 |  | Better Farming Series 17 - Groundnuts (FAO - INADES, 1977, 40 p.) | ||
 |  | Cultivating | ||
|  | Why cultivation is needed | ||
| | How to cultivate | ||
| | When to cultivate | ||
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39. Cultivating means removing weeds.
Weeds would prevent the groundnuts from growing well.
They take water out of the soil.
They take up the mineral salts of the soil or those you have
added to the soil with fertilizers.
They cast shade.
Cultivation stirs the soil and lets air into it.
When the soil has been stirred it remains damper.
When there is air in the soil, the pods can grow better underground, because they will find underground the air they need.
40. You can cultivate either with a hand hoe or with an animal- drawn cultivator. But with an animal- drawn cultivator, you can cultivate only between rows; between the plants you have to cultivate with a hand hoe.
Donkey- drawn
cultivator
41. The first cultivation should be done soon after applying fertilizers, so that weeds do not feed on the fertilizer.
Cultivate again every time you see weeds growing. In any case, you must cultivate when the groundnut plants are in flower; cultivators loosen the soil, and the gynophores can more easily enter the soil.
When you cultivate at flowering time, earth up each plant a little; this will give the pods more earth to develop in.
Three months after sowing, stop cultivating. By this time, the groundnut stems and leaves cover the soil well enough, and cultivation might damage the pods.
Groundnut not earthed up
Earthed up
groundnut
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