Better Farming Series 15 - Cereals (FAO - INADES, 1977, 51 p.): What are food crops?: Why cereals are grown

Better Farming Series 15 - Cereals (FAO - INADES, 1977, 51 p.)

(introduction...)

Preface

What are food crops?

(introduction...)

What cereals are grown in Africa?

Why cereals are grown

Why we should produce and sell more cereals

Traditional cereal growing

Growing cereals in the modern way

Clearing land and grubbing out trees

Conserving and improving the soil

Applying manure and fertilizers

Preparing the soil

Selecting and preparing seeds

Sowing in rows

How to look after cereals

Harvesting

Selling part of the harvest

Sorghum and millet

(introduction...)

Sorghum

Millet

(introduction...)

How to grow sorghum and millet

(introduction...)

Growing sorghum in the dry season

Sorghum for animal feeding

Maize

(introduction...)

Traditional maize growing

How to increase maize yields

Other cereals

Fonio

Finger millet

Wheat

Why cereals are grown

We grow cereals for their grain.

· Cereal grains are rich foods.

They are energy foods. To live, work, walk, men need plenty of energy, plenty of strength. Cereal grains give this strength.

They are body- building foods. Men need to eat such builder foods in order to grow, to make their bodies, their skin and muscles. These builder foods are the proteins. Cereal grains contain lots of protein.

· Cereal grains are good food

· for people. The inhabitants of savanna regions live mainly on millet. In all African countries rice has become a very important food.

· for animals. When animal power is used in farm work, the animals have to be well fed. To make the animals strong, we give them millet or maize as a feed supplement. Maize can also be given to chickens and pigs.

Cereals can be grown in order to give their green stems to animals. With the green stems you can make hay and silage (See the course on animal husbandry).