Agriculture: Helpful Hints
- Make sure to cover your soil with grass or other non-edible crops to protect it from direct contact with the sun.
- Use different types of fertilizers to help speed up soil quality and increase crop yields.
- Alternate deep-rooted crops with shallow rooted crops to help maximize the usefulness of the soil.
- An easy way to catch rainwater is by using your roof and then storing it in tanks or cisterns.
- Using drip irrigation, which is a method that allows water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, saves water and fertilizer.
- When choosing livestock, make sure to use local breeds, as they are adapted to local conditions; which often make them more disease or worm-resistant than imported exotic breeds.
- A way to increase sustainability is by using available city space for cooperative food production.
- Make sure to look out for weeds as they slow plant growth, reduce crop yield, reduce quality and market value, as well as harbor diseases that can affect crops.
- There are different kinds of weeds that grow on farmlands. Some weeds tend to infest certain soil types while others infest certain choice crops. They are divided into monocots and dicots.
- Mangoes make great crops as mango trees are tough, fire-resistant, drought tolerant, and make excellent shade trees.
- Performing a soil survey allows you to get a better idea of soil types or other properties over a wide landscape that will help you decide what kinds of crops you should grow.
- If your chickens become stricken will illness, make sure to burn or bury dead birds to avoid spreading disease.
- Be sure to separate chicks from adult birds, except from the mother hen.
- When choosing seeds, make sure to pick local varieties as they are already locally adapted and may be able to withstand changing growing conditions.
- Some varieties of seeds may also be resistant to local pests.
- Seed banks can be great way for a community to conserve seeds for local farm use.
- A seed bank protects rare and useful local crops, and can also be an emergency source of seed if crops fail due to disease, pests, or inclement weather.
- Planting leguminous crops before weeds mature can suppress the growth of weeds.
- Be sure to hand weed before weeds mature as they spread will spread their seeds and grow again.
- Be very careful when using chemicals for weeding as they can destroy crops.
- When choosing the kind of herbicide you need make sure to know the difference between selective (used to kill specific kinds of weeds based on the type of crop) and non-selective herbicides (which are used to kill all types of weeds as well as crops).
- If interested in starting a fish farm, make sure to consider the topography of the area, type of soil, and the availability of water before making your fish selection.
- Make sure to check soil suitability before constructing your pond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUKus-8UzG8&feature=related
Different types of soil require different amounts of water.
Farming is still a very important facet of life for many people.
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