Question 3
-
(a) Discuss the cultivation of cassava under the following headings.
(i) soil requirements;
(ii) land preparation;
(iii) propagation;
(iv) spacing;
(v) weed control;
(vi) fertilizer requirement;
(vii) harvesting;
(viii)storage. (10 marks)
(b) Complete the table below on diseases of farm animals.
DiseaseCausal organism
Farm animal affected
Symptom
Control
Coccidiosis
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Rinderpest
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)
(8 marks)
Observation
- Question 3(a) was fairly popular among candidates but some candidates could not state the fertilizer requirement of cassava.
- Only few candidates attempted question 3(b) and majority who did could not state the causal organisms, symptoms and control of these diseases.
The expected answers include:
3. (a) Cultivation of cassava
(i) Soil requirements
- Grows best on well drained sandy loam or clay loam
- Tolerant to poor soils
(ii) Land preparation
- Land is cleared, stumped, ploughed and harrowed
- Ridges/mounds could be made
- May also be planted on flat land
(iii) Propagation
- Propagated by stem cuttings
- Stem cuttings are planted at an angle of about 45° or in a slanting position or buried flat
- About 2/3 of the stem cutting is buried in the soil
- The cuttings used must contain a good number of nodes
- Can also be propagated by seed
(iv) Spacing
- 1m x 1m
- 90cm x 90cm
(v) Weed control
- Regular weeding is done with the use of hoe or cutlass
- Herbicides could be used to control weeds
- Hand pulling of weeds could be done on a small scale
(vi) Fertilizer requirement
- Potassium fertilizer e.g. muriate of potash
- NPK 10:10:20 or 15:15:15
(vii) Harvesting
- Maturity is about 6-15 months
- Harvesting is done by uprooting the tubers manually or mechanically
(viii) Storage
- Stored in processed forms such as cassava flour, chips, garri
- Tubers can be placed in a pit and covered with earth for storage on a small
scale
- Could be peeled and kept in deep freezers
(b) Completion of the table
Coccidiosis
(i) Causal organism
-Protozoon(Eimera spp)
(ii) Farm animal affected
- Poultry - Sheep
- Rabbit - Goat
(iii) Symptom
- Foul-smelling droppings - Droopiness
- Emaciation - Rise in body temperature
- Bloody diarrhoea/dropping - Loss of hair or alopecia (in rabbit)
(iv) Control
- Treatment with coccidiostat
- Regular change of litter
- Provision of clean water and feed
- Use of foot bath at the entrance of poultry houses
Rinderpes
(i) Causal organism
- Virus
(ii) Farm animal affected
- Cattle
- Goat
- Sheep
(iii) Symptom
- High fever - Bloody diarrhoea
- Reduced milk yield - High mortality
- Difficulty in breathing - Lesions on tongue
(iv) Control
- Cull and destroy infected animal
- Routine vaccination