Agricultural Science

course outline

Topics

• Meaning and Importance of Agriculture

  Explores the definition and branches of agricultural science, and its importance to individuals, communities, and the nation.

• Problems of Agricultural Development and Solutions

  Identifies and discusses challenges in agricultural development in Nigeria related to land tenure, basic amenities, finance, transportation, storage and processing, education and extension, tools, farm inputs, and marketing.

• Subsistence vs. Commercial Agriculture

  Explains the meaning, characteristics, differences, advantages, disadvantages, and problems of subsistence and commercial agriculture.

• Role of Non-Governmental Organizations

  Covers the meaning and importance of NGOs and their roles in agricultural associations and development.

• Agricultural Laws and Reforms

  Lists land tenure systems in West Africa, explains government land use laws (Decree), and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of land decrees and reforms.

• Meaning and Importance of Agricultural Ecology

  Defines agricultural ecology and ecosystem, components of a farm ecosystem (biotic and abiotic), and interactions within terrestrial and aquatic agro-ecosystems.

• Land and Its Uses

  Covers the meaning and characteristics of land (e.g., free gift of nature, immobile, limited supply), and its uses for agricultural (crop/livestock production, wildlife conservation) and non-agricultural (industry, housing, transport) purposes.

• Factors Affecting Land Availability

  Identifies physical (soil type, topography, degradation, pollution), economic (industrial pressure, mining, recreation), and socio-cultural (land tenure, religious use) factors affecting land availability for agriculture.

• Agro-Allied Industries and Relationships

  Lists agro-based industries and their raw materials (e.g., pulp wood, cocoa, palm oil), and explains the relationship between agriculture and industries.

• Environmental Factors in Crop and Animal Production

  Explains climatic (rainfall, temperature, light, wind, humidity), biotic (predators, parasites, microorganisms, pests, pathogens, weeds, interrelationships), and edaphic (soil pH, texture, structure, type) factors affecting crop and animal distribution and production.

• Rock Formation

  Defines rock, identifies types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic), and describes the processes of rock formation.

• Soil Formation and Profile Development

  Defines soil, lists factors of soil formation (parent rock, organisms, climate, topography, time), describes processes of soil formation (physical and chemical weathering), and soil profile development.

• Types, Composition, and Properties of Soil

  Recognizes different soil types, covers chemical and biological composition (macro/micro nutrients, water holding capacity, porosity, organisms, air), soil pH, and physical properties (texture, structure).

• Plant Nutrients and Nutrient Cycles

  Distinguishes macro and micro nutrients, lists macro nutrients, states their functions and deficiency symptoms. Also covers factors affecting nutrient availability, methods of replenishing nutrients, and the nitrogen, carbon, water, and phosphorus cycles.

• Irrigation

  Defines irrigation, describes types (overhead, surface, underground), and discusses its advantages, disadvantages, importance, and associated problems.

• Drainage

  Defines drainage, states its importance, describes types of drainage systems (surface, subsurface/underground), and discusses advantages and disadvantages.

• Agricultural Pollution

  Defines agricultural pollution, outlines its causes/sources (excessive chemical use, oil spillage, livestock waste), its effects on land and fishponds, and ways to minimize pollution.

• Simple Farm Tools

  Covers the meaning, types (cutlass, hoe, spade, shovel), and general maintenance of simple farm tools.

• Farm Machinery and Implements

  Identifies types of farm machinery and implements such as tractors, bulldozers, shellers, dryers, incubators, milking machines, combine harvesters, and sprayers.

• Maintenance Practices and Precautionary Measures

  Explains reasons for maintaining farm machinery and specific maintenance practices like checking water and oil levels regularly, and lists parts and functions of ploughs, harrows, and ridgers.

• Agricultural Mechanization

  Covers the meaning of agricultural mechanization, mechanized agricultural operations, and the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of agricultural mechanization.

• Prospects of Agricultural Mechanization

  Explores possible ways to improve agricultural mechanization, such as developing less expensive machines and establishing agricultural engineering schools for personnel training and simple machine fabrication.

• Farm Power

  Defines farm power, identifies its sources, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of farm power.

• Farm Surveying and Planning

  Covers the meaning, common equipment, uses, maintenance, and importance of farm surveying. Also includes farm planning, farmstead meaning, importance, factors to consider in design, and layout.

• Classification of Crops

  Classifies crops based on their uses (cereals, pulses, roots, tubers, vegetables), life cycle (annual, biennial, perennial), and morphology (monocotyledonous, dicotyledonous).

• Husbandry of Selected Crops

  Covers production aspects including botanical and common names, varieties, climatic and soil requirements, land preparation, propagation, planting details, nursery requirements, cultural practices (supplying, thinning, manuring, weeding), pest/disease control, harvesting, processing, and storage for representative crops from various groupings.

• Pasture and Forage Crops

  Explains the meaning and uses of pasture and forage crops, types of pasture, common grasses and legumes, factors affecting distribution, establishment, and management practices of pasture.

• Crop Improvement

  Enumerate the aims, methods/processes (introduction, selection, breeding), Mendels laws of inheritance, and advantages and disadvantages of crop improvement.

• Forest Management

  Defines forest and forestry, states their importance, outlines forest regulations in Nigeria, discusses forest management practices, implications of deforestation, and agro-forestry practices in West Africa (e.g., Taungya system, alley cropping, ley farming).

• Meaning and Importance of Ornamental Plants

  Explains the meaning and importance of ornamental plants, and helps identify local types.

• Common Types of Ornamental Plants

  Mentions ornamental plants used for different purposes, categorizes them by use (bedding, hedging, lawn grasses), and identifies common and botanical names.

• Settings and Location for Planting Ornamental Plants

  Identifies locations and settings requiring ornamental plants, and determines appropriate plant types for each location, such as avenues or in front of buildings.

• Methods of Cultivating Ornamental Plants

  Mentions and assesses methods of propagating ornamental plants, including by seed and various vegetative propagation techniques.

• Maintenance of Ornamental Plants

  Lists and discusses reasons for carrying out maintenance operations for ornamental plants, such as watering, mulching, and pruning.

• Diseases of Crops

  Defines disease, lists general effects on crop production, and covers important diseases of major crops including causal organisms, economic importance, mode of transmission, symptoms, prevention, and control.

• Pests of Crops

  Defines pests, classifies them into insect and non-insect pests, and further classifies insect pests by mouth part (biting/chewing, piercing/sucking, boring). Discusses important field and storage insect pests, their life cycles, economic importance, nature of damage, prevention, and control measures. Also covers non-insect pests like birds and rodents, side effects of control methods, and general economic importance of pests.

• Weeds

  Defines weeds, lists various types with botanical names, outlines their effects on crops and economy, describes characteristic features, and details methods of controlling weeds (cultural, biological, chemical, physical, mechanical).

• Types and Classification of Farm Animals

  Lists different types of farm animals (cattle, sheep, goat, poultry, pig, rabbit, fish) and classifies them according to habitat (terrestrial, aquatic) and uses (food, protection, pet).

• Anatomy and Physiology of Farm Animals

  Covers the parts, organs (heart, liver, lungs), and systems (digestive, circulatory, respiratory) of farm animals, including drawing and labeling these parts and mentioning their functions.

• Animal Reproduction

  Explains the meaning of reproduction, the role of sex hormones, the reproductive systems of male and female farm animals, the process of reproduction in mammals and poultry, and egg formation in poultry.

• Environmental Physiology

  Explains the meaning of environmental physiology and states the effects of changes in climatic factors (temperature, relative humidity, light) on growth, reproduction, milk production, and egg production.

• Livestock Management

  Defines livestock management, states its requirements (housing, feeding, hygiene, finishing), and explains the importance of these practices for ruminants and non-ruminants from birth to market weight.

• Animal Nutrition

  Explains the meaning of animal nutrition, classifies feeds, mentions sources and functions of food nutrients, states types of rations/diets and their uses (balanced, production, maintenance), and describes causes, symptoms, and corrections of malnutrition in farm animals.

• Rangeland and Pasture

  Covers the meaning and importance of rangeland/pasture to livestock, its characteristics, common grasses and legumes, factors affecting herbage production (rainfall, grass/legume composition, grazing), and methods of improvement (controlled stocking, rotational grazing, fertilizers, legumes, reseeding, weed control, burning, pest/disease control).

• Animal Improvement

  Explains the meaning and aims of animal improvement, describes various methods (introduction, selection, breeding), and discusses the effects of these methods. Also covers artificial insemination, including its meaning, methods of semen collection, advantages, and disadvantages.

• Animal Health Management

  Defines diseases, identifies causal organisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa), factors predisposing animals to diseases, animal reactions to diseases (susceptibility, resistance), and covers selected livestock diseases (viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal) including causal organisms, symptoms, transmission, effects, prevention, and control. Also covers parasites (meaning, types, transmission, life cycle, economic importance, control) and general disease/parasite prevention methods (quarantine, immunization, hygiene, breeding for resistance).

• Aquaculture

  Defines aquaculture and its types (fish, shrimp, crab farming), explains the meaning and importance of fish farming, outlines conditions for siting a fish pond, covers establishment and maintenance of fish ponds, fishery regulations, and fishing methods and tools.

• Apiculture (Bee Keeping)

  Defines apiculture/bee keeping, lists types of bees (indigenous, exotic), states the importance of bee keeping, covers preparing equipment for bee keeping and producing quality honey, describes various methods (traditional, modern hives/tools), and discusses precautionary measures.

• Basic Economic Principles

  Lists and discusses fundamental economic principles: scarcity, choice, scale of preference, and the law of diminishing returns.

• Factors of Production

  Defines and discusses factors of production: land, capital, labour (characteristics and classification), and management or entrepreneurship.

• Principles of Demand

  States the meaning and law of demand, lists factors affecting demand for agricultural goods and services, and explains movements along and shifts in the demand curve.

• Principles of Supply

  States the meaning and law of supply, explains movements along and shifts in the supply curve, and lists factors affecting the supply of agricultural produce.

• Implications of Demand and Supply for Agricultural Production

  Discusses the meaning of price support, price stabilization and control, and subsidy programs and their effects on agricultural production.

• Problems Faced by Farm Managers

  States common problems encountered by farm managers in the production process, such as inadequate farm inputs and insufficient information about input sources.

• Agricultural Finance

  Defines and discusses the importance of agricultural finance, sources of farm finance, classes of farm credit (by length of time, source, liquidity), problems faced by farmers and institutions in procuring/granting credit, and the capital market (meaning, institutions, sources of funds, roles in agricultural business).

• Farm Records and Accounts

  States the importance and types of farm records (inventory, production, income/expenditure, supplementary), covers designing farm records, and describes farm accounts (expenditure, income, profit and loss, balance sheet).

• Marketing of Agricultural Produce

  States the meaning and importance of agricultural marketing, lists marketing agents and channels, their advantages and disadvantages, and functions. Covers marketing of export crops, guidelines for exporting in West Africa, cooperative bodies, the importance of exporting, and problems of marketing agricultural produce.

• Agricultural Insurance

  Defines agricultural insurance, states its importance, names types of insurance policies for agricultural production (specific enterprise, vehicle, fire, life assurance), explains insurance premiums, and discusses problems of agricultural insurance (uncertainties of weather, natural disasters).

• Agricultural Extension

  States the meaning and importance of agricultural extension, lists agricultural extension programmes in Nigeria and West Africa, describes methods of disseminating information to farmers (individual, group contact), and lists problems faced by agricultural extension agents (e.g., illiteracy among farmers).