Preparing the land for cultivation

 Written by: Samira Haleemzai

Most peasants prepare land for cultivation before the arrival of the season of cultivation because land preparation helps in killing weeds, improves soil aeration, destroys different stages of crop pest but some peasants do not pay attention to this issue and this might cause some problems.

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some peasants and an agricultural expert about this issue.

 Mahmood, a resident of Paghman district, Kabul province says, “I cultivated potatoes in my land last year. I regularly irrigated them and I bought about 8 thousand Afghanis potatoes for planting but I did not get any crop and I faced loss.”

Abdul Waris, a resident of Kabul province says, “I had cultivated beans last year. I spent about 10 thousand Afghanis for the seeds and I had been spending about 500 Afghanis for generator fuel but I could not harvest crops from my land.”

How do some peasants prepare land for getting good crops?

A peasant, Abdul Matin says, “I have about 14 acres of land. When we get crops from our land in the autumn, we use manure to fertilize our land before cultivation and then we irrigate the land and let it for the sun to reach into the bottom of it.

After sometimes we plow it and let it till the beginning of the spring. In the spring, we re-plow it. In this time, we clear the land from weeds, stones, plastics, and other garbage. This time we plow it again and then we cultivate and we get convenient crops.”

Hizbullah, a resident of Paghman district does the same as Abdul Matin did and he says, “We do not cultivate the same crop every year in the same land. If we cultivate potatoes this year, for instance, we will cultivate beans next year. I got good crops from my land this year.”

 Ahmad Fawad Ahmadzai, an agricultural expert talks about this issue, “The peasants should select a soft land for cultivation; the land must have water for irrigation; they should plow the land about 15-25 cm deep not more than that otherwise the fertilizer would reach to the bottom of the land, not to the plant. The peasants should have diverse cultivation.

 It means they should not cultivate the same plant every year, and it would be better to leave the land without cultivation for a year. It means that they should cultivate one year and the next year they should leave the land without any crops.”