Theory question 104
Crop Husbandry(a) Outline four steps involved in the planting of cassava stem cuttings.
(b) State three uses of cassava tubers.
(c) If yam is cultivated at a spacing of 100cm by 100cm on 1.5 hectares of farmland and each yam tuber weighs an average of 3.5kg after harvesting, calculate the: (i) expected number of yam plants on the farmland; (ii) total weight of yam tubers harvested in kilogramme.
(d) Distinguish between diet and ration in animal nutrition.
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(a) Select healthy, mature stems (about 12–18 months old); cut into pieces 20–30 cm long with 5–8 nodes; plant on prepared ridges/mounds, slanting or vertically, with about two-thirds buried and buds pointing upwards; plant at about 1 m × 1 m; plant early in the rains.
(b) Any three: food (garri, fufu, tapioca, flour); livestock feed; starch for industry; ethanol/alcohol; glucose; adhesives.
(c)(i) 1.5 ha = 15,000 m²; each plant has 1 m × 1 m = 1 m²; number = 15,000 plants.
(ii) 15,000 × 3.5 kg = 52,500 kg.
(d) Diet is the kind and amount of food an animal normally eats; a ration is the measured amount of feed given to an animal in 24 hours to meet its needs.
Convert hectares to square metres first.