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GOOD Morning to you all again. How was your week? I found out a long time ago, It only as good as what you put into it. Every morning I worship the Lord and thank him for giving me another day and at night I think him for being there when I needed him. The Christian way of life takes hard work, it requires the commitment of our whole being to Jesus-body-mind-emotions-and will, to have a life that is wholesome, attractive, uplifting to others and fulfilling to ourselves. Even then, weeds of selfishness and sinful attitudes can quickly spring up and overrun the fruit of the spirit. Ask the Lord to help you uproot any weeds of the flesh and the spirit before they become ugly habits. May the beauty of Jesus character be what others see in us.

Let's pause for a moment:

A wise old owl sat on oak, the more he saw, the less he spoke, the less he spoke, the more he heard, Why aren't we like that wise old bird. Every time you speak your mind is on parade. Our topic- The final yield of a crop is the result of all those factors which influence growth during the season. One of these factors, the physical condition of the soil, often has an important influence on crops because it controls the environment in which roots develop.

Soil structure is the term normally used to explain this property of the soil. If we look at soil as a building, then bricks and mortar are equivalent to the particles of sand, silt and clay. Soil physical fertility, which we often attempt to define and measure as structure involves several Agriculturally important properties. I will try to define I consider to be the most important ones.

Rainfall acceptance by the soil and the ease with which excess water is shed from the soil. This is coupled with storage ability, the available water and the ease with which roots can retrieve this water during the growing period. Another important factor and one which is often overlooked is the mineralization of organic matter in the soil. This one involves temperature, oxygen supply and moisture content and supply. Moving on to seed germination and the early population establishment, these things are influenced by the packing of soil temperature, moisture content and the presence of pest and diseases.

Finally, crop growth is dependent on root penetration and extraction of water and nutrients in phase with development need of the crop. The fundamental importance of soil structure in farming is that it determines the level of compaction, both in the plough layer and below the subsoil. The systems of pores and fissures which extend through the whole depth of the soil profile control the ease of air and water movement, the quantity of available water that can be head, and the ease of root penetration and exploration.

The human eye can just about detect object of about 1/5 mm across, It is pores of this size and larger ones which allow drainage water to pass and roots to penetrate, and so in general, any pores that can be seen by the eye will permit drainage and root exploration, provided they are continuous. Soil also contains a network of smaller pores which, although they cannot be seen are never the less vital for the storage of water for the plants roots. Unless a soil profile has a good network of visible pores and fissures, drainage and aeration are likely to be inadequate, and the nutrients and water located in the finer pore's are largely inaccessible to the plant roots.

Its not always understood that I crops are to produce high yields, roots need to explore to a depth of one meter of more. The importance of an adequate root system for water uptake cannot re overstressed. Most of the water removed from the soil by roots is lost from the foliage by transpiration, and on a windy sunny day in summer about 3-5 minutes of water (about 30 tone/hectare) is transpired from a full crop cover. Unless the soil can supply this water, growth rate declines and eventually if this continues yield is impaired, irrigated crops are less dependent on deep rooting.

The natural water-holding capacity of soils obviously has a major bearing on yield potential in areas where water consumption by crops exceeds rainfall during the growing season. However, in addition, an artificial restrictions to rooting caused by lack of consolidation or overcompaction and aerobic conditions will accentuate any moisture deficiency. If however, the crop has rooted freely to 1-3M wilting will only occur after long periods of drought, and the risk of losing the yield will be less. Well farmers and growers, hope this has been of some value to you. Take care, see you next week...