The Production Of Sugarcane, Irish Potato And Other Traditional Tuber Crops
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The Production Of Sugarcane, Irish Potato And Other Traditional Tuber Crops
Chapter one
GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS
1.1 Background of the Study.
The selection of agricultural land has, at times, been the subject of many study efforts by researchers.
The majority of Nigeria’s rural population consists of geographers, ecologists, and economists. Crop agriculture, in particular, focusses on crop distribution, soil type, and other aspects of the rural economy that would improve man’s livelihood.
Farmers who make a living by growing a variety of crops. However, climate, soil, geography, agricultural inputs, and political considerations all have a significant impact on crop productivity.
Agriculture is a necessary base for the life of every society in the globe, as well as one of the primary sectors of the Nigerian economy, generating around 50% of the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Crop production is paramount
where a rising proportion of people work for themselves in order to provide food for the area’s growing population. Furthermore, most manufacturing businesses employ agricultural products (agro-base).
Food production is undoubtedly one of the most significant human undertakings. Agriculture, including agricultural tools, has a history that dates back to between 7,000 and 4,000 B.C.2. It is difficult, and sometimes misleading
to pinpoint a single origin of agriculture because many plants and animals have been domesticated at different times and in different places depending on the climate, people’s tastes, and availability of such species in a given region. Each society has its own history of plant and animal domestication.
In general, plant and animal domestication began in the Neolithic period. The oldest type of agriculture used basic tools made of stones and wood, and the majority of crops and animals domesticated were found surrounding Man.
3 As people migrated from one place to another, agricultural practices and ideas spread throughout nations.
Domestication of plants and animals is one of the most significant breakthroughs in human history since it had and continues to have far-reaching repercussions for man’s lifestyle.
Man, who was once a hunter-gatherer, abandoned that lifestyle and adopted sedentism (settling down in one location) after mastering the seasons and carefully selecting vegetation and animal species.
Domestication ensured a continuous supply, and man focused on productivity, resulting in a surplus. The existence of a surplus allowed man to save for future consumption and exchange.
Surplus also gave man plenty of free time to engage in other economic hobbies such as manufacturing (handicrafts), trading, and inventing new solutions to solve his issues.
Thus, when man’s physical and mental abilities evolved, he applied them to a variety of tasks, including agriculture. Most African cultures in general, and Mwaghavul land in particular, have always been able to provide an adequate food supply through the traditional agricultural system used by farmers. Except for pest invasions and poor farming seasons, mass famines are extremely unusual.
Sugar cane is today one of the most significant grass plants grown for human food, as well as a source of raw material in sugar production companies throughout West Africa. Most importantly, it is a source of sustainable clean energy that is free of pollutants.
Sugarcane, along with maize (zea mays), soybeans (glycine max), sweet potato (ipomoea batatas), cocoyam, and other crops, is a key crop in Mwaghavul Land, namely the south-western half of the Local Government.
Sugarcane, a tall perennial grass, is a species and hybrid of the Gramineae family. It is native to tropical South and Southeast Asia. Around the eighth century AD, Arab traders carried sugarcane from South Asia to the rest of the Abbasid Caliphate, including the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa, and Andalusia
as well as West African riverine countries such as Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia. They grow in marshes in northern Nigeria, near Kano Bida, Zaria, and Sokoto.
The Irish potato, which was first domesticated between 8000 and 5000 BC in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia, has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.
It is thought to have entered Africa with the arrival of colonists, who consumed it as a vegetable rather than a staple starch. It was first grown mostly on the Canary Islands.
Irish potatoes were farmed on Mwaghavul land in the Kerang, Ampang West, and Mangun districts of Mangu for early missionary usage. Later it was cultivated for commercial uses. With improved variations, it was widely distributed across the central and southern plateau.
1.2 Goals and Objectives of the Study
The primary goal of this study is to:
i. To demonstrate the economic and agricultural advantages of these crops over pre-existing traditional tuber crops.
ii. To observe the changing nature and challenges associated with the cultivation of traditional food crops and the advent of new cash crops such as sugarcane, Irish potato, cocoyam, and so on.
iii. To determine whether or not these new crops have improved food security in Mwaghavul land.
iv. The goal of this study is to identify the problems associated with the introduction of these crops.
v. Determine how farmers deal with the cultivation and adaption of new crops.
vi. To describe the progress of innovative production methods,
a. Marketability and storage.
1.3 Statement of Problem
Every researchable topic contains a “problem”. According to meekya, the research challenge is a confusing academic question that has been posed for a solution.
Therefore, the issues linked with this study include:
A. Find out the economic value of sugarcane, Irish potatoes, and other crops grown on Mwaghavul property.
To determine the reasons for their widespread acceptance by farmers over other traditional tubers or food crops such as millets, little cocoyam, and others, as previously indicated.
A. Identify the introduced types and assess their adaptation in the region.
B. Determine when these crops were introduced, how resistant they are to pests and diseases, and what type of fertiliser and nutrients are best suited for their growth.
1.4 Significance and Justifications for the Study
For a long time, historians and agriculturalists have focused their attention on tracing the origins, distribution, and impact of crops such as maize, plantain, banana, oil palm, kola, cotton, tobacco, and groundnut in Nigeria, particularly the jos plateau and Mwaghavul land, with little or no attention paid to sugarcane and Irish potato farming, as well as other food and cash crops.
Goshit Z.D (2000), Lohor S.A (1994), Chandighis, K.M (2009), Jallo P.J. (2008), and Nwanan Istifanus (2006) are among the few who have conducted research on agricultural crop production.
As a result, there is a need to investigate the introduction of these crops following increases in production of both crops (sugarcane and Irish potato). Crop production is not a new subject of scholarship, but the importance of producing these products makes the study intriguing.
The research not only analyses people’s attitudes towards new crop production, but it also highlights the steps done by farmers during colonial and post-colonial cultivation of their food crops to modify crop production in Mwaghavul land.
The study is significant because it explains how and why new crop production gained widespread support and became the dominant crop in Mwaghavul area when compared to traditional crops.
This is evidenced by the large number of traders that travel from other parts of the plateau and Nigeria to purchase them, as well as the local advancements that have resulted from the production of these crops.
Though most of the production is done by peasants using native technology, there is an increasing need for the government to provide them with modern farm inputs in order to increase yields significantly. This can help to address the issue of food insecurity in Mwaghavul land, Plateau, and Nigeria.
1.5 Scope and limitations of the study
This study spans the years 1850 to 2014, or the pre-colonial to post-colonial period.
Second, the research focusses primarily on sugarcane and Irish potato production, as well as their economic significance in comparison to other traditional crops grown on Mwaghavul land.
Third, this research examines the variables that made this production observable in Mwaghavul territory.
Most crucially, the research is limited to Mwaghavul territory, which includes nine districts: Mangu, Panyam, Pushit, Kereng, Ampang West, Mangun, Mangu Halle, Chakfem, and Jipal, all of which produce these crops at varying amounts.
1.6 The Geography of the Study Area.
Mwaghavul territory and chiefdom are located on Jos’ south-eastern escarpment and occupy an area of approximately 295 square kilometres. It is located around 70 kilometres southeast of Jos, Plateau state’s capital, and is flanked in the north by Barkin Ladi LGA (Berom land) and in the south by Pankshin Local Government Area.
Gindiri and Pyem Chiefdom are to the east, while Qua’an Pan and Bokkos Local Government Areas are to the south and west, respectively. The territory also extends around 64 square kilometres from Kantoma to Chakfem (north to south) and 44 square kilometres from Tileng-Mpat to Kombun (east to west), respectively.
The area’s population has grown throughout time. According to the 1934 population census, Mwaghavul people in Mwaghavul territory numbered 20,265 and increased to 59,625 in 1963, with the population being estimated at 2341,103 according to the 2006 census.
The area is drained by a network of streams and rivers that originate in surrounding highland settlements and tributary rivers. Its principal streams are Dunglaar (Mangu Helle) and Dung jurang (Mangu), which are located before Mangu town when travelling from Jos.
The third is Dung Rim (Daika) between Mangu Town and Daika, followed by Dung Ndai between Daika and Dung Pungak at Kerang, Dung Shangkwahal and Dung Kisak at Kopsho (Ampang West), and Dung Yi Naat (Panyam).
Spring waters are discovered at Niyes and Lankasta (Panyam), and amshal at Konji (Kerang), resulting in SWAN water, which is distributed nationwide. These spring all year and provide irrigation for crops such as Irish potatoes, sugar cane, and other vegetables.
The Ampidong, a crater lake in Ampang West that has attracted national and international geographers and visitors, provides water to both Boone agriculturalists and the Mufil Irish plantation in Ampang West during the dry season.
The land’s initial vegetation was primarily Guinea Savannah, which has been replaced by secondary vegetations as a result of human activity. The major vegetation was tall grasses and trees like Twaas, Khir, and Pichom.
Individuals and government agricultural agencies established secondary vegetation, such as the woodland along the Mangu-Panyam road in Ndai. Some of the trees are eucalyptus, mango, and guava.
1.7 Method for Data Collection
This research is based on a variety of historical sources. These sources can be broadly classed as primary, secondary, or tertiary. The primary sources include oral interviews, which are performed at random with persons from the study region, particularly adults whose vocation is crop production
whose ages vary from forty years and up, and who now live in the area. Others include agricultural officials and businessmen who deal with the marketing of these crops.
Archival materials are another important source of primary data. Many Nigerian states have National Archives, which store various types of raw data considered valuable by historians.
Official materials such as yearly reports, statistical surveys, and population census reports from colonial and post-colonial times, particularly those relevant to the theme of this research, have been consulted.
Secondary sources are materials that already exist on themes relating to the topic. These include writings by historians, economists, geographers, scientists, and agriculturalists, among others
which explains the emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach. These materials are available in national and state libraries, as well as school, college, and university libraries across Nigeria.
1.8 Definition of Concepts.
This is a broader matter to be addressed than simply a few specific questions. Thus, the study is titled “The Production of Sugarcane, Irish Potato, and Other Traditional Tuber Crops in Mwaghavul Land:
Challenges and Prospects (1850-1970).” To truly understand what is going on, important words such as production, sugarcane, Irish potato, traditional, tuber crop, Mwaghavul land problem, and prospects must be well defined.
i. The encyclopaedia Britannica volume 1, 15th edition defines production as the link between the amount of output produced and the amounts of inputs used, such as labour and capital.
The basic assumption is that producers attempt to maximise the output possible from given input amounts by selecting the most efficient production methods available.
Also, the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary Revised Edition 1996 defines production as the act or process of creating anything. It might be a series of tasks performed in order as part of a manufacturing process that will result in a large harvest or increased productivity.
ii. Crops are plants, particularly cereals, that are produced to be harvested for food, cattle fodder, fuel, or other commercial purposes. Usually for a particular year.
iii. Tomas F. Sugarcane is described as a huge coarse grass with shoots (culms) that can reach heights of up to 6 metres. Having sold the shoots weight. The dark sticky sugar recovered from the culms contains sucrose, glucose, and trace amounts of protein, minerals, organic and peptic gum ash, and colours.
iv. Irish potatoes are edible tubers derived from the solanum tuberosum plant, which is native to South America rather than Ireland. Irish potatoes are named after Ireland because they are strongly associated with the Irish potato famine, which was caused by a mould infestation in the Irish potato crop. They can be boiled, fried, roasted, or made into potato salad.
v. Mwaghavul Language. It is one of the Afro Asiatic languages spoken on the Jos plateau, and Lohor et al (2011) classify it as part of the Chadic subfamily. It is situated on the south-eastern escarpment of Jos and covers an area of approximately 295 square kilometres.
vi. A challenge is described as a novel or challenging task that tests a person’s aptitude and skill.
vii. Prospect: the likelihood that something will occur. Both concepts are defined in the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 6th Edition.
viii. According to the encyclopaedia 15th edition, traditional crops are those conveyed from ancestors to descendants without the use of writing, but rather as traditional thought.
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