Observation

Majority of candidates were able to state the characteristics of commercial agriculture. However, many candidates were mentioning governmental programmes which assist in agricultural development rather than that of agricultural land development. Furthermore, most candidates do not understand the functions of a mist blower and confused it with a destoning machine or for blowing chaff from grains.

The expected answers include:

1.(a)        Characteristics of commercial agriculture
-           Large capital investment/outlay / high cost 
-           Large scale farming / large area of land is cultivated   
-           Hired / skilled labour
-           Makes use of farm machines, tools and equipment
-           Specialization of operations
-           High yield / output
-           Access to loans and credits
-           Use of improved breeds of animals and varieties of crops
-           Use of appropriate technologies / innovations in farming
-           Requires special marketing strategies / sales of produce
-           Use of agro-chemicals and vaccines
-           Farm records and accounts are kept  
-           Monocropping / sole cropping                                   
                                                                                       
           (b)         Governmental programmes which assist in agricultural land development in
West Africa
-           River Basin and Rural Development Authorities
-           Back to Land Programme
-           Agricultural Development Projects
-           Directorate for Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure
-           Farm Settlement Scheme
-           National Agricultural Land Development Agency / Programme
-           Operation Feed the Nation
-           Green Revolution                   
                                                        
                                           
           (c)         Functions of farm machinery
                        (i)         Bulldozer
-           Used for bush clearing                        -           For felling trees
-           For removing stumps                          -           For levelling the ground
-           For moving earth
-           For constructing / grading of farm roads
-           For demolishing old farm buildings and structures
                                                                                         
                         (ii)       Mist blower
-           To spray liquid fertilizers
-           To control the growth of weeds through the use of herbicides  
-           For light irrigation or watering of vegetable beds
-           To spray disinfectants in livestock houses and structures.
-           To spray plant protection chemicals such as fungicides.                                              
                                                                                               
(iii)       Tractor
-           Transportation of farm workers / farm inputs / produce / logs of wood
-           Has hydraulic control system which aids the lifting of coupled implements                                                                                
-           Used for drawing farm implements like ploughs, harrows and ridgers
-           Provides power for field operations such as tilling the soil, planting seeds,
spraying seedlings and harvesting crops
-           Source of power to stationary farm equipment such as sheller, grinder and water pump.
-           Can be used to generate electricity