Plough pan hits crops
Production of deep-rooted crops in the district is decreasing day by day due to the bad impact of plough pan on the soil.
Plough pan is a compact layer of soil which is formed generally under the normal ploughing zone of soil in cultivable lands, reducing productivity of the land.
Farmers at different villages said they do not know about the plough pan problem as agriculture officials did not inform them about it.
Farmer Nabirul Islam of Fulgachh village in Sadar upazila said he got less production of carrots this year due to reasons unknown. “We know this crop grows underground, but it comes out on the top of soil,” he said. “I ploughed the land with a tractor, but it ploughed only 3 3.5 inches deep,” he added.
Deputy Director (DD) of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the district Bidubhushon Roy said ploughing at the same depth year after year and cultivation of flood-irrigated rice in muddy conditions is creating plough pan under the ploughing zone. Plough pan may be formed for other reasons, depending on soil-related factors, he added.
"On an average, plough pan forms between 3.5 to 7.5 inches depth. The compact layer depth is about four inches under the normal cultivation layer and compactness is reduced after about 7.5 inch es depth," he added.
Root fails to penetrate the compact region, so cultivation of deep-rooted crops like radish, carrot, sweet potato, potato, ground nut is hampered and yield is reduced, the DD said, adding that it disrupts the soil's physical and chemical properties, which may reduce the productivity of the soil drastically.
Plough pan creates hindrance to the infiltration of water under the soil. Due to this, water-logging takes place and drainage capacity of the soil is drastically reduced, thus crop cultivation is hampered by high soil moisture, said Aditmari upazila Agriculture Officer Biplob Kumar Mohanto.
DD Bidubhushon Roy said crop rotation is a very effective way to break and prevent plough pan. Deep rooted crop cultivation like jute after shallow-rooted crop is one of the ways of crop rotation, he said, adding that use of alternate wet and dry method instead of flood-irrigated rice cultivation is very helpful in preventing plough pan formation. “Deep ploughing is highly recommended to break the plough pan mechanically by disk plough, harrow and modified country plough,” he said.
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