Cultivation & Cultivators
History and Types of Cultivation
Since the gradual transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture some 8000 to 12,000 years ago, cultivation has been critical in human development, enabling us not just to survive, but also to thrive as a species.
Cultivation is multi-faceted; it ranges from readying soil for planting, loosening soil around extant plants to improve aeration and water penetration, removing invasive, nutrient-hogging weeds, and digging-in fertiliser in order to improve soil quality.
There are two main types of horticultural and agricultural cultivation - primary and secondary - with the former consisting of pre-planting ground preparation, and the latter revolving around maintaining optimal soil conditions in order to get the best crop yield.
Traditionally, cultivating and tilling had to be carried out either by hand, using the various types of manual hoe; or by implements, such as ploughs and harrows, pulled by oxen or horses. Clearly, hand tilling still has a role to play in small-scale, confined-area growing, but thankfully, when it comes to larger-scale operations, the days of draught animals – and the time, commitment and expense that goes into looking after them – are long gone, with tractor-towed tools and pedestrian machines now doing all the hard work.