Sexual Propagation of crops
Sexual propagation involves reproduction by seed, which can either he planted directly or sowed in the nursery and later transplanted to the field.
SEXUAL PROPAGATION OF CROPS
Seeds are said to be descendants of many generations of plants and tend to resemble their parents. But due to variability which results from different crossing, they could be different from their parents.
In order to keep the life of plants going. Farmers should select viable seeds for planting. During selection, there are certain characteristics that must he considered for good result.
- Ability of such seeds or plains to resist diseases.
- Are they early maturing or late maturing seed?
- Are they high yielding or not?
- Are they drought-resistant or not?
During selection, farmers should discard seeds that are of inferior quality. Crops that can be propagated by seeds include vegetables such as tomato, spinach, okra and grain crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, millet and tree crops e.g oil palm, coconut, etc.
In recent years, there have been tremendous achievements in the field of breeding by plant breeders, in order to make more and quality seeds available to farmers.
Breeders have produced new varieties of seeds by cross pollinating several varieties of the plant. Such achievements have been made in crops like maize, sorghum, cowpea, rice, tobacco, etc.
ADVANTAGES OF SEXUAL PROPAGATION OF PLANTS
- Since only seeds with the desired quality and viability are used, therefore in any good environment crop failure is limited.
2. Through cross pollination, the ability to improve the quality of seeds to be planted is very high.
3. New varieties of seeds can be produced e.g. breeders have produced hybrid maize that is
4. Some plant diseases can easily be controlled by planting only disease resistant varieties
5. One can easily identify or know the ancestry or parents of the seeds used for planting
6. Transfer of certain characteristics is possible through breeding
DISADVANTAGES OF SEXUAL PROPAGATION OF PLANTS
- Breeding and selection require long period of time before high yielding and good quality seeds can be achieved.
2. Large numbers of worthless and poor quality seeds may be produced, which are not suitable for planting.
3. Pests can easily damage seeds in storage meant for planting.
4. The cost of production of high quality seeds meant for planting is very high.
5. Seeds used for propagation are also valuable food for man.
6. There is no guarantee that the seeds to be produced will look like their parents.
7. Plants that cannot produce seeds cannot be propagated.
8. Seeds for planting cannot be stored over long period of time, because seeds easily lose their viability in storage.
9. Technical know-how is required to achieve the production of high yielding and quality seeds.
- IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
19. IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
20. INCUBATORS
21. MILKING MACHINE
22. SIMPLE FARM TOOLS
23. AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION
24. THE CONCEPT OF MECHANIZATION
25. PROBLEMS OF MECHANIZATION
26. SURVEYING AND PLANNING OF FARMSTEAD
27. IMPORTANCE OF FARM SURVEY
28. SURVEY EQUIPMENT
29. PRINCIPLES OF FARM OUTLAY
30. SUMMARY OF FARM SURVEYING
31. CROP HUSBANDRY PRACTICES
32. PESTS AND DISEASE OF MAIZE- ZEA MAYS
33. CULTIVATION OF MAIZE CROP
34. OIL PALM
35. USES OF PALM OIL
36. MAINTENANCE OF PALM PLANTATION
37. COCOA
