A TECHNICAL REPORT ON

STUDENTS’ INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

UNDERTAKEN AT

AGRICULTURAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, ONDO STATE MINISTRY OF

AGRICULTURE, AKURE

SUBMITTED BY

MURAINA DANIEL OLUWASEYI

MATRIC NO: CSP/14/6869

TO

CROP, SOIL AND PEST MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT,

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AKURE

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF

BACHELOR OF AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY (B.AGRIC TECH)

MARCH, 2019

1
 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this report is a detailed account of Students’ Industrial Work
Experience Scheme (SIWES) undertaken by MURAINA Daniel Oluwaseyi with the
matriculation number CSP/14/6869 at the Agricultural Services Department of the Ondo
State Ministry of Agriculture, Alagbaka, Akure for a period of six (6) months and has been
prepared in accordance to regulations guiding the preparation of reports in the Department of
Crop, Soil and Pest Management (CSP), Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

________________________ _____________________
Student’s signature Date

_______________________ ____________________ __________________

Supervisor’s Name Signature Date

2
 DEDICATION

This report is dedicated to all those who never give up on me, all I.T. students and as
many scholars who may want to carry out study research on Pearl millet.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to use this medium to appreciate my Industrial Based Supervisors who saw to
the success of my intern in the Agricultural Services Department: Mrs. C. O. Ajayi (Director
of Agricultural Services Department) and her deputy, Mr. Omolakin who stood in my support
and gave consent to my requests; Mr. Olu Agbi, who was committed to the reading and
correction of my notes and signing of my logbook; My On-field Supervisors: Mr. Bodunwa,
Mr. Sunday, Mr. Dele, Mr. Ogunwomoju, Mr. Obasanya, Mr. Faleyimu and Mr. Balogun;
My In-office Supervisors: Mummy Adepitan, Mummy Secretary Pupa (as I use to call her),
Mrs. Mercy Akinboboye, Mrs. Ganiyu, Mrs. Akindoyo, Mrs. Awodiji, Mrs. Ayanlowo, Mr.
Bukky and Mr. Akeju. Thanks a bunch to you all, you are great people with good hearts.

My uttermost ‘Thank You’ cannot be to any other body than my beloved Daddy and
Mummy Osatimehin, this family has been of utmost wonders to me. Thank you is an
understatement for you because without you, Akure and all I can claim to own in her may not
have been possible for me talk less of batching a degree from FUTA. I always choose to call
you HELPER and I would not stop because you have been more than parents to me and in
my lexicon; helpers supersede parents, am forever indebted to you. I pray GOD preserves
you to reap your investments on me, Dear Pa and Ma. Thanks also to your fruits, the
Kolawoles, Afes, Osuntokis and Akinluas, they have all been wonderful families to me.

Also, to my late parent, Mr. Akeem and Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo MURAINA, thanks
for equipping me with all fundamentals and recipes needed to stay on earth even in the little
time God chanced you. I love you and no other can replace you in my heart. I miss you!

To my Head of Department, Prof. Francis Adekayode, I sure cannot appreciate you

enough, thanks for being good to me a couple of times I needed help from the department’s
office.

The FUTA SIWES coordinator, Prof. B. O. Akinyele, thank you for taking we
students to heart.

I owe my lecturers a huge thank you, all of you have form an important part of my
success story by teaching me in books and reality, your counsels I won’t forget. Thank you
Sirs and Mas.

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 My appreciation will be incomplete without mentioning my little parent, my senior
Sister and Brother, Muraina Bukola and Samson. I can’t have any better seniors to follow
than you two. I love and always take you to heart. My juniors, Michael, Matthew, Rachael
and Iyanu, you all are illimitable.

To the destiny friends FUTA has provided me with, I heart you all; ZibGat, Odunayo,
OluwaShile, OluwaFisolami, AdeSewa, OluwaShina, Olawale, OluwaBukky, OluwaBidemi,
OluwaKate, KateOyinda, John, OluwaFunmilayo, Tejumade, OluwaToyin, Chisom,
Opeyemi, Ngozika, MTN and the entire CSPites. My IT friends from FUTA (Anita, Cecilia,
Christiana, Idowu, Victoria & Dorcas), UNILORIN (Bridget, Fisayo & Franca) and FECA
(Kayode, Folake & Seyifunmi), thanks for sticking around and taking my clips during the on-
field training. I love you all really.

I owe a great deal of appreciation to Gospel Faith Mission International (Aiyegbami,

Achievers’, Hephzibah and God’s mercy assemblies); my mentors (Pastor Victor and Corp
Ali AlGafar), my confidantes (Oluwanifesimi, Faith, Loveth, Precious and Mercy) and all
those who love me. Thank you all for contributing to my growth.

Above all the aforementioned dignitaries, I say a huge THANK YOU to the one
GOD who gave me life and direct to my path each of these goodly people I mentioned above
or did not mention. Thank you Immortal, Invisible.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page .................................................................................................................................. i

Certification.............................................................................................................................. ii

Dedication ............................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... iv

Table of Content....................................................................................................................... vi

Chapter One

1.0 Introduction to Student’s Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)........................1

1.1 Main Aims and Objectives of SIWES..............................................................................1

Chapter Two

2.0 Introduction to Ondo State Ministry of Agriculture.........................................................2

2.1.1 Objectives................................................................................................................2
2.1.2 Organizational Structure..........................................................................................3
2.2 Introduction to Agricultural Services Department............................................................3
2.2.1 Departmental Structure……………………………………………………………4

Chapter Three

3.0 Work Done and Experiences Gained................................................................................5

3.1 Basic Principles of Crop Enumeration and Compensation...............................................5
3.1.1 Personnel Involved in Enumeration........................................................................5
3.1.2 Conditions in Crop Enumeration.............................................................................5
3.1.3 Calculation of Compensation Amount....................................................................6
3.2 Land Demarcation/Allocation.........................................................................................10
3.2.1 Procedures of Demarcation...................................................................................10
3.2.2 Allocation Procedure.............................................................................................12
3.2.3 Payment Procedure................................................................................................12
3.3 Processing of Soybean into other finished products.......................................................13
3.3.1 Soy-Milk................................................................................................................13
3.3.2 Soy-Cheese............................................................................................................14

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 3.3.3 Soy-Sauce..............................................................................................................14
3.3.4 Soy Cake................................................................................................................14
3.3.5 Soy-Chinchin.........................................................................................................14
3.4 Millet Cultivation/Production.........................................................................................15
3.4.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................15
3.4.2 Pearl Milled Description.......................................................................................16
3.4.3 Pre-planting Operation..........................................................................................18
3.4.4 Planting Operation.................................................................................................21
3.4.5 Post Planting Operation.........................................................................................21
3.4.6 Post Harvest Operation..........................................................................................25
3.4.7 Observation...........................................................................................................28

Chapter Four

4.0 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation.................................................................31

4.0.1 Summary...............................................................................................................31

4.0.2 Conclusion.............................................................................................................31

4.0.3 Recommendation..................................................................................................31

References...............................................................................................................................32

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE

SCHEME (SIWES)

Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is the programme of industrial

training for Nigerian Universities. At the early stages of the development of education in
Nigeria, there was a problem of the gap between theory and practical skills of students.
Therefore, there was a need to give students the opportunity to get real work experience.

The programme was created to give students experience in addition to theoretical

learning. The industrial training policy was introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria
in 1973. This project was necessary to improve practical skills of students.

SIWES has become a necessary pre-condition of graduation; the programme is working

with such disciplines as engineering, medical science, natural science, technology,
agriculture, environmental, applied science and so on.

The duration of the program can be different; it is six month for the universities, and a
year for colleges, monotechnics and polytechnics.

The programme is developed under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and the
body that manage its finance is called Industrial Training Fund (ITF). This is an excellent
bridge between theoretical and practical education. SIWES is working on designing proper
programmes for exposing students to the industrial workplace environment.

The objectives of SIWES programme are all about strengthening future employees.
Such program is attempted to help students to successfully understand the underlying
principles of their future work. After passing the programmes, the student can concentrate on
the really necessary factors of his/ her work.

Referring to the feedback of students, the experience of participating in the programme

has become very useful for them. Employers also note a higher level of skills of such
students. It is all about the development of occupational competence.

1.1 MAIN AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

i. To provide students with industrial skills and needed experience while the course of
study
ii. To create conditions and circumstances, which can be as close as possible to the
actual workflow
iii. To prepare specialists who will be ready for any working situations immediately after
graduation;
iv. To teach students the techniques and methods of working with facilities and
equipment that may not be available within the walls of an educational institution;
v. To give students the ability to try and apply the given knowledge.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 INTRODUCTION TO ONDO STATE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

The Ondo State Ministry of Agriculture was created in 1976 when Ondo State was
carved out of the defunct Western State of Nigeria. At State creation, it was named Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development, as the years went by, it was renamed Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural resources and was established as a whole Ministry in March, 2009
by the then Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration out of the erstwhile Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural Resources. The administration in quest to put Agriculture in its
rightful position as the major driver of economic growth ranked it first in its policy
framework of “A CARING HEART” where ‘A’ denotes Agriculture and Food Security.

The Ministry of Agriculture is made up of various Departments and Agencies which

are mentioned in Figure 1 below.

2.0.1 Objectives

i. To promote accelerated development of Agricultural activities in the State

ii. Self-sufficiency in basic food commodities in which the state has comparative
advantage in their production
iii. Transforming Agriculture from the level of subsistence agriculture to commercial
level through mechanization
iv. Increased production of livestock and fisheries to improve the animal protein
intake in the diet of the populace
v. Increased production of agricultural raw materials for the agro-based and allied
industries
vi. Promotion of employment opportunities to the people and particularly developing
the youths to forge a career in Agriculture
vii. Mechanization of Agricultural production, processing, storage and distribution
through the infusion of improved technology and management techniques to make
it more responsive to the demands of the sectors of the economy
viii. Enhancing the capacity for value addition leading to industrialization and
employment opportunities
ix. Facilitating acquisition of farmlands and title holdings towards agricultural
production through Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiatives

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 x. To harness Agricultural Resources with a view to contributing to the State Gross
Domestic Product through the different agricultural sub-sectors and enhance the
productivity of the farmers and other stakeholders in the sector
xi. Generating weather data to serve as advisory service to farmers
xii. Production of the State Agricultural land map to assist would be inventors in the
sector.

2.0.2 Organizational Structure

CHAIRMAN OSAEC CHAIRMAN AISA

HONOURABLE COMMISSIONER
SSA, AGRIC (CRP/CPM)
PM, ADP
PERMANENT SECRETARY

DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNT
PROJECT MANAGER TREE CROP
DIRECTOR
UNIT VET. SERVICES DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR LIVESTOCK AGRIC. CREDITDIRECTOR
SERVICES SERVICES AGRIC. SERVICES
DIRECTOR OF FISHERIES
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
DIRECTOR ENGINEERING SERVICES STATE AGRO
PROJECT MANAGER PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR FADA

Figure 1: Organogram of ODMOA

2.1 INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The Department has the responsibility of promoting agricultural production with a

view to achieving self-sufficiency and creating surplus in food and tree crops. It assists in
providing food for the citizenry at affordable prices and raw materials for the Agro-Allied
Industries and for exports. The Department also oversees the State Farmers Congress also
known as All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

The major programmes that are being implemented to achieve the objectives and
overcome some of the challenges of the Department include:

i. New Generation of Farmers Programme

ii. Dry season farming/tomato/pepper initiative
iii. Rice production project at Ode Aye for mass production of rice in the State
iv. UNICEF assisted Household Food Security and Nutrition designed to increase the
Nutritional status of children and women of child bearing age in the State.
v. Farm Settlement Scheme which provides housing and land for settlers at the farm
settlement centres

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vi. Farmers Organisation
vii. Crop Enumeration on land acquired by Government for purpose of payment of
Compensation to the affected farmers.
2.1.1 Departmental Structure

DIRECTOR, AGRIC. SERVICES

DEPUTY DIRECTOR AGRIC. SERVICES

CHIEF AGRIC HIGHER AGRIC

ASSISTANTDIRECT TECHNOLOGIST SUPERINTENDENT
OR AGRIC.
SERVICES DEPT.

ASSISTANT CHIEF AGRIC

AGRIC TECHNOLOGIST SUPERINTENDENT

CHIEF AGRIC
OFFICER AGRIC ASSISTANT
PRINCIPAL AGRIC
TECHNOLOGIST
PRINCIPAL CHIEF FARM
AGRIC OFFICER OFFICER

SENIOR AGRIC
TECHNOLOGIST
SENIOR AGRIC
ASSISTANT CHIEF
OFFICER
FARM OFFICER

AGRIC
TECHNOLOGIST I
AGRIC OFFICER FARM OFFICER
I

AGRIC FARM ASSISTANT

AGRIC OFFICER TECHNOLOGIST II
II

PROFESSIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS TECHNICALS

CAROLE
Figure 2: Organogram Agricultural Services Department

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 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 WORK DONE AND EXPERIENCES GAINED

3.1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CROP ENUMERATION AND COMPENSATION

Crop Enumeration is the physical counting or assessment of crops present on a

particular area of land to determine the amount payable to the owner of the crops due to
destruction, removal or damage done or about to be carried out on the crops.

The amount or sum of money paid to the owner in lieu of his/her damaged or about to
be damaged crops is termed ‘COMPENSATION’.

Instances that warrant Enumeration and Compensation are:

1. Saw millers destroyed the trees on a farmer’s field.

2. Bush burning and the farm owner demands compensation.
3. Government’s development proposal (especially new road construction) that will cut
through farms and so on.
3.1.1 PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN ENUMERATION
1. Enumerators: these are usually the Government Officials from the Ministry of
Agriculture. These are people who supervise the exercise and ensure no farm
irregularities come in place. They are buckled with the responsibility of computing
the enumeration data and calculate the amount to be paid to individual farmer in
relation with Federal Government’s standard of Compensation per Unit Price of Crop.
2. Farmers: these are the owners of the crops to be damaged or that was damaged. They
are needed to also ascertain the plot that belongs to them to avoid disagreement,
submit their passport photographs and supply need information to the Ministry
Officials as required of them.
3. General Public: the general public are invited to serve as witness to the enumeration
exercise and to satisfy the curiosity of some who want to know about enumeration.
4. Labourers: these are employed and would be paid at the end of daily enumeration
exercise. They are mainly to count the crops as the Ministry officials note their
counting in their files or books.
3.1.2 CONDITIONS IN CROP ENUMERATION
1. Never begin enumeration exercise in absence of Farm Owners and Ministry Officials
as these are the major personnel of Enumeration.

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2. Ministry Officials should never lead the way into the farm let the farmers lead the
way.
3. Enumeration data must NOT be disclosed to the farm owners, general public or
labourers.
4. Farm Owners must provide their passport photographs (usually two copies) and other
information required of them.
Note: names provided will be further verified on day of Verification to avoid
disagreement during Flag-Off where Compensation would be done in Cheques in the
case of Government’s Development Proposal.
5. Enumerators must be conversant with per hectare population of crops so as to give no
room for cheatings either to the government or farm owners.
3.1.3 CALCULATION OF COMPENSATION AMOUNT

This is easier done with the computer using Microsoft Excel and the following will be
contained in the tables:

1. Serial Number
2. Farmer’s Name
3. Type of Crop
4. Number of Crop counted
5. Unit Price of Crop
6. Total Price (this is the multiplication of Unit Price and Number of Crops counted)
7. Phone number of Farmers
8. Remark

N. B.: this table will be produced in Categories of Unit Prices in use because unit
price is used in accordance with age. Usually, we have Categories A, B and C and the
category to be used in compensation would be determined by the Payer (in the case of
Government) or Court (in the case individual destruction of farms).

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Table 1: Computation of Enumeration data on MS excel

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Table 2: Summary of Enumeration data on MS excel

Mathematically, the calculation is done thus:

Y =GTP ( S−L )

where:

Y = Amount to be paid

G = Grade

Grades in use are:

A – 1 meaning Excellent crop condition

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 B – 0.75 meaning Good crop condition

C – 0.60 meaning Fair crop condition

D – 0.45 meaning Poor crop condition

P = Unit price per crop correlating to current market price

S = Life span of crop

L = Age of crop when destroyed

T = Total number of crop counted.

Plate 1: Computation of Enumeration Data using MS-Excel

3.2 LAND DEMARCATION/ALLOCATION

Land demarcation and allocation entails marking out of farm portions per hectare at
Government Farm Settlements and given out on rent to interested farmers to use for a period
of one year.

This was carried out throughout the five Farm Settlement owned by the Ondo state
Government at:

a. Onisere Farm Settlement

b. Mariwo Farm Settlement

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c. Ile oluji Farm Settlement
d. Okitipupa Farm Settlement
e. Epe Agro Business City (Ondo town) Farm Settlement

These farm settlement according to history, were established by Late Obafemi

Awolowo during his Western region reign. Crops present at each settlement are:

a. Onisere - Oil Palm

b. Mariwo - Cocoa
c. Ile oluji - Cocoa and Oil Palm
d. Okitipupa - Oil Palm
e. Epe ABC - Oil Palm

Each of these settlements has their respective number of land on which the crops were
planted. Demarcation and allocation exercise is a yearly exercise done whenever the payment
for the previous year’s allocation expires and another is to be done. This is one of the means
by which revenue is generated to the State Government’s purse through Agriculture.

3.2.1 PROCEDURES OF DEMARCATION

1. Taking Coordinates: this is done with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) to
determine the approximate number of hectares obtainable from the region under
assessment. It is the first approach to demarcation although not always especially for
region whose hectarages are known. It is done by walking through the region to be
assessed and GPS is activated from the starting point until the whole region is
captured and ends at the starting point again. The readings of the GPS will be noted at
definite distances, N & UTM (for the GPS I worked with) and at the end of the entire
walk, summation of the whole plot will be found on the GPS.

N. B.: this was done at some of the settlement visited during my intern because their
hectarages were unknown. It was not done at settlements where the Ministry Officers
are conversant with the number of hectares at such settlement.

2. Manual measurement: this is a more definite means and most important aspect of
demarcation exercise, this entails the use of Steel Band to mark out 100m distances at
the four edges to make a hectare (100 X 100m). Labels will be nailed to mark the start
and end of each hectare (usually tagged PLOT). This means of demarcation is

17
 obsolete at settlements with Oil Palm and this is the reason for the next procedure in
demarcation.

Plate 2: Demarcation of Cocoa farm @ Ile-Oluji

3. Avenue counting: avenue refers to the distance between successive crops (the inter
and intra row space). This method is used only on portions with Oil Palm due to its
triangle-like planting method. (During my training, i was told there has to be 150
stands of Oil Palm tree on a hectare and the planting space for Oil Palm is 9 X 9m).
The dimension of counting was 11 X 11 making a total of 144 Oil Palm trees per
hectare as 12 X 12 will be too much as the expected stands per hectare. Labels will
also be nailed at the start and end points of each plot.

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 Plate 3: Demarcation of Oil Palm Plantation @ Agric. Farm Settlement, Ile-Oluji

3.2.2 ALLOCATION PROCEDURE

Allocation begins with registration of names. Interested farmers around the state will
be summoned to register their names if they want to rent the government land. Afterward, an
appointment letter will be given to shortlisted names with which they will collect Payment
Advice from an Officer of the Ministry. Allocation on paper is done after payment has been
verified by a Senior Officer of the Ministry and the allocation chart will be presented to each
Settlement Officers who will give each plot to respective farmers.

3.2.3 PAYMENT PROCEDURE

1. Issuance of Payment Advice: this is done by an appointed officer of the Ministry and
can only be given when the farmer appears at the Ministry with the appointment letter
to use the government land. On the payment advice, the farmer’s name, address (the
farm settlement to be given), agency name (Ministry of Agriculture), agency code,
Revenue Code (State government account code) and amount to be paid will be
indicated.

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2. Payment at Bank: with the Payment advice, payment into the State Government’s
account is possible at any Bank that has or uses Paydirect platform.
3. Changing teller to E-receipt: after successful payment at the Bank, the
farmer/individual is expected to change the duplicated teller of payment to an e-
receipt at the Board of Internal Revenue close to the Ministry Headquarters. The E-
receipt will be given in duplicates, one copy for the farmer and the other will be taken
to the Ministry of Agriculture.

After successful payment, the farmer/individual is free to use the portion or plot of
Government land at the settlement given to him/her for the speculated period before
another demarcation and allocation exercise is carried out to lease the land for another
year.

Note: there is no automatic renewal; the process has to be repeated.

3.3 PROCESSING OF SOYBEAN INTO OTHER FINISHED PRODUCTS

This was carried out at the Women in Agriculture wing of the Ondo State Agricultural
Development Programme (ADP). The purpose of the section is to enable women
participation in agricultural activities.

3.3.1 SOY-MILK
a. Pick the dirts and stone out of the bean
b. Soak the bean in water at room temperature for at least eight hours (preferably over
night)
c. Drain the water and add clean water to wash and peel to remove bean seed coat
d. Allow to soak further for about five minutes in warm water and afterward, grind with
blender or grinding mill to form paste.
e. Add water to the soybean paste at a definite ratio of choice (e.g. 1:3, 2:4, etc.)
f. Sieve with muslin cloth
g. Collect the filtrate and boil until it produces no fume (it should be noted that fumes
won’t stop on its own, you have to continue to remove the foams produced during
boiling until it produces none. The foam is considered the poisonous constituent of
Soybean thus it must be removed)
h. Allow to cool, bottle the liquid and refrigerate before drinking. Sweetener may be
added depending on the individual’s choice.

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3.3.2 SOY CHEESE (Wara)
a. During the process at ‘3.3.1g’ above, add coagulants (may be alum, lime water or
vinegar) to allow for coagulation. The boiling liquid will curdle to form cheese
b. After cooling, sieve the curdled cheese and drain away the water present in the residue
(an heavy object may be neatly placed on it to quicken the draining)
c. Cut the lump formed to desired shapes and sizes
d. Spice the cut cheese with salt and flavour of choice to taste and dry-fry with vegetable
oil or cook directly as meat or eat as snack with juice or any drink of choice.
3.3.3 SOY SAUCE (Beske)
a. Repeat the process at ‘3.3.2a & b’ above but add a pinch of salt to reduce level of
coagulation before draining the residue
b. Prepare sauce as in egg-frying and spice as desired
c. Add the broken lumps formed at ‘a’ and allow to steam with the sauce
d. Serve hot with bread or any meal of choice.
3.3.4 SOY-CAKE
a. Collect the residue at ‘1f’ above
b. Add mix sugar and butter in a container and mix thoroughly until the butter become
almost whitish and sugar particles completely dissolved
c. Add egg (yolk and albumen) and mix to form lighter paste
d. Add little of the collected residue at ‘4a’ above, milk/vanilla flavour and other
available flavours. Mix together thoroughly
e. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Repeat the procedure until the desired paste and taste
is gotten.
f. Dispense the paste into baking pan and spread to cover the edges
g. Put in the oven and allow to bake for about 40 minutes or more depending on the
source of power and serve as desired.
3.3.5 SOY-CHINCHIN
Same procedure as in soy-cake until ‘4e’ and add of baking powder. Use bottle or any
smooth-bodied object to spread the paste and cut to sizes and fry with vegetable oil.

21
 d a

b
c

a – Soy-Milk b – Soy-Chinchin c – Soy-Sauce (Beske) d – Soy-Cake

Plate 4: Display of Products made from Soybean

3.4 MILLET CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION

3.4.1 Introduction

Millet is a monocotyledonous plant of the Poaceae family with a wide range of

varieties such as Sorghum, Pearl/Spike Millet, Foxtail millet, Little millet, Kodo millet, Proso
millet and Barnyard millet. They produce an extraordinary food system and can secure food
and farming in future therefore, are referred to as Nutri-cereals (Millet Network of India).

Millets need very little water for their production and can tolerate poor, infertile soil.
Millets are not dependent on the use of synthetic fertilizers therefore; farm yard manure or
household produced bio-fertilizers are mostly used by farmers. They are deep-rooted and can
use residual nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Millets are amazing in their nutrition content as they are 3 - 5 times nutritionally
superior to the widely promoted rice and wheat in terms of proteins, minerals and vitamins.

Among the wide of range of cultivars of millet mentioned above, the cultivar
produced for this report is the Spike or Pearl millet with scientific name Pennisetum glaucum
and popularly referred to as ‘Jero’ in Yoruba land.

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Plate 5: Millet varieties

3.4.2 Pearl Millet Description

Pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum originated from Central Tropical Africa and widely
distributed in the drier tropics and India. The optimum planting time should be early October
to November and this is greatly dependent on the intended use (this contradicts my time of
planting and I can conclude that my plants were really affected as a result because they were
planted at mid August when rainfall was at its peak).

Pearl millet may grow from 50cm – 4m tall (Pearl Millet, 2014) which I can attest to
as the plants I produced were recorded with 1.5m as the shortest and 4.2m tallest. The plant
tillers profusely under favourable weather conditions. The stems are pithy, tiller freely and
produce an inflorescence with a dense spike-like panicle which can be 35.56cm long (mine
was 14.2cm shortest and 51cm as the longest). The diameter may be 2.54cm or less (I did not
take measurement of my diameters). (Pearl Millet Production Guidelines, 2011)

The leaves are long, slender and smooth or have hairy surface. The leaf colour may
vary from light yellowish green to deep purple. They are long-pointed with a finely serrated
margin.

23
 Pearl millet usually flowers from 6 – 8 weeks after planting (mine were 10 – 12
WAP). The flowering structure (inflorescence) is a called a Panicle or Head. Mature panicle
is brownish in colour.

Seed begins to develop after fertilization and matures 25 – 30 days later. The seeds
are nearly white, yellow, brown, grey, slate blue or purple in colour. The size is about one-
third that of Sorghum and weighs about 8mg on average.

The essential part of the plant is the grain and the entire plant is used as fodder.

Plate 6: Millet plot

Plate 7: Mature millet

24
3.4.3 PRE-PLANTING OPERATION

1. Land clearing: the production was carried out on a 15 X 9.3m land size; the clearing
was done manually by hand-slashing using cutlass and hand-pulling of deep rooted
plants. The debris was used to mulch the plot pending the next operation.

Plate 8: Handslashing and mulching process

2. Viability Test: the test was carried out with addition of Ginger powder to verify if the
seed will grow in the presence of ginger. I dissolved a teaspoonful of ginger powder
in 30ml of water and stirred for about three minutes. I counted 100 grains of millet
and dispense them into the ginger solution and allowed to soak for about 3 minutes.
After seed treatment, I placed folded paper in a plastic container and water was added
to soak. I decant the water after the paper has soaked and the 100 grains soaked in
ginger extract were position on the soaked paper. I soaked another paper and use it
cover the grains. The container was placed in a refrigerator and I continued to check
germination until after 5 days.

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 After 5 days, the number of germinated seeds counted was 63 which is tantamount to
63% viability which made me conclude that the grains were viable and ginger extract
does not hinder germination.

Plate 9: Viability test

3. Composting (Soil Organic Fertilization): I made about 7 big heaps using shovel as I
could not get enough poultry droppings to cover the entire plot for fertilization.
Poultry dropping were thoroughly incorporated into the heaps and spread to cover the
entire plot so as to allow for acclimatization before ridging.

Pl
ates 10: Composting process

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4. Ridging: the ridges were made using shovel and the purpose was to further
incorporate the compost at the surface into the soil upon which the seed would be
planted. The ridge spacing (inter-row) was 60cm.

Pla
tes 11: Ridging process

5. Local test and Seed treatment: in preparation for planting operation, I dispensed all
the millet grains I got into water and stirred. The floated grains were disposed during
decantation as locally, they are considered bad and non-viable. Afterward, I added
three spoonful ginger powders to the remaining millet (sink millet) and I mixed
thoroughly. I allowed the seeds to remain with the ginger for 10 hours (soaked over
the night until time of planting) to protect against soil-borne pathogens and insects.

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 Plate 12: Ginger-treated millet seeds

3.4.4 PLANTING OPERATION

This was done on 17th August, 2018. The seeds were planted immediately after I
drained the water by sieving. The planting was done by digging the soil to a depth of about
0.5 – 1.0 cm because of the seed size and the intra-row spacing was 40cm. The seed
population was 4 seeds per hole.

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 Plate 13: Planting operation

3.4.5 POST PLANTING OPERATIONS

1. Seedling emergence: seedlings were noticed to have emerged three (3) days after
planting attesting to the text I read online that emergence in millet begins at 2-4 days
after planting. Although the emerging seeds were considerably low compare to the
planted seed as only 66 emerging seedling was counted. This was suspected to be as a
result of high water quantity imbibed during seed treatment although not conclusive.
2. Weeding: weeding was manually done twice before harvesting using cutlass and hoe,
the first weeding was done at three (3) weeks after planting and some grasses and
deep rooted weeds were handpulled as they can easily re-establish on the plot. The
second weeding was done in the same way at nine (9) weeks after planting.
3. Fertilizer Application: the farming was basically organic therefore; poultry
droppings were collected again and mixed in water to form a solution which in
agriculture is termed SLURRY. The solution was applied directly to the base of the
plants and left to acclimatize before earthing up operation was carried out. This
application was done once because it has been carried out as pre-plant operation so
this was only done to further enrich the soil and provide the millet plants with a
favourable growing condition. It was done eight (8) weeks after planting.

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 Plate 14: Application of Organic slurry

4. Earthing Up: this phenomenon is defined as covering the base of plants (especially
grass family due to the adventitious nature of their root system) with soil to provide
anchorage (and to further allow the applied slurry to enrich the soil). This was done
with use of hoe during second weeding at nine (9) weeks after planting.
5. Tillering: this is the ability of certain plants to produce shoot(s) from the base of the
plant. Some of the millet was noticed to be growing more shoots from the base of the
mother plant at 7 weeks after planting. Normally, there were supposed to be at most 4
plants on a spot due to the planting population but some were notice to have about six,
seven or eight. This attests that the millet has a favourable growing condition.

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 Millet plant without tiller (4 seeds per hole) Millet plant with tillers (7 tillers @ 7 WAP)
Pl
ates 15

6. Panicle production: this process was initiated at 10 – 12 weeks after planting which I
considered late compared to the adequate 6 – 8 weeks after planting when it should
have began panicle formation. The reason for this is inconclusive but I will admit it
was as a result of the time of planting. The panicles were spike-like in shape, light
greenish in colour at formation which later turns somewhat yellow as it grows further
and completely brown at full maturation. The hairs on the panicle withered and dried
out; this is the beginning of seed formation. The entire process according to my
observation took about 2 weeks before seed formation.

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 Plate 16: Panicle emergence

7. Seed formation: this began immediately after panicle maturation, conclusively, it can
be said to occur at 13 – 15 weeks after planting. The seeds were whitish in colour at
early stage of formation and as they mature, they turn whitish-grey. After complete
seed formation, it took another 1 week for it to completely dry and become hard,
ready for harvesting.

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 Pl
ate 17: Matured Panicles

8. Harvesting: harvesting was done on 17th December, 2018 (18WAP). It was manually
done by severing the panicle from the entire plant using scissors and knife. The seeds
were harvested dry.

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 Plat
e 18: Harvesting of Panicles

3.4.6 POST HARVEST OPERATION

1. Drying: the harvested panicles were spread to dry under the sun in order to enhance
threshing. After threshing, the produce was dried under sun to ease sorting.

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Plates 19: Drying

35
2. Threshing: this process was carried out manually by simply using hand to move the
seeds as they were arranged on the panicle in an opposite direction and thus
dislodging the grain and debris (hairs) from the spikelet.

36
Plates 20: Threshing process

3. Sorting: Sorting implies the proper dislodge and separation of grain from debris. This
was done by the one and only traditional technique called Winnowing (that is wind

37
blowing threshed seed, thereby separating the grains from foreign materials and
debris) and afterward, a sieve of considerable spaces was used to further separate the
remaining debris from the grain.

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Plates 21: Winnowing processes

3.4.7 OBSERVATIONS

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1. Brown powder-like substance was found on the panicle of some of the plants, it
caused the panicles to produce seeds when green and eventual rottening (decay) of the
panicle. After reading some texts online, I discovered the plant was infected by Smut

Plate 22: Millet smut disease

2. Glossy liquid ooze on some of the panicles after seed formation. This does not seem
to me as a problem as the liquid dried up during post harvest drying and no visible
implication was noticed. The name of the disease is Ergot.

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 Plate 23: Ergot disease of millet

3. An insect larva was seen covered by leaf at the base of the panicle of one of the
plants. The larva is suspected to be either of Aprostocetus spp. or Meterorus spp.
(African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2004); this is inconclusive though.

Plate 24: Insect lava at the base of mature panicle

4. No disease symptom was noticed on the leaves

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1.1 SUMMARY

The training spanned from 18th June, 2018 to 30th November, 2018 comprising of 24
weeks at the Agricultural services department of the Ondo State Ministry of Agriculture. The
major assignment of the department which I participated in was Crop Enumeration and
Demarcation/Allocation exercises at the five Settlement of the State Government in Ondo
state.

I engaged in a food processing practical in the Women in Agriculture wing of the

Ondo state Agricultural Development Programme in which I learnt how to process Soybean
into snacks like Cheese, Milk, Sauce, Cake and Chinchin. Although, Soybean is not the major
ingredient but it was used as a fortifier and protein-source to the snacks; the most important
thing is that I understood the entire procedure involved in the production process.

Also, Millet production processes were empirically followed from pre-planting,

planting and post-planting operations spanning 18 weeks (4 months and 2 weeks) to fully
mature and post harvesting processes were duly carried out. The production was basically
organic (no synthetic fertilizer application was used).

4.1.2 CONCLUSION

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 The training was awesome although without payment but I have no doubt to conclude
that the Objectives of the Body that established Students’ Industrial Work Experience
Scheme was fully accomplished during my intern.

4.1.3 RECOMMENDATION

I want to recommend that FUTA should mobilize parents/guardians (through any

means possible) that they may allow their wards to have their training in places of their
choice. I believe this is possible in as much as FUTA usually send students’ result to their
parents/guardian at the end of each semester; then, mobilizing parents/guardians for their
wards’ training is believed to be possible.

REFERENCES

Aims and Objectives of SIWES in Nigeria-Legit.ng: https://www.legit.ng/1143857-

aims-objectives-siwes-nigeria.html Retrieved 31st January, 2019.

Folaranmi T. S. (2008): A technical report on Students’ Industrial Work Experience

Scheme (SIWES). Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University
of Technology, Akure

Major Pearl Millet Diseases and their effects on-farm grain yield in Uganda (2014).
African Journal of Agricultural Research

Millets: Future of Food and Farming. Millet Network of India- Deccan Development
Society- FIAN, India

Olu Agbi et al (2018): Basic Principles of Crop Enumeration and Compensation.

Pearl Millet Production Guideline (2011): Department of Agriculture, Forestry and

Fisheries, Republic of South Africa

Pearl Millet (2014): AESA Based Integrated Pest Management Package. Department
of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India

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