Before beginning the process of land cultivation, we must make sure that the soil is suitable for farming. The nature of the soil varies according to the particles size. There are three types of soil:
Sandy Soil: The particle size is relatively big ranging from (2-0.05 mm). It is characterized by good aeration, yet it is poor in its ability to retain water and nutrients.
Alluvial Soil: The particle size varies (from 0.002 to 0.05mm).
Clay Soil: Its particle size is fine (less than 0.002mm) yet it is good in water and nutrient retention properties, but aeration in this type of soil is poor. A suitable agricultural soil is a soil of moderate texture which contains equal amounts of sand, silt and clay.
Following is the process of preparing and getting the land ready for cultivation:
1Remove noxious weeds and the previous crops and construction residues.
2 Level the land and construct agricultural drains to get rid of excess water and reverse soil salinity.
3 Start by deep tillage of the soil to break it up and then carry out surface tillage to perforate the soil and turn it over thus increasing aeration.
4 Add organic fertilizers to improve the soil properties.
5 This is to be followed by a softening process to break up large blocks of compacted soil produced by tillage operations.
6 Land planning to determine agriculture sites according to the type of crop, and tree cultivation methods and irrigation system.
