Field Crop Production: notes

Kinds of Crop

• Cereals: maize, sorghum, millets, wheat. Rich in starch.
• Legumes: groundnuts, cowpeas, soya beans. They fix nitrogen and give protein.
• Cash crops: tobacco and cotton, grown mainly for sale.
• Annual and perennial: annuals live one season; perennials live many years.

Growing a Crop

• Land preparation: clear, plough and level to make a seedbed.
• Planting: use certified seed, plant at the first effective rains, and keep the recommended spacing.
• Fertiliser: basal dressing at planting, top dressing when the crop is growing.
• Weeding: early weeding gives the best yield.
• Harvest and storage: harvest at the right moisture and dry grain before storage.

Cropping Patterns

• Crop rotation: growing different crops in turn on one field. It breaks pest cycles and legumes restore nitrogen.
• Intercropping: two crops in the same field at once.