Pathfinder Agriculture Honor Skill Level 2

1. Agriculture Honor
Skill level 2

2. Bible benefits from this honour
• Gen 2:7 The Lord God formed the man from soil
• Gen 2:9 The Lord God make all kinds of tree grow from the soil
• Exodus 23:19 You are to bring the best of the first fruit of your soil
• Proverbs 28: 19 He who till his land (soil) will have plenty of food
but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty
• Gen 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the
Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken
• 2 Timothy 2:6 The hard –working farmer out to be the first to
receive his share of the crops

3. Requirements of the honour
1. List the components of soil. Why soil is important to plants.
2. Explain the difference between clay, sand and loam soils. List
crops that grow well in each.
3. Seed germination process.
4. Explain how plants convert nutrients into food.
5. Weeds.
6. Common pests or diseases. How to eliminate or prevent
their occurrence.

4. Requirements of the honour
7. Locate 2 sources of agricultural weather information.
How is this information helpful to the farmer.
8. 9. Know the purpose of the following: a)Ploughing
b)Disking c)Cultivating d)Irrigation e)Harvesting
10.Name and identify then common birds of your
neighbourhood, and state their value to the farmer
11. What is erosion? How can it be prevented?

5. What is agriculture ?
The science or practice of farming, including cultivation
of the soil for growing crops and the rearing of animals
to provide food, wool and multiple types products.
e.g. Poultry

6. The beginning
Who was the first farmer in the world?

7. Components of soil

8. The importance of soil to plants
• The root of plants need soil
• Soil help the plants with nutrients
• Soil is also the home for Micro organism

9. Soil types

10. Soil types
• Loamy: When you hold it in your hands, it has a fine-texture and
might feel a bit damp.
– Root Crops…
• Sandy: Gravelly and grainy feel.
– Cabbage; Broccoli; Peas
• Clay: Feels lumpy when you hold it in your hand and sticky when it’s
wet. When clay soil is dry, it’s as hard as a rock.
– Fruit trees

11. Germination
Activity
• Test the germination and growth of three varieties
seeds.
• Record germination percentage after 3, 4 & 5 days
• Maintain a log of work done and problems
encountered from seed harvest.
• Report progress in class per week.

12. How plants convert nutrients into food

13. Common weeds
• Weed?

14. Common weeds
Dandelion

15. Common weeds
Common Daisy

16. Common weeds
Creeping (Slender) Speedwell

17. Common pests and diseases
Fall Armyworm (FAW)
• The FAW originates from the tropical regions of the United States.
• Flies on prevailing winds, has a short life-cycle, and attacks a wide range of crops.
• .In January 2017, the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) received reports of
an unknown armyworm damaging maize plants on farms in the Limpopo and North West provinces.
• Treatment: DAFF website.

18. Common pests and diseases
CITRUS HUANGLONGBING (HLB)
• HLB is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide.
• Originally thought to be caused by a virus, it is now known to be caused by unculturable phloem-limited bacteria.
• Treatment: DAFF or Agriculture and research Council website.

19. Common pests and diseases
BANANA BUNCHY TOP DISEASE (BBTD)
• A viral diseases including caused by Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV).
• BBTV can spread from one plantation to the next by means of infected planting material, and between
plants with the Banana aphid.
• Treatment: DAFF or Agriculture and research Council website.

20. Common weeds
Creeping (Slender) Speedwell

21. Sources of agricultural weather information
• ARC-ISCW Agrometeorology Programme
• Agricoud app

22. Farming process
• Plowing?
• Disking?
• Cultivating?
• Irrigation?
• Harvesting?

23. Farming process
• Plowing: Loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting.

24. Farming process
• Disking: Preparation practice that usually follows the plowing, whether it was deep or
shallow soil tillage. Plowing cuts, granulates, and inverts the soil, creating furrows and ridges.
Additionally, disking breaks up clods and surface crusts, thereby improving soil granulation
and surface uniformity

25. Farming process
• Cultivating: Plowing is turning the soil over (bringing lower soil up to the
top) while cultivating is smoothing out the very top layer of soil preparing
it for planting

26. Farming process
• Irrigation: The artificial process of applying controlled amounts of water
to land to assist in production of crops.

27. Farming process
• Harvesting: The process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping
is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle,
or reaper.

28. Birds benefit farming???
• How?
• Names of birds in your neighborhood? How can they be of benefit to a
farmer?

29. Birds benefit farming???

30. Birds benefit farming???
• Birds are indicators of a healthy, functioning
ecosystem, providing important benefits such
as pest control, pollination and seed dispersal.
• Farmers can take advantage of these services
and at the same time provide birds with
habitat. It is mutually beneficial for famers and
birds – Mutual symbiotic relationship.
• When farmers provide habitat for beneficial
birds and bring them closer to crops, they are
increasing their farm's pest control
services. Birds can help farmers keep pest
insects, rodents and pest birds at bay.

31. Soil erosion
Gradual wearing away of soil surface, which
removes organic matter and key nutrients in
the process.
• “Soil drifting,” wind erosion
• Water
• With sheet erosion, usually caused by
direct rainfall, soil materials are
removed uniformly from the top layer.
• With rill erosion, often caused by poor
surface drainage, little streamlets of
water cause rills and eventually gullies
to form.
• TILLAGE: Occurs when tilling activity
drags the soil downhill.

32. Soil erosion
How to prevent soil erosion
• Crop Rotation: Rotating in high-residue
crops — such as corn, hay, and small
grain — can reduce erosion as the layer
of residue protects topsoil from being
carried away by wind and water.
• Conservation Tillage: No-till planting,
strip rotary tillage, chiseling, and disking.
• Terrace Farming: Planting in flat areas
created on hillsides in a step-like
formation