Hello, friends, I'm so happy to have you here. I will be writing on the topic the benefits of getting involved in Agriculture.
I like everything about Agriculture. Because, if not for Agriculture, things would have been more difficult than what we're experiencing now.
Each time I visit my village, I always follow my mother to her farm to see what her plants look like. I do that often because I still have the zeal for Agriculture.
Agriculture is one thing I will always get involved in as long as I'm alive. It keeps me busy at all times, and as such, I don't have time for things that don't add value to my life.
WHAT IS AGRICULTURE?
When I was in Secondary school, I was told that Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and the raising of animals, either for sale or for consumption.
Yes, it's true. I agree with what I was taught by my teachers. But then, I didn't know more about Agriculture.
I wasn't taught how those crops were cultivated and nurtured till it got to a point where those crops were ready for sale and consumption.
This thing kept bothering me because no one was able to explain it to my understanding. At one point, I decided to approach my mother.
I began to ask her those questions that were bordering me, concerning the cultivation of crops. And guess what! She told me she would take me to the farm for me to learn faster.
She started teaching me how to cultivate cassava, maize, melon, pumpkin, okra, yam, water_yam, waterleaf, and above all, sweet yam.
She taught me that cassava, yam, and water are planted in ridges. And I asked her what tool was used to make the ridges, and she said Hand shovel, and I said wow!
She further taught me that maize, okra, pumpkin, and melon could also be planted on ridges. She told me, she prefers digging a hole on the farm to plant those things without ridges.
So, I asked her which one I should use, and she said, anyone.
The last thing she taught me how to plant was waterleaf. She told me before planting waterleaf, I should be able to detect if that soil has some nutrients.
And if it has, I should use a machete to clear the farm and remove some roots of oil crops that were planted there.
Then, I should use a weeding hoe or shovel to dig a waterleaf bed. After, I should check if the corners of that waterleaf bed are equal. According to her, if they are not equal, rainwater might spoil the waterleaf that I'm about to plant.
I listened to her carefully. When I grew up, I started practicing what she taught me, and now, I've started producing my okro, waterleaf, and a lot more.
**THE BENEFITS I GOT IN GETTING INVOLVED IN AGRICULTURE **
I got so many benefits right from the moment I picked an interest in Agriculture. The following, are my benefits:
(1) **EXPOSURE: ** I was highly exposed to things I never knew about Agriculture. As I said earlier, I never knew how those crops were cultivated, but as I got more engaged in Agriculture, I got to know those things.
(2) INDEPENDENCE: When I decided to embark fully on Agriculture, I wanted to be independent. I wanted to know if I could be productive or not. But, I'm so happy that I've made it in life as an Agriculturist.
(3) ** PROBLEM SOLVER: ** I didn't know how much I've affected people's life.Not until a young lady approached me.
She said to me, as young as you are, you're able to solve people's problems by alleviating the rate of hunger in the society, and I was shocked.
Being an Agriculturist has a lot of benefits. An Agriculturist can never lack food in his or her house.
Thank you for your time.
