“And others fell on good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty” – Matthew 13:8.
Understanding your Soil or Earth
SOIL – Organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
Types of Soil:
- Loamy Sandy 3. Clay 4. Clay and Sandy
- Loamy soil is very rich in organic minerals with its dark humus, many crops or plants can thrive well on this type of soil:
Cereals, grains, plantains, bananas, spinach, peppers (hot and green), lettuce and vegetables.
Some plants will not thrive on the organic loamy soil:
Tomatoes – this crop will not yield well when planted on loamy soil because of the effect of fungus infection on it.
Cow peas (beans) – this crop may not be affected by fungus but excess fertility in loamy soil will reduce the productivity of this legume.
- Sandy soil is in two categories: fine or coarse. When fine sandy soil is mixed with loamy soil it could be useful for farming. Listed are some plants that thrive on fine sandy loamy soil:
tomatoes, ground nuts, tubers (yams, sweet potatoes), Irish potatoes, cow peas (beans), watermelon, cucumber, and other drought friendly crops.
- Clay soil is known for its adhesive or gummy nature. It doesn’t absorb water quickly, but when soaked it doesn’t dry out quickly. Cash crops like:
Cocoa, oil palms, walnuts, citrus, cola nuts, and pineapple do ok* in this type of soil.
- Clay sandy soil …? *
Dry Season Farming:
Irrigation:
The operation of causing water to drop or flow on the soils surface for crop nourishment.
Most of the crops grown during the season can also grow in the dry season through irrigation systems. There are 5 major types of irrigation namely:
- Flowing Dropping 3. Broadcast
Some simple short time crops that can be planted during dry season are vegetables such as:
Spinach, cabbage, onions, okra, garden eggs, green beans, garlic, turmeric, ginger, carrots, watermelon, ogwu, sweet peppers, etc.
All these can be grown through irrigation if you have a sure source of non-acidic water.
“And plant dill, and scatter (broadcast) cumin, and plant wheat in rows, barley in its place and rye within” – Isa. 28:25. For his God instructs and teaches him properly – Isa. 28:25-26.
Understanding your Crops:
There are many crops with different species:
- TUBERS/DEEP ROOTS (life cycle 9-12 months): *
Yams manioc (cassava), sweet potato (life cycle 90 days [3 months]).
- LEGUMES (life cycle 90 days [3 months]):
Peas (cow peas, pigeon peas), melon (watermelon, egusi), soybeans, cucumber, and ground nuts.
- CEREAL (life cycle 90-150 days [3-5 months]):
Maize, sorghum, guinea corn (red or white), etc.
- VEGETABLES (28-30 days [1 month]):
Garden eggs, carrots, green beans, lettuce, cabbage, sweet green peppers, etc.
- BULBS and RIHOZOMES (60-90 days [2-3 months]):
Onions (red and white), ginger, Irish potatoes, turmeric, garlic, etc.
“The Lord God says, “While the earth remains seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” – Gen. 8:22.
Understanding your Seasons:
On this part of the continent, we have six months of rain and six months of drought. Prospective farmers then are faced with two planting periods, especially in the Southeast, West: some parts of Northcentral (middle belt) and some parts of the deep south. Draught/dry season begins from the month of November to April, while rain starts from the month of May to October.
There are likely some difference in the Northwest and Eastern regions i.e. Sokoto through Maiduguri, and Kebbi through Taraba.