Editing Tillage (section)

==Definitions==
''Primary tillage'' loosens the soil and mixes in [[fertilizer]] or plant material, resulting in soil with a rough texture.

''Secondary tillage'' produces finer soil and sometimes shapes the rows, preparing the seed bed. It also provides weed control throughout the growing season during the maturation of the crop plants, unless such weed control is instead achieved with low-till or no-till methods involving [[herbicide]]s.
* The seedbed preparation can be done with [[harrow (tool)|harrows]] (of which there are many types and subtypes), [[dibber|dibble]]s, [[hoe (tool)|hoe]]s, [[shovel]]s, [[rotary tiller]]s, [[subsoiler]]s, ridge- or bed-forming tillers, [[roller (agricultural tool)|roller]]s, or [[cultivator]]s.
* The weed control, to the extent that it is done via tillage, is usually achieved with cultivators or hoes, which disturb the top few centimeters of soil around the crop plants but with minimal disturbance of the crop plants themselves. The tillage kills the weeds via two mechanisms: uprooting them, burying their leaves (cutting off their [[photosynthesis]]), or a combination of both. Weed control both prevents the crop plants from being outcompeted by the weeds (for water and sunlight) and prevents the weeds from reaching their seed stage, thus reducing future weed population aggressiveness.