What Is Dibbling Method?
Dibbling is a method of putting a seed or a few seeds or seed materials in a hole or pit or pocket, made at predetermined spacing and depth with a dibble or planter or very often by hand or by any convenient implements such as spade, hoe etc. and covering them with soil.
The dibbling method is suitable for wider spaced planted crops requiring a specific area for their canopy development or cultural practices such as weeding, earthing up, and irrigation in furrows. Seeds may be dibbled in level fields or on ridges or the sides of the ridges or in localized pits or pockets that form hills, rings, or stations distinctly separated from each other.
Advantages of Dibbling
For such a seeding method, the entire field need not be prepared for the seedbed but only the seeding zone. Moreover:
- It facilitates the practice of conservative tillage and reduces the chances of soil erosion.
- It requires fewer seeds, and it gives rapid and uniform germination with good seedling vigor.
- Intercultural practices like weeding, earthing up, and care of individual plants can be facilitated.
- When proper and uniform spacing is maintained, it becomes effortless to calculate the plant population and thereby expected yield.
Disadvantages of Dibbling
Uniform germination is not possible if all seeds are not placed at a uniform depth. Besides, dibbling is a more laborious, time-consuming, and expensive process compared with broadcasting.
Field condition for dibbling
Seeds are sown in dry or semi-dry soil conditions, and manures and fertilizers, including pesticides and soil conditioners, may be applied simultaneously. This method is suitable for planting maize, cotton, castor, potato, groundnut, pig soybean, cow-pea, soybean, sunflower, sugarcane, sweet potato, onion, garlic, turmeric, ginger, gourds, napier, and guinea grass.