Some small types of crops called green crops can be composted on the ground and converted into soil fertilizer.
Christopher Francis – Vatican
Soil does not always deceive humans. If you have the motivation and the will to do it, you can turn the land into a golden land. Irrigation can be done easily even if rain cheats; If that farmer had built a water storage system in his land!
Different types of crops grow in different types of soil. Knowing how fertile the soil is and what can be grown in that soil can yield high yields. Some problems are seen as common defects in soil. The problems are topsoil compaction, shallow soil, saline soil and clay. If these deficiencies are addressed and the soil is made fertile, any land can be cultivated in a better way and get higher yields. There is also an important strategy to improve soil fertility. Some small types of crops called green crops can be composted on the ground and converted into soil fertilizer. The nutrients found in these crops can transform even nutrient-poor soil into nutrient-rich, strong soil.
Green manures help in obtaining the necessary fertility to improve soil fertility. Green manure crops are of two types. Leguminous plants such as Cesperia are a type of chickpea, juniper, cowpea, cowpea, plantain etc. Woody plants like Agathi, Glaciridia, Subabul etc. are another type. Apart from these, self-growing plants such as Kolonji, Avarai, Eruku and Adalai are also used as green manure. When the greens are put into the soil, billions of microbes decompose them. When the muck is decomposed, the nutrients and micronutrients present in these plants are released. These help the crops to thrive.
Green manure crops have long taproots. Thus, it penetrates deep into the soil and absorbs nutrients, increasing soil aeration and water permeability. Cultivation of these fertilizer crops in summer acts as a soil blanket to prevent soil water evaporation and the unwanted salts are dissolved by the soil moisture and discharged without affecting the roots of the crops.
Therefore, during non-cultivating summers or appropriate seasons before cropping, sowing the green crop as a separate crop with rainwater and plowing it as it is at the moment of flowering can increase the soil fertility by getting a large amount of organic nutrients to the soil. Applying green manure to the crops can also reduce the cost of fertilizers. By using these methods, farmers can find gold in the soil by eliminating soil defects.
(Thanks – Anbarasu, Green Farming)