Introduction
Agriculture is defined as the cultivation of the land to produce crops and the rearing of animals for man’s use. Agriculture has many branches. The form of agriculture practiced in an area depends on the size of the farm, purpose, availability of land, the type of soil in the area, topography of the land and the prevailing climatic condition.
Crop Farming
A crop is a plant grown for a specific purpose. Farming is the centre of activity where land is cultivated for the production of either plants or animals or both. Crop farming therefore involves the cultivation of land for the production of useful crops for the benefit of man. When different types of crops are planted on the same piece of land, it is called Mixed Cropping. Crops that may be planted are maize, cowpea, yam, cocoa yam, groundnut, soya bean, tomato, pepper, okra, sorghum and some perennial crops.
Horticulture
This is the study of how to grow fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants. It is a special branch of crop science which is not well developed in Nigeria. Those who specialize in the production of fruits, vegetables and flowers are called horticulturists. Fruits and Vegetable grown by horticulturists include citrus, pawpaw, mango, guava, cashew, pineapple, plantain, garden egg, tomato, lettuce, cabbage, pumpkin, cucumber, cashew, banana. Ornamental plants grown are hibiscus, croton, rose flowers, zinnia, hyacinth, iris, lily, Queen of the night. Ornamental crops are used for beautifying our surroundings.
Livestock farming
This is the system of keeping or rearing different farm animals for different purposes. Animals commonly kept include cattle, poultry, sheep, goats, pigs. Livestock farming may be settled (ranching) or unsettled (normadic herding).
Bee Farming
Apiculture or Bee farming is the process of deliberately keeping or culturing bees in wooden boxes or hives for different reasons.
Types of Bees
Solitary Bees – Most bees in the world are solitary. Mated female live alone in a hole or burrow into well drained soil or soft brick mortar. They have a short life span. Adults live for about 6 to 8 weeks. They do not sting because they do not store honey. Solitary bees are used for pollinating flowers.
Bumble Bees – These bees live together in colonies and store honey and pollen in wax as food to be used in time of food shortage. There are two types; Bombus bumble bees and Cuckoo bumble bees. Bombus have three social class, a female queen, partially developed female workers and male drones. A colony can contain 1 queen, 300 workers and few drones. Cuckoo have the males and females living separately except during the period of mating. They have no workers.
Honey Bees – They live as a large colony in a large cavity or man-made hives. They have three castes, 1 queen, 70,000 workers and 300 male drones. At the centre, the queen bee lays eggs which develop into workers. The drone eggs are laid later. A typical honey bee hive may contain
1 queen
250 t0 300 drones
20,000 female forages
40,000 female house bees
5000 to 7000 eggs
7000 to 11000 larvae being fed
16,000 to 24,000 larvae developing into Eggs
Importance of Bee Farming
Bees are pollinators of crops and this is important for genetic stability
Bees are kept for honey, bee wax, pollen and propolis which are used for food, medicine or manufacturing other products
The social life of honey bee colony provides a strong basis for the study of the structure of societies
Bees are used for research and education
Fishery
This is a special area of Agriculture which deals with the production and management of fish and other aquatic animals of agricultural importance. Such animals include lobster, squids, shrimps, cray fish, oyster, prawns, periwinkles and crabs. These animals are rich sources of protein.
Snail Farming or Heli culture
Snails are invertebrate with soft bodies that are covered with hard calcareous shells. They belong to the phylum called Mollusca. Heli culture, commonly known as snail farming, is the process of raising land snails specifically for human use, either to use their flesh as edible escargot, or more recently, to obtain snail slime for use in cosmetics, or snail eggs for human consumption as a type of caviar.
Importance of Snail farming
Source of Protein – Snail meat has high protein of about 37% – 51%. It contains almost all the essential amino acids
Source of Iron – The iron content of snail is 45 -59mg/kg. This high iron content is considered in the treatment of anemia
Treatment of different ailments – Snail can be used for the treatment of whooping cough, ulcers, asthma, high blood pressure, constipation, poor eye sight and pile.
Preparation of Animal feed – The shell of snail contains phosphorus and calcium and it can be crushed for the preparation of animal feed.
ASSESSMENT
The system of keeping or rearing different farm animals for different purposes is called _____
Snail farming is referred to as ______
a. Epiculture
b. Apiculture
c. Heli culture
d. Snail culture
One of this is not a type of bee
a. Solitary bees
b. Honey bees
c. House bee
d. Bumble bee
____ is the process of deliberately keeping or culturing bees in wooden boxes or hives for different reasons.
a. Epiculture
b. Apiculture
c. Heliculture
d. Snail culture
___ is the study of how to grow fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants.
a. Epiculture
b. Apiculture
c. Heliculture
d. Horticulture