Plough is one of the primary tillage equipment, used in the tilling process to cut, break and turn the soil partially or entirely. Ploughing is an ancient practice that is done to open the upper layer of the soil, break its clods and making it suitable for sowing new plant seeds.
This ancient agricultural machinery transformed farming by upgrading its features with modern technology. Initially, people used to turn the soil with a human-made iron-tipped, wood wedge-shaped equipment hauled by oxen. The ancient plough allowed the farmers in those times to till more and more land faster in less time, and accomplish the tilling work with ease.
The plough also works very efficiently to control weeds and bury previous crop residue. The ancient farm equipment used by old age farmers was not much different from the first plough that used to turn the sandy Mesopotamian soil in medieval Europe. And that later upgraded with the addition of a moldboard after the blade to turn the soil once broken and called as a mould-board plough.
Ploughing being one the primary and most important soil management practices is used for centuries to form a grained, straight, structural, and soggy planting layer on the upper part of the soil. This simple yet very effective farm practice that is done to cuts, refines, and upturn the soil and to make furrows and ridges. As per the various requirement of depth and the time of ploughing it can be divided into different types such as include- Shallow ploughing, Very shallow ploughing, pre-sowing ploughing, undermining.
Read here – Types of Tillage
These are the advantages of ploughing
- Improves air circulation inside the soil that enables the routes to respire with ease.
- The root can enter deeper into the soil so that it can hold the plant firmly.
- Ploughing enhances or increases the water-absorbing capability of the soil.
- Ploughing is done to dig up the weeds developing in the land and helps in the growth of microbes.
- Supports in growing worms and microbes.
- Dig up and bury the previous or old crop weeds.
- Carries the nutrient-rich soil to the upper layer of the soil so that the crop can use those nutrients to raise well and farmers get more from harvesting.
Different types of plough such as disc plough, mould-board plough, reversible mould-board plough are used in modern farming practices as per the soil condition and type to create more nutrients in the soil by exposing it to sun and air. Various types of the plough are making farming more profitable for farmers.