soil
Improve your soil quality with effective sampling
Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe are preparing for the coming planting season. Part of this process is raising the seedlings that will be transplanted onto the fields later in the year. To ensure the best possible outcome, the conditions in which the seedlings are planted need to be perfect. This[...]
Manage soil compaction pro-actively and improve yields
One cannot harvest where no seed was planted! This is logic. But what do you do when the heavy implements used to till the lands is actually the cause of a smaller harvest; when the combined weight of tractors and implements is the cause of the soil being compressed[...]
Soil water sensors reveal subsoil conditions – Part 5: Calibration of instruments
by Frikkie Koegelenberg, Pr Eng and Hendrik Jordaan In the last edition of this series, we take a quick look at the calibration of instruments and the importance thereof. We thank the ARC Agricultural Engineering in South Africa for making their manual on soil water sensors available to the[...]
Soil water sensors reveal subsoil conditions – Part 4: Frequency delay measurements by means of capacitance and heat pulse measurements
by Frikkie Koegelenberg, Pr Eng and Hendrik Jordaan Frequency delay measurement is based on the measurement of the dielectrical constant of soil or materials. The frequency delay measurement is also called the radio frequency (RF) capacitance technique. We thank the ARC Agricultural Engineering in South Africa for making their[...]
Soil preparation: Seize the big window of opportunity this planting season!
Opinion piece by Dr Ben Ngwene, AGCO While the Southern African region endures a persisting drought that started back in October 2018, planting season 2019 is fast approaching. Farmers have to make crucial decisions on how to recover from last season’s double-digit decline in crop harvests. Land preparation is[...]