"Living in the Agricultural World #4"

Agriculture is an integral part of human society. From time immemorial, our ancestors knew the importance of it. They believed in growing crops and rearing animals and then feeding on them. Although the essence of their involvement in agriculture wasn't to make wealth from it as it is done today, it was basically subsistence farming.

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However, I'll be sharing my ideas here based on my practical knowledge as I grew up in the rural area, where agriculture is basically practised.

• Application of manure : the application of manure to the soil before planting is very important. Here, the farmer applies either compost or to enhance the productivity of the soil before planting crops.

• Weeding: After planting, it is necessary to remove unwanted plants which are weeds in order for it not to compete with the crops, consuming the soil nutrients meant for crops on the farm. So, the process of removing the process of removing the weed is known as weeding and also one of the practices in agriculture.

The maintenance of healthy soil is important because good soil will enhance the productivity of the crop yield.

I'll highlight this based on the ones I have seen being practised around my country, Nigeria.

• Mixed farming: This has to do with cultivation of crops and rearing of animals. This is what I saw my paternal grandfather do. He owned farms and also reared goats.

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• Crop rotation: This involves growing two or more crops on the same farmland. For example, I've seen my mother planting yam in the midst of the farm while she lined cassava on the boundaries that surrounds the farm.

• Dairy farming: This is a type of farming that involves keeping of animals for the production of milk. While I was serving in the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in northern Nigeria, I saw Fulani women selling raw cow's milk which they usually called "Fura." It was there I learnt about dairy farming.

• Subsistence agriculture: I grew up to see my grandparents engaging in subsistence farming. That is the type of farming that involves growing crops and rearing animals for the consumption of the immediate family and not being sold out to other people.

The first time I ever saw a greenhouse was in my service year 2015 at Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. The structure got my attention. I was curious to know what a transparent building with plants inside could be, and it was in the midst of bushes. On enquiry, I got to know that it was a greenhouse. To be sincere, I only read about the greenhouse in my Agricultural Science many years ago, but I never really knew exactly what it looked like.

So, a greenhouse in agriculture is a structure that's meant to plant green plants e.g vegetables. It could be made up of plastic and always transparent.

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From my research, I found the following types of greenhouse:

• Even span: I know this because the one I saw at Minna was even-span. Here, the roof divides into two with all equal sides.

• Uneven span: This structure has half side. It's one-sided as it slopes from the top down to one side, unlike the even span where the structure stands with a division of both sides sloping down. (This is just a layman's term).

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