Husbandry Of Selected Crops III – Cultivation of Roots & Tubers SS1 Agricultural Science Lesson Note
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Lesson Notes
Topic: Husbandry Of Selected Crops III – Cultivation of Roots & Tubers
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 | i. Water yam (Dioscoreaalata)
ii. Yellow yam (Dioscoreacayenesis) iii. White yam (Dioscorearotundata) iv. Bitter yam (Dioscoreadomentorum v. Aerial yam (Dioscoreabulbifera) |
i. Sweet cassava (Manihotutilissima)
ii. 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 requirements | Temperature of 25°– 30°C, Rainfall of 100cm – 180cm per annum. | Temperature of 21° – 35°C, Rainfall of 150 – 200cm per annum. |
| Soil requirements | 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 45° | 2/3 0f the stem cuttings are buried in slanting position or at an angle of 45°. |
| 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 can be processed into yam flour. |
| Storage | Yam tubers are store in barns. | Cassava is stored in processed form in sacs. |
ASSIGNMENT
- Discuss the cultivation of yam under the following subheadings:
- method of propagation B. planting date and planting C. harvesting D. soil and climatic requirement
- Discuss the production of a named legume under:
- varieties B. soil and climatic requirement C. method of propagation D. planting (e) harvesting
- State four uses of groundnut.
- Discuss the cultural practices in yam cultivation.