Due to the fact that the word "cultivate" is used in various areas of life, some may be overwhelmed by the question of whether we use it correctly. This concept has Latin roots and came from the word cultus - literally "cultivate, create specifically." Therefore, the meaning of the word “cultivate” is “to provide conditions for development”. When the ancient man moved from gathering to farming, he tried to grow edible plants, taking care of ideal conditions close to natural ones.
As a result of persistent efforts, the plant world was divided into wild and cultivated species, that is, cultivated. For example, wild raspberries - they tried to cultivate this berry not only for a pleasant taste, but also because of medicinal properties. As a result, we can now enjoy many varieties of raspberries with different fruiting periods. The growing season of this berry has increased and lasts throughout almost the entire summer and autumn. The same can be said about such necessary crops as wheat, potatoes and rice.
Cultivating is a laborious process.
In order for wild plants to give a good harvest, you need to try to replace them with not always favorable natural conditions for comfortable, but artificially created. This is precisely what primitive cultivation is all about: planting the seeds of the desired plants in the soil, freed from competing species, replacing the absent rains with artificial irrigation, fighting pests as much as possible - then the crop will invariably delight. Now “cultivating” means also selecting the most suitable plant varieties for a given climatic zone in order to reduce, if possible, the amount of physical effort and funds spent on their survival.
What is land cultivation?
You can cultivate potatoes or rice, but what is land cultivation? By and large, this is a set of measures aimed at improving the composition of the soil in order to prepare it for planting agricultural plants. In the narrow sense, "cultivating" is "loosening and removing weeds." These manipulations can be done manually, using a shovel, hoe, chopper, rake or to attract mechanization. For example, a tractor with a cultivator is capable of quickly processing a sufficiently large area of land. But are such efforts justified?
New cultivation methods
For more than ten years, a new way of cultivating the soil has been popularized, which does not involve seasonal digging and thorough destruction of weeds. Numerous summer residents and amateur enthusiasts try to do without exhausting cultivation and regular weeding, growing vegetables and berries on a thick layer of mulch, and weeds are simply cut to the root and sent to compost.
According to observations, this can significantly reduce labor costs, but can this approach be considered a cultivation? Of course, since its main goal is to improve the quality and structure of the soil to increase productivity. It is not necessary to loosen and dig up the soil to make it better, so new cultivation methods have already received an army of fans. There is a huge amount of work that was previously considered necessary and required a lot of effort. Fertile soil resources are not wasted, even weeds become useful, and under a thick layer of mulch their rapid growth is inhibited. The new method can significantly save water for irrigation, and yields increase.
Plant cultivation
For the cultivation of crops requires a competent approach. Unsuccessful selection of varieties, such as tomatoes, will seriously affect yield, which is why cultivated plants are selected individually for each region. Soil composition, climatic conditions, and the presence of pests are taken into account.
Agronomy is a scientific approach to agriculture. After a triumphal procession of pesticides and herbicides in the fields, agriculture is gradually shifting to less aggressive methods of growing plants. Modern agronomic methods make it possible to obtain a large volume of production from smaller plots of land and at reduced labor costs.