PROPOSED LESSON
PLAN/NOTE FOR THE FOURTH WEEK ENDING 7th OCTOBER, 2022
2022/2023 ACADEMIC
SESSION
SUBJECT: AGRIC SCIENCE
TOPIC: CULTURAL
PRACTICES (CONTINUED)
CLASS: GRADE 8
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 22
AVERAGE AGE: 11+ YEARS
GENDER: MIXED
PERIOD: 2nd
AND 5th PERIOD ON MONDAY AND FRIDAY RESPECTIVELY
TIME: 80 MINUTES
DURATION: 40 MINUTES
DATE: 03/10/2022
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: By
the end of the lesson the students should be able to;
i.
explain post-planting operation;
ii.
discuss harvesting, post-harvesting operations.
ENTRY BEHAVIOUR/
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: Students have already studied the
meaning and origin of agriculture in the previous week.
INSTRUCTIONAL
METHODS/TECHNIC: Questions, simulation, visual.
INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS: Plant samples, pictures showing post-planting
operations.
INTRODUCTION: Questions posed
to the students include
Question 1: What
are post-planting operations?
Expected Answer: This are things done after planting has taken place.
STEP I: POST-PLANTING
OPERATIONS
This
are things done after planting have taken place.
Post-planting
operations include the following activities:
(a) Thinning/Supplying
Where
two seeds are planted per hole and both seeds germinate, the stronger (more
vigorous) of the two young plants are left to grow while the smaller and weaker
plant is removed so as to leave one maize plant per stand. This is call thinning.
Thinning should be done after rain when the soil is moist, and when it is not
difficult to remove the weakest plants and press the soil timely around the
remaining plants. If both seeds are dead, one new seed or a fairly strong
seedling can be used to replace them. This is called supplying. The idea is to
maintain the required number of plants per hectare in order to obtain a high crop
yield.
(b)Mulching
Mulch,
that is, dry grass or other plant material or polythene sheet could be applied
to some crops in the field. Mulch is put on top of the ridge where seed-yam has
been planted. Mulch is often spread on seeds planted in the nursery This helps
to keep the soil surface cool, prevents top soil erosion and adds nutrients to
the soil after it has rotted.
(c) Manuring /Fertilizer
Application
Manure
or fertilizer (chemical manure) is applied at planting and about six weeks
later. The manure which is commonly used includes chicken waste, cow dung, etc.
They are mixed with grasses and allowed to rot in a pit before they are spread
on the farm. Fertilizer on the other hand is in powder or granular form. It is
applied round each crop, for example, in a ring round a citrus plant making
sure you don't touch the plant or 7.5 cm away from the crop along both sides of
a row-crop such as maize.
STEPII: HARVESTING,
POST-HARVESTING OPERATIONS
HARVESTING OPERATION
When
a crop is mature, it flowers and fruits, and later the fruits become ripe. It
is then time to harvest. You must have seen many people carrying baskets to the
farm around harvest time. They tear off corn cobs from maize plants, bean pods
from cowpea plants, and pack them in baskets. Harvesting can therefore be done
manually or even with Combine Harvesters. Timely harvesting rather than late
harvesting is very important to prevent many fruits from getting over ripe,
dropping and becoming rotten. This reduces crop yield. It some rice varieties are
not harvested promptly, the seeds shatter and drop on the ground. This also
reduces rice yield very badly. Birds and monkeys will attack over ripe fruits
and eat a lot of them. All harvested fruits and seeds are put in trailers drawn
by tractors, or put in baskets for the farmer or his children to carry home or
to the farm store. It is then necessary to dry the seeds, for example, of maize
and beans so that they can keep well before they are used.
POST-HARVEST OPERATIONS
Post-harvest
operations include the following activities:
(a) Processing of Crops into
Useable Forms
Harvested
crops are not always in a state that can be eaten. You must have seen ripe
cocoa pods on cacao trees. They have to be removed, broken and the beans
(seeds) taken out. They are then fermented and dried before we can eat them.
When maize cobs are harvested, the seeds will have to be removed before we can
use the maize in various ways. Beans are also removed from their pods. Rice
paddy are pounded lightly in mortars. The rice seeds and the chaff are then
winnowed' so as to remove the unwanted chaff which is blown away. The type of
crop processing that is done at the farm level is to ensure that clean seeds or
fruits, which will store well, are obtained.
(b) Storage
The
farmer takes the harvested crops, either processed or fresh e.g. oranges, to
the store to keep. The process of keeping agricultural produce/products for
future use as food, crops such as cocoa are stored for release later to
agro-based industries. The farmer stores food crops in order to make sure that
he and his family, as well as the other citizens, have some to eat for the rest
of the year when he is not producing. In addition, if the farmer is going to
sell his produce to another person, he must keep it in good enough condition
for selling, fuel or fibre or for sale is known as storage. Many crops such as
cocoa are stored for release later to agro-based industries. The farmer stores
food crops in order to make sure that he and his family, as well as the other
citizens, have some to eat for the rest of the year when he is not producing.
In addition, if the farmer is going to sell his produce to another person, he
must keep it in good enough condition for selling.
EVALUATION:
1.
Explain in your own words what you understand by the term ‘harvest’.
2.
List and explain three post-planting operations.
SUMMARY/CONCLUSSION:
Post-planting operations all those things done after the cultivation of crops.
ASSIGNMENT:
1.
Give brief explanation of post-planting operation.
2.
What are harvest operations?
3. How do you prepare rice seed for planting?
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