Inter-cultivation:
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Tillage operations like digging the garden with spade, ploughing, forming small mounds in August-September and spreading them in December-January and making shallow basins with a radius of about 2 m at the beginning of monsoon and filling up at the close of monsoon are beneficial to the trees. In sandy soils, which are generally of low fertility and do not have a luxuriant growth of weeds, regular inter-cultivation may not be necessary, but in other soils which permit quick growth of weeds, inter-cultivation will be necessary to keep weeds under control. Method of inter-cultivation will depend upon local conditions, availability of labour, size of holding, soil type, topography and distribution of rainfall.

Cover cropping:
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Cover cropping is recommended where inter and mixed cropping is not followed to prevent soil erosion in coconut gardens. This will also add organic matter to the soil. Leguminous crops such as Mimosa invisa, Pueraria phaseoloides, Centrocema pubiscens, Stylosanthes gracilis and Calopogonium muanoides are suitable for growing as cover crops in coconut garden. Green manure crops like sunhemp and dhencha can also be raised and ploughed in, at the end of the monsoon. These crops can be sown in April-May when pre-monsoon showers are received.