AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The most basic contribution of agriculture to economy is, the supply of foodstuff to the populance, and the provision of employment and the means of livelihood. But beyond these, agriculture also provides raw materials for industry and contributes to the improvement of the nation's foreign exchange through export as well as savings in import.
The issue that people must address themselves, is the role agriculture should play in relation to the other sectors of the economy. In developing agriculture, a nation has several options to follow. It may stress the role of agriculture as an important instrument for sustaining expansion in the non agricultural sector of the economy. A nation can stress agricultural development because it can yield huge sum of money in foreign exchange or because it can absorb abundant cheap labour. Therefore, any country that wants to use agriculture to develop its economy must understand these options before setting up strategies for implementing agricultural policies. Development economist now seem to agree that there are no inherent advantages of manufacturing over agriculture or for that matter, of agriculture over manufacturing. Decisions on the balance of in any development situation should be based on rational grounds in the light of considerations of cost and comparative returns from alternative allocation of national material and human resources. But such decisions should not be based on maxims or arbitrary dogmas and prejudices.

Farmers face certain problems in their march towards self sufficiency in agricultural production. Some farmers are frustrated by the lack of storage facilities for most of their perishable products. Also, they have to put up with inadequate market outlet,or else farmee can be assured of adequate benefits from their labour in the form of enhanced incomes, they will be much discouraged and their efforts towards higher productivity will seem pointless. These problems appear to have come to a head with the recent death of the ineffective commodity boards.

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Natural soil

Natural soils are influenced by rainfall and temperature,heavy rain causes the soil to become leached. High temperatures increase the rate of decomposition of organic matter in the soil, thereby lowering its humus content. Thus, climatic conditions tend to produce poor soils in the tropics and rich soils in the temperate regions. Besides climate and vegetation, the parent rock material also contributes to the quality of the soil. For example volcanic rocks tend to produce fertile soils. Laterite, a red soil which is a product of leaching, is commonly found in the tropics. It is composed mainly of iron and aluminium compounds,and poor in humus and essential plant nutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. The black and brown soil of the temperate grasslands are the world's richest soils, with a high mineral and humus content. The light coloured desert soils tend to be very rich in minerals but have a low humus content. Mainly the soils ar...

HERNIA

Hernia occurs in an individual when part of the intestine pushes through the wall of the abdomen and appears as a bulge at the site. There are many sites where hernia can occur, although the commonly encountered type is that found in the groin. This type of hernia is known as femoral or inguinal hernia. Hernia may occur on the navel or near it. The hernia which occurs on the navel is called umbilical hernia, while that which occurs close to it is known as paraumbilical hernia. These two types of hernia are less common than the femoral type. Groin hernia occurs more commonly in males, but can also occur in females in a few cases. In this kind of hernia, there is a weakness in the abdominal wall in the groin region about midway across the groin. It may appear on either side or, sometimes on both sides. A good sign is that swelling increases, initially it can be pushed back manually into the body. Later on, it gets bigger still and lies almost permanently outside the body, especi...

Rock Formation

A rock may be defined as a hard compact mass made up of cluster of primary or secondary minerals. The primary minerals are those that are as they were made in nature. Some of them are Quartz, Olivine, Pyroxene, Hornblende, Biotite, Muscovite and feldspar. On the other hand, secondary minerals consists of particles worn out from original minerals which have combined with other elements. They exist in form of: (i) Oxide such as those of magnesium, Iron and Aluminum. (ii) Sulphates and carbonates of Iron, Magnesium and Calcium. (iii) Clay minerals such as the silicate clays and the hydrous Oxide. TYPES OF ROCKS (i) Igneous rock (ii) sedimentary rock (iii) Metamorphic rock. Based on their chemical composition, we have basic and acidic rocks. Granite is a very good example of an acid rock. PROCESSES OF ROCK FORMATION IGNEOUS ROCK :This is formed through the process of cooling and hardening of the molten magma. This molten magna is confined deep down below the earth crust und...

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