SOIL AMENDMENT

AGRI 101

th
30 September 2019

We dealt with soil amendment for the past two weeks which is the act of preparing soil
before sowing crops. It comprised following activities; mapping plots which was 150m2 for
3 hours, next we ploughed the plot for 3 hours per day for two days. We made a trench
which took one hour then we planted elephant grass. Next, we fertilized the plots.
The objective for week one was mapping the plots to know where to plant each crop,
trenching to avoid soil erosion and tilling and ploughing the soil to smoothen. The second
week included cultivation of elephant grass to avoid soil erosion and application of manure
to increase organic matter in the soil.
Mapping: Mainly this activity helped us to know the size of our plot to know the amount
of fertilizer to apply per hectare.
We divided plot into four pieces by using ropes and measuring tape to measure 150m2 per
each piece of plot which was done by seven people in 3 hours

Controlling soil erosion: we made a trench, and planted elephant grass to avoid soil
erosion and fix the soil.
We learned that elephant grass holds the soil and prevent erosion. We used a total of 85
cuts of elephant grass which will help us to know how they germinated.
Soil tillage and ploughing: In this activity we’ve softened the soil to make it easy for
roots to penetrate through the soil and raised beds on which we are going to plant French
beans.
Each participant was able to till and plough the soil effectively. We learnt that tilling and
ploughing is a keystone of Agri as when it’s not done well it affects overall production.
 Fertilizing:
we used
38kg
manure per
plot in the
soil. the
soil will contain micro-organisms that play a great role in the growth of crops. As an
experience we learned that we must apply manure to increase organic matter in soil.