(a)Give two examples of crops belonging to each of the following groups of crops (i) cereals; (ii) roots and tubers, (iii) legumes; (iv) vegetables; (v) fruits; (vi) beverages; (vii) fibres: (viii) oil crops.
(b) Discuss briefly the production of tomato under the following heading: (i) sowing method; (ii) transplanting: (iii) varieties; (iv) harvesting
Explanation
(a) Group of crops and their examples: Cereals - maize, wheat, sorghum/guineacorn. rice, millet, barley, acha (Digitaria exilis); oats, rye.
Roots and tubers - yam, cocoyam, cassava sweet potato, Irish potatoes, rizga, radish, beets, carrot
Legumes: cowpea. mucuna, centro sema, soyabean. groundnut Lima bean - pigeon pea, bambara nut etc.
Fruits - oranges, mangoes, pawpaw, pineapple cashew etc.
Beverages - cocoa, coffee, tea, kola-nut Fibres - Kenaf, sisal hemp, hibiscus, jute, cotton etc.
Oil crops - groundnut, soyabean, oil palm, melon, cotton, coconut, sun flower.
Vegetables: Amaranthus, bitter leaf, Talinum (water leaf) Telfairia. Okra. tomato, spinach etc.
(b) Production of tomato (i) Sowing method: Planting is by drilling or broadcasting
(ii) Transplanting: Transplanting on beds and ridges when seedling size is 15-20cm tall and about 25-30 days old when the seedlings have 4-5 leaves, Transplanting is done early in the morning or evening.
(iii) Varieties: These include Ife plum, Renita, Roma, Local cultivars etc.
(iv) Harvesting: The first ripe fruits come out about 12 weeks but attend peak yield about 15 weeks after sowing. The fruits are best harvested when half ripe as the green fruits suffer less cracking but have no good flavour. Harvesting is by hand picking.