Ridge and Mound Cultivation

cultivation of agricultural plants on a shaped soil surface—ridges and mounds. It is used primarily in the northern and northwestern regions and in the Far East on poorly drained, heavy, single-grain soils with a high groundwater level and also in cases where the tillable layer is quite thin.

Ridges and mounds are made in the spring, after plowing and careful loosening of the soil and not long before planting. Furrows are cut in the field at a distance of 60–70 cm from one another to form mounds; for ridges the distance is 135–140 cm. The mounds are usually 16–20 cm high and 20–25 cm wide; the ridges are 18–25 cm high and 90–105 cm wide. In comparison with mounds, ridges usually have a thicker soil layer and better temperature and water conditions in the soil, which is more favorable for the development of the plant root systems and their nourishment. Interrow tilling is more convenient on the broad surface of the ridges. However, the soil in the mounds heats up better during the spring and summer than it does on the level surface.

Potatoes are cultivated in mounds, carrots are cultivated in ridges, and the other row vegetable and root crops (cabbages, tomatoes, table and sugar beets, rutabagas, turnips) are cultivated on both ridges and mounds. On the ridges carrots are planted in three double strips (28–30 cm between the rows), table beets are planted in three single rows (30 cm apart), and sugar beets are planted in two single rows (45 cm apart). In the mounds, potatoes, table and sugar beets, cabbages, tomatoes, and other crops are placed in one row. Mounds are cut and prepared for planting with tractor-drawn furrow cultivators; ridges are cut and prepared for planting by ridgers or furrow cultivators outfitted with ridging devices. Potatoes are planted on mounds with various types of potato planters that have attachments for local application of organic and mineral fertilizers. Tractor-drawn vegetable planters are used for sowing on mounds and ridges. Adapted corn planters are used for drill-planting of corn and sugar beets. A complex of machinery is also used for the cultivation and harvesting of root crops grown on mounds and ridges.