1998 WAEC Agricultural Science Theory (a) Discuss briefly four ways in which any three of the following Government agricultural programmes…

Explanation

(a) Contributions of Government agricultural programmes to agricultural development of Nigeria are: (i) Agricultural developement Projects:

(1) boost agricultural production through the construction of farm service centres for effi-cient distribution of agricultural inputs;

(2) construction of rural infrastructures such as feeder roads and earth dams;

(3) Increased level of extension contact with farmer;

(4) bring agricultural services closer to the people in rural areas;

(5) source and make available farm inputs to farmers (e.g. improved seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, etc.)

(6) helps in the reclamation of degraded agricultural lands.

(ii) Farm Settlement Schemes:

(1) reduces the rate of unemployment among young school leavers and make farming attractive to youths;

(2) settlers are taught better farming practices and hence, they produce larger farm produce for sale and for consumption;

(3) Rural areas are developed infrastructurally, thus making the farms more attractive to dwell in and reduce rural-urban migration;

(4) the presence of the schemes has multiplier effect as surrounding farmers visit them to learn new techniques and technologies of farming;

(5) improved yields and harvests of the settlers contribute positively to higher GDP of the nation.

(6) it improves the efficiency of extension agents due to concentration of efforts and facilities.

(iii) Cooperative farming:

(1) farmers pool their resources together for better efficiency to attain higher productivity and income;

(2) inputs are purchased in bulk by the cooperative and then shared by the farmers;

(3) farmers obtain short-term credit through the cooperatives at low interest rates which individual farmers cannot procure;

(4) It assists in the storage of their produce with attendant benefit;

(5) It also assists in transportation of goods to market hence, ensuring better distribution and availability etc.

(6) facilitates joint processing of agricultural products at reduced cost;

(7) It spreads risks among farmers in case of failure of farm products.

(iv) River Basin and Rural Development Authorities:

(1) The river provides irrigation facilities through construction of dams for all year round agricultural production;

(2) It also provides potable water to the rural people for increased agricultural producton;

(3) and assist to bring more land under cultivation by increasing the farm size of small-scale farmers through the provision of land clearing services e.g. tractor hiring at minimum cost;

(4) increases the total output per farmer with increased net revenue returns;

(5) construction of feeder roads to project sites for good transportation;

(6) improves rural infrastructures generally, thus reducing rural-urban migration;

(7) con-struction of fish ponds, to enhance distribution of fingerlings to fish farmers.

(v) Agricultural Research Institutes:

(1) These are Centres for development of new farming technologies or practices;

(2) They have through research, developed improved varieties of large number of crops such as palm tree, coconut, rubber, cocoa, maize , cassava etc.

(3) They have bred improved breeds of animals with higher yields of milk, eggs etc. for the benefit of the populace;

(4) The institutes have developed better methods of controlling pests and diseases of some crops and animals;

(5) They have developed new cultural practices and farming systems for better yields;

(6) They have developed effective local methods of storing farm produce.

(7) They have developed vaccines for preventing and controlling diseases of animals.

(b) Agro-based industries and raw materials: (i) Oil mill - oil seeds (ii) Paper industry - pulpwood. (iii) Soap industry - oil seeds / oil (iv) Sugar industry - sugar cane. (v) Cigarette / tobacco - tobacco leave. (vi) Plywood/Sawmill - Wood. (vii) Textile / Ginnery - cotton. (viii) Flour Mill - Cereal / grains. (ix) Breweries - cereals. (x) Starch - Cassava, maize. (xi) =wit canning - fruits. (xii) Tyre - rubber latex.