Agricultural Story #25

You are all welcome to this week's story telling in Agriculture. I will be focusing on an Agricultural activity known as 'weeding'.

Weeding means the removal of unwanted plants on the farm or garden. Weeds are the only things that stays in the farm to monitor the growth of plants day and night while you go back home. Weeds never get tired to grow and compete with the crops. But crops can easily get tired and withered if weeds are not removed quickly for them to get enough sunlight, space(air), nutrients and soil water.

What can we use to remove weeds on the farm?

Weeds can be removed with a weeding hoe. The handle of the hoe should be short to help you weed tight corners and heap the soil around your young plant for firmness and stability.
The weeding hoe should aim at removing the weeds just below the surface of the soil( to cut their roots). This can prevent weeds from germinating again quickly.

When should weeding be done?

The best time for weeding is when the soil is dry, not when it is wet. When the soil is dry it creates what we farmers called dust mulch (i.e the weeds will die in the soil and become source of nutrients to plant). When weeding is done at this time, it also help to stop germination of new weeds.
Also keep in mind that we should not wait until the weeds full the farmland before we remove them, if we do so the quality of the plant and it's yielding capacity will be reduced. So weeding should be done upon first sight of the weeds on the farm.
You can weed in the morning or evening but it should be on a day without rain.
If it rains after you might have started weeding, just leave the farm till another day.
Unfortunately, because of the regular rain and some engagement, my cassava farm would have been overgrown with weeds, but I scheduled time within the week to remove them.

Some common weeds on the farm include;

• Asphilia latifolia(Compost weed)
  

• Chromolaena odorata(Independence weed)
  

• Emillia sonchifolia (Utime-nse)
  

• Ipomoea Mauritiana (mkpafia-fiañ)
  

• Tridax procumbens (P.W.D weed)

• Solenostemon ocymoides (African dead nettle)
  Eleusine indica (Nkim-enang)

N.B: In the absence of English name, I backup with local name.

How to weed?

Always grab the handle of the hoe with your two hands and bend; then move the hoe back and forth.
The blade of the hoe should be a little deep into the top soil when moving back to help remove the weeds from their roots.

Weeding can be hard on your hands and back. Try to switch hands and arms frequently to ensure evenly distribution of labour on both sides of your body. And often stand erect to ease work on your waist and spine.
After the day's work, do not lie down on your back, instead lie sideward, exchanging sides on your couch. This helps the spine to amend overnight.
That is the end of my story. Thanks.

As lovers of agricultural products, I am inviting @xkool24, @chant and @pelon53
to join in the contest.

Photo Source = Author's Own