Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Land Preparation and Planting

Land preparation is one of the critical steps to ensure planting of maize trials. Ensuring the preparation of trial fields help in controlling weeds, recycles plant nutrients, and provides a soft soil mass which is suitable for direct seeding. It covers a wide range of activities from first ploughing to the final marking of field for planting. Land preparation in the savannas is not as rigorous as in the forest zone of the country. In the Guinea savannas, where vegetation cover is fairly dense, land clearing should be carried out well ahead of the rains. Suitable ridges should be made as soon as the rains start. Although the crop benefits from deep cultivation, yields are not reduced when zero tillage is adopted. For high grain yield, maize should be sown in well-prepared ridges 75 cm apart. Because the soil in northern Nigeria is loose, animal-drawn implements can be used for preparing ridges, or these can be made by hand, hoe, or tractor mounted tillage equipment.