Interrow Tillage

loosening the soil between rows of plants; a method of soil management during the plants’ period of growth and development. Interrow tillage is done to kill weeds, conserve and accumulate moisture, improve the plants’ air and nutritive regimes, and activate beneficial soil microflora. The procedure is usually done with cultivators. In wide-row and strip-planted fields, interrow tillage is done in a longitudinal direction; in square-nest fields it is done in both longitudinal and transverse directions leaving a protective zone around the rows. The interrow tillage of some row crops, such as potatoes, involves ridging.