Cultural Practices in Agriculture: The Farmer’s Wisdom

Agricultural practices are considered “cultural” when they have been developed and passed down over generations as part of ways to reduce the cost of food production as well as environmental preservation. Cultural practices in agriculture play prominent roles in helping farmers earn hugely in their farm business.

Many cultural practices in agriculture promote biodiversity, soil health, water conservation, and sustainable pest management without the support of inputs like commercial fertilizers and pesticides. These practices contain wisdom that science is only now rediscovering. This article will provide an overview of the types of cultural practices that can be deployed in crop production.

Meaning of Cultural practices in agriculture

Cultural practices in agriculture refer to the methods and techniques farmers use to grow and harvest crops that are deeply rooted in local practices and indigenous knowledge. These practices focus on improving the quality and quantity of crops produced at low cost without causing any detrimental effect to the ecosystem.

The cultural practices are sets of activities carried out at low cost aimed at providing an enabling environment for plant growth. There are types of pre-planting and post-planting activities. These cultural practices serve multiple purposes, ranging from crop pest management to soil nutrient replenishment.

Cultural practices can play a key role in helping farmers adapt and become resilient to climate change. Understanding and preserving this cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge is crucial for global food security. They are the best ways of reducing the cost of production. The cultural practices in agriculture include traditional soil management techniques, pest control measures, weed management techniques, and plant disease management.

Soil Management Techniques

Some sustainable cultural practices aim to improve the soil ecosystem by ensuring proper nutrient utilization, enhancing soil health, and improving the soil structure; these practices are:

#1. Crop rotation: This is a common cultural practice that involves rotating between different crops each season; this practice helps replenish nutrients and prevent pest buildup. Common crop rotations alternate between cash crops, cover crops, and crops from different plant families.

Related: Use The Principles Of Crop Rotation To Control Crop Pests And Diseases

#2. Cover cropping: This cultural practice involves planting crops with vines and large leaves; the idea is to take advantage of the broad leaves to reduce soil erosion and suppress weeds. Common cover crop choices include legumes and brassicas.

#3. Bush fallow: Some cultural practices in agriculture can help replenish the soil nutrients, bush fallowing is one of these practices. Bush fallowing involves leaving a certain piece of land over a long period for vegetation to grow and thrive on it. Bush fallowing aims to allow the soil to harness its lost nutrients through the various biological activities within it, thus, becoming productive again.

#4. No-till farming: Tillage is the manipulation of the soil to improve the soil aeration as well as the percolation of water into the soil. One of the prominent cultural practices is the no-till system; which involves planting without land preparation. Traditional farmers believe that by not tilling the soil, the topsoil, where soil nutrient is domiciled, remains intact and erosion is prevented. Over time, no-till can lead to increased organic matter retention in soils.

#5. Intercropping: This means simultaneously planting two or more crops on the same piece of land; this cultural practice aims to maximize the soil for increased yield, pest and disease control, and efficient soil nutrient utilization.

#6. Compost application: Adding compost made from crop residues, manures, and other organic matter is a traditional cultural practice that aims to increase soil fertility as well as improve the soil structure and water retention capacity of the soil. In addition to improving soil health, compost also encourages the survival of beneficial microbial activity in soils.

Related: Learn How To Make Compost Manure Within 4 Days

Adhering to these cultural practices can help improve the soil fertility, productivity, and overall wellness of the soil over a long time. This way, the environment can be sustained. 

Pest Management

Pest control and management is an integral part of agriculture. Pests play a detrimental role in crop quantity and quality. Several methods of pest control can be deployed to tackle the menace of pests; however, integrated pest management is best suited for any cropping system.

Integrated pest management (IPM) is a cultural approach that involves the usage of two or more pest control methods to eradicate or prevent an existing pest infestation. IPM aims to make the habitat less suitable for pests by improving the soil ecosystem. IPM helps farmers prevent pests and disease-causing problems for crops while reducing reliance on pesticides.

When pest populations reach an economic threshold, IPM prioritizes targeted, least toxic management options like pheromone traps, insect growth regulators, soaps, oils, and native botanical poisons. Synthetic pesticides are only used as a last resort when other pest control measures prove abortive.

Integrated pest management (IPM) has copious advantages; it yields healthier soil, reduces pesticide residues on food, and lowers the risk of pesticide resistance. IPM provides low-cost pest solutions.

Related: Integrated Pest Management For Corn

Weed Management

Weeds are types of pest that can reduce yield when not managed properly; A variety of indigenous cultural practices can be deployed to help manage weeds without using agro-chemicals like herbicides.

Mulching is a popular cultural practice to help manage the existence of weeds; mulching is a process of covering the soil with organic matter like leaves, compost, wood chips, paper, and sawdust; mulching aims to reduce moisture evaporation and limit weed growth. Mulch also improves soil health by adding organic material and nutrients.

Hand weeding is a culturally established management practice still used on small, traditional farms. Farmers walk the rows of crops and physically remove weeds through the use of various hand tools or simply pulling them out. This labor-intensive practice requires patience but provides natural weed control and soil aeration.

Using cover crops is another prominent cultural practice that deters the emergence and growth of weeds. The root structure of cover crops helps block invasive or undesirable plants while also improving soil composition.

Related: 5 Organic Weed Control Strategies At Low Cost

Plant Disease Management

Disease and pest attacks are two obvious occurrences you must expect. When any of these happen, do not just remove the infected plant but destroy it either by burying or by burning it. This is because most of the disease-causing organisms are easily dispersed by air. Do yourself the good of total eradication of infected plants.

Although maybe be quite expensive it is worth it.  Some planting materials have been genetically improved to resist various key or major pests and diseases; go for this type of seeds or planting material. It saves you a lot economically and emotionally.

In conclusion, agricultural cultural practices often draw from cultural wisdom passed down over generations. Techniques like intercropping, crop rotation, and bush fallowing promote soil health. Local and indigenous knowledge about regional pests, rainfall patterns, and native plant varieties helps proffer solutions to pest problems.