participates_in participates in tillage process puddling process puddling implement cultivator Tillage tool that stirs and pulverizes the soil, either before planting (to aerate the soil and prepare a smooth, loose seedbed) or after the crop has begun growing (to kill weeds—controlled disturbance of the topsoil close to the crop plants kills the surrounding weeds by uprooting them, burying their leaves to disrupt their photosynthesis, or a combination of both). Cultivator is designed to disturb the soil in careful patterns, sparing the crop plants but disrupting the weeds. Cultivator teeth work near the surface. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6284-4821 weeding process