Husbandry And Cultivation Of Cereals, Legumes and root and tubers

CONTENT

• Cultivation of Cereals
• Cultivation of Legumes
• Cultivation of Roots and Tubers

CULTIVATION OF CEREALS

	MAIZE (Zeamays)	RICE (Oryzasativa)
Description	Maize also called corn is a member of the grass family (Gramineae). It produces grains, use as food by human beings and livestock. The seed/fruit is called caryopsis.	Rice is a member of the grass family (Gramineae). The seed/ fruit is called caryopsis
Varieties / cultivar	Sweet maize, flint maize, dent maize, flour maize and popcorn	Swamp rice (Toma) and upland rice (Agbede).
Land preparation	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.
Climatic requirement	Temperature – 260C-300C, Rainfall – 75cm-150cm per annum	Temperature of 200c, Rainfall of 75cm-120cm for upland rice and over 250cm for swamp rice.
Soil requirement	Sandy-loamy soil of PH 6-7	Loamy-clayey soil.
Method of propagation	By seeds	By seeds
Planting date	Early maize – March/April Late maize – July/August	South – April/May, North – August/ September.
Planting	It can be done manually using cutlass or mechanically by planter at 2-3 seeds per hole.	Planting can be done by broadcasting, sowing or drilling.
Seed rate	20-30kg per hectare of land	65kg per hectare at 2-3 seeds per hole.
Spacing	80cm between row and 30cmwithin row	25-30cm apart depending on varieties.
Cultural practices	Supplying, thinning, weeding fertilizer application, control of pests and diseases.	Supplying, thinning, weeding fertilizer application, control of pests and diseases.
Maturity period	90-120 days after planting depending on varieties.	4-7 months depending on varieties.
Harvesting	Harvesting can be done manually with hand or using a hand sickle and mechanically using a combined harvester.	Red heads of rice are harvested with knife, sickle or combined harvester.
Processing	It can be eaten either boiled or roasted or processed into corn flour or corn flakes.	Sun drying, threshing, winnowing, per boiling, hulling and polishing.
Uses	It is consumed by man and farm animals and as a raw material in brewery industries	It is consumed by man and farm animals.
Storage	Dried cobs are stored in cribs, rhombus or in a fire place, grains stored in a silo.	Processed form in silos or jute bags.

EVALUATION

1. Mention the nutritional value of the following class of crops A. cereals B. legumes

C. vegetables D. spices E. beverage crops

• Discuss the cultivation of a named cereal under the following subheadings A. soil and climatic requirement B. cultural practices C. planting date, materials and planting

D. maturity period (e) harvesting

READING ASSIGNMENT

Answer question 7 on page 177 of Essential Agricultural Science by O. A. Iwena

CULTIVATION OF LEGUMES

	COWPEA (Vignaunguiculata)	GROUNDNUT (Arachishypogea)
Description	Cowpea is a member of the pulses or legumes. It belongs to the family leguminoseae. It is rich in protein. The fruit of cowpea is called Pod.	Groundnut is a dual purpose crop. It serves as oil crop as well as a pulse or leguminous crop. However, it is grown mainly for its oil. The seed gives about 40-45% of excellent edible oil.
Varieties / cultivar	Erect type, creeping type, Ife brown, Ife bimpe	Bunch or erect type, creeping type, Kano local, Kano 50, castle cary.
Land preparation	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.
Climatic requirement	Temperature of 27o-35oC, Rainfall of 60-125cm per annum.	Temperature of 25o-30oC, Rainfall of 70-100cm per annum.
Soil requirement	Well drained sandy loamy soil	Coarse textured sandy loamy soil which is slightly acidic and rich in calcium and phosphorus for pod formation.
Method of propagation	By seeds	By seeds
Planting date	April to September depending on the ecological zone.	South – March / April       North – May / June
Planting	Planting can be done manually or mechanically at 2-3 seeds per hole.	Planting can be done manually or mechanically at 2-3 seeds per hole.
Seed rate	20 – 25kg per hectare.	30 – 35kg per hectare.
Spacing	Erect type – 30 x 75cm, Creeping type – 25 x 90cm	Erect type – 60 x 15cm    Creeping type – 60 x 20cm
Cultural practices	Supplying, thinning, weeding fertilizer application, control of pests and diseases.	Supplying, thinning, weeding and control of pests and diseases. Groundnut does not need fertilizer application except on a very poor soil.
Maturity period	9 – 12 weeks after planting depending on varieties.	3 – 4 months after planting.
Harvesting	Hand picking of matured brown pods.	It is ready for harvest when the leaves turn yellow and begin to wilt. It is done by uprooting the plant manually or mechanically and allowing to dry for easy removal of pods.
Processing	Sun drying, threshing and winnowing.	Sun drying, removal of seeds from the pods by slightly pounding in mortar or using a decorticating or shelling machine.
Uses	A source of plant protein for man It serves as a cover crop It serves as forage legumes It is used for making green manure.	For making oil For making cake to feed man and farm animals For making groundnut butter.
Storage	Seeds are stored in jute bags silos or air tight container after proper drying. Seeds should be treated with insecticide and the store fumigated to prevent weevils attack.	Dried groundnut seeds are stored in silos or rhombus. Unshelled pods are stored in jute bags.

EVALUATION

1. Mention the pre-planting operations in cowpea cultivation
2. Mention three uses each of a) groundnut b) cowpea
3. Outline five importance of legumes

READING ASSIGNMENT

Answer question 9 on page 178 of Essential Agricultural Science by O. A. Iwena

CULTIVATION OF ROOTS AND TUBERS

	YAM (Dioscoreaspp)	CASSAVA (Manihotspp)
Description	Yam belongs to the family Dioscoreacea.  It is a root and tuber crop grown in West Africa and it is rich in carbohydrates.	Cassava is a root and tuber crop, rich in carbohydrate. It is easily cultivated and can grow in relatively poor soil.
Varieties / cultivar	Water yam (Dioscoreaalata) Yellow yam (Dioscoreacayenesis) White yam (Dioscorearotundata) Bitter yam (Dioscoreadomentorum Aerial yam (Dioscoreabulbifera)	Sweet cassava (Manihotutilissima) Bitter cassava (Manihotpalmata)
Land preparation	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.	Clearing the land and making ridges either manually or mechanically.
Climatic requirement	Temperature of 25o – 30oC, Rainfall of 100cm – 180cm per annum.	Temperature of 21o – 35oC, Rainfall of 150 – 200cm per annum.
Soil requirement	A well-drained sandy-loamy soil, rich in humus.	Dried loamy soil. It can also tolerate poor soil.
Method of propagation	By yam seeds or yam sets.	By stem cuttings (25 – 30cm long).
Planting date	Early yam – November / December   Late yam – March / April	March to September depending on ecological zone.
Planting	Open a hole on the ridge using a hoe and place one yam sett inside with the cut surface turned upward and slantly placed at an angle of 45o	2/3 0f the stem cuttings are buried in slanting position or at an angle of 45o.
Seed rate	3 – 5 tonnes per hectare
Spacing	90cm x 100cm	100cm x 100cm.
Cultural practices	Mulching, weeding, application of fertilizers, staking, training of vine.	Weeding and fertilizer application.
Maturity period	8 – 12 months depending on variety.	10 – 15 months depending on varieties.
Harvesting	This is done by digging the soil gently with a cutlass to remove the tuber from the soil.	This is done by digging the soil gently around the tubers and pulling the stem gently so that the tubers are pulled along or use cassava puller.
Processing	It can be processed into yam flour.	It can be processed into cassava flour, garri or foofoo.
Uses	It is consumed by man and farm animals.	It is consumed by man and farm animals.
Storage	Yam tubers are store in barns.	Cassava is stored in processed form in sacs.

EVALUATION

1. List three cultivars of yam and their botanical names.
   1. Name the soil and climatic requirement, planting material, maturity period and planting date in cassava cultivation

GENERAL EVALUATION

1. Discuss the cultivation of yam under the following subheadings A. method of propagation B. planting date and planting C. harvesting D. soil and climatic requirement
2. Discuss the production of a named legume under A. varieties B. soil and climatic requirement C. method of propagation D. planting (e) harvesting
3. State four uses of groundnut.
4. Discuss the cultural practices in yam cultivation.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Answer question 2 on page 177 of Essential Agricultural Science by O. A. Iwena

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. Legumes that produce edible seeds are called A. pulses B. spices C. grains D. cereals
2. The following are cultural practices of yam cultivation except A. thinning B. staking

C. mulching D. weeding

• The following are importance of mulching in yam cultivation except A. reduce soil temperature B. conserve soil moisture C. prevent pests attack D. prevent yam rot
• Cowpea processing involves the following except A. threshing B. sun drying C. per boiling D. winnowing
• Rice processing include the following except A. threshing B. winnowing C. fermentation D. per boiling

THEORY

1. Discuss the following practices in yam cultivation A. staking B. mulching C. training of vine
2. Outline four importance of legumes.