Space
• Successional Planting
Benefits of Direct Sowing
• Minimize Root Disturbance
• Hardening off not Required
• Root Crops don’t take well to containers
• Environmental Weathering
• No Special Equipment Required
• Self-sowers & Volunteers

44. BEST DIRECT SOW PLANTS
• annuals
• lupines
• large seeds (that are planted deeply)
• sunflowers
• beans
• peas
• zucchini
• root crops
• turnips
• beets
• radishes
• carrots

45. • Swiss chard
• kale
• corn
• onion sets
• garlic
• calendula
• nasturtium
• violas
• poppies
• cosmos
• foxglove
• sweet alyssum
• sweet peas
• hollyhocks
• potatoes
• dill

46. BEST PLANTS FOR TRANSPLANTING
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• lettuces
• broccoli
• brussel sprouts
• cauliflower
• celery
• eggplant
• peppers
• leeks
• onions
• parsley
• melons (though they don’t like to be in containers too long)
• gourds
• squash
• tomatillos