HUSBANDRY OF SELECTED CROPS

CONTENT

1. Cereals – Maize
2. Legumes – Cowpea
3. Roots & Tubers – Yam

Maize: Zea mays

Description of the Plant

Maize belongs to the family Graminae which originated from America and has become one of the main food crops in West Africa. It is used in various forms as food by man and it’s also used as livestock feeds. It is a monocotyledonous annual plant which reaches a height of about 1m to 3m. The stem is soft and is divided into several internodes by the nodes. The leaves are long, flat with midribs and parallel veins. The plant is shallow rooted and has adventitious roots underground. Some of the adventitious root also develops at the lower internodes of the stem above the ground. These are called prop root. Maize has both the male and female flowers on the same plant. The male (tassels) are borne in the terminal pinnacle while the female flowers are borne in the combs or ears. The fruit is one seeded.

Varieties of Maize

Some varieties of maize are: flint, floury, dent, yellow (TZRS),

White Maize (Ferz 27) and hybrid maize such as 8434-11

Method of Propagation

Maize is propagated by seed (sexual)

Climatic and Soil Requirement

It requires a temperature of about 10ºC and 46ºC.