Top 10 cultivated crops in Assiga, Yakurr local government

Assiga is a town located in Yakurr local government in Cross river state. This post seeks to display the crops that the beautiful Assiga people cultivate the most in their farmlands. The land is a very fertile land and crops grow in abundance within the village.

The crops include the following:

(a) Cassava: Cassava is probably the crop that is cultivated the most in Assiga. The garri that is available within the village of Assiga is of very high quality and it is relatively cheap compared to other townships.

This is one of the major reasons why people from neighboring towns constantly visit the village to patronize those that sell the crop.

The fertility of the land also makes it easy and quite fast for the crops to sprout rather quickly. Igbo women discovering the quality of the garri sold troop in with their trucks to purchase in rather large quantities.

A bag of garri can go for as little as a thousand naira (wow). So you can imagine the gain which is being made from those that come from these states to purchase in large quantities. Cassava is definitely a major cash crop as far as Nigeria is concerned

Cassava aside it’s nutritional values can also be used to boost the economy in a number of ways: it can be used to complement petroleum as Nigeria’s major source of income, if attention is being paid to production of cassava, it can also curb the unemployment problem to a reasonable extent providing up to 30 million jobs across Africa, it is also a source of bio-fuel and animal feed.

(b) Yam: Cross river might not be the largest producer of yams in Nigeria but it is among the largest producers in the state and Assiga is not left out as it contributes a large quota to the number being produced.

This is evident in the large trucks that flood the community everyday to buy the yams. Yam is normally grown on sandy, free draining and fertile soil after clearing the first hallow.

Assiga is blessed with fertile soil which makes it quite easy for yams to grow rather quickly here. Unpeeled yam is believed to possess vitamin c.

Yams are also helpful to the economy; Nigeria is the world’s largest yam producer, It is also essential as industrial starch, it is also helpful medicinally as a heart stimulant.

(c) Plantains: Plantain is one of the food crops that is grown on a large scale in the village of Assiga. Plantain is a crop from the genus masa and is quite different from the sweet banana.

It takes about 10 months from the planting of plantain to harvest. Plantain provides adequate carbohydrate to the body.

Plantain is definitely one of the major crops to consider as regards it’s contribution the economy of a country. The processing of raw plantain into plantain chips has contributed in reducing the number of unemployed youths on the street and offered them a steady income. It also has very high export potential, it will also serve as raw materials to industries.

(d) Palm kernels: A lot of Assigans own quite a number of farmlands and in those farmlands and a prevalent sight in those farmlands are large palmtrees.

A typical resident of Assiga has close to a hundred farmlands. There are various palm oil industries in the village that distill these palm kernels to palm oil.

Various merchants come from all areas of the country to buy these palm oil which they say is the cheapest and finest in the country.

It is believed that as a young man, you don’t partake in the palm business, you are considered lazy. These palm kernel have definitely contributed greatly to the growth of employment in the country, it is also one of the major contributors of revenue in the country.

(e) Rice: Rice is one of the major crops produced in Assiga. Rice can be grown anywhere. It is most suited for areas with high rainfall.

Rice is one of the staple crops available in the region and its major nutritional value is carbohydrate. Nigeria is one of the major consumers of rice in the world.

As regards its contribution to the economy, it has been discovered that between 2009 and 2013, rice contributed 400bn(naira) to the economy.

It has also been an avenue for the provision of jobs for youths across the country. Wet and dry seasons has also improved the rural economy.

(f) Cucumber: cucumber is one of the major crops grown in the village of Assiga. It is necessary that you wet the grounds before you plant the seeds buy you must be careful so as to ensure that the force of the water is not too much so it won’t affect the seeds.

It can be eaten as a vegetable and cooked as a seed. It is necessary to fertilize every two weeks to increase growth and kill pests. It is used to burn fat and also necessary to keep the body fit when it is taken. It can also be used as a face cleanser.

(g) Pineapple: this tropical plant is grown rather widely in the state. The soil greatly encourages the planting of these seeds.

It can either be eaten, processed, juiced, e.t.c. Pineapple mature for harvesting begins from 12th month of planting.

The economic benefits of pineapple are: creation of employment opportunities, contribution to rural development, increase in food production and improvement in our health care delivery services.

(h) Cocoa: Cocoa farms are very popular in Assiga town. My late grandfather also had a massive cocoa farm. If a cocoa pad is given the necessary and adequate treatment, it can grow up to 50 pods.

Nigeria is the fourth largest producer of cocoa in the world and Cross river is one of the 14 states that are actively involved in the production of Cocoa.

This goes to show how important cocoa is to us a country. Cocoa can be used to produce beverages. Behind petroleum, cocoa is Nigeria’s second most exported product and it generates close to 90 percent of Nigeria’s foreign earnings.

(I.) Maize: Maize is one of the major crops produced in Assiga. Due to how cheap it is sold in the community, it has attracted a lot of neighboring communities to patronize our maize.

Maize can be boiled or roasted, I personally prefer it boiled though. It can also be soaked to make ‘pap’ or ‘akamu’. Maize is used in the making of cereals like corn flakes.

Corn can also be employed in the making of ethanol, continuous production of maize can increase our GDP and the demand for maize in the country also makes it a very profitable investment.

(j) Rubber: rubber is one of the cash crops that are available in Yakurr community and Assiga also grows a considerable number of them. Most of natural rubber is gotten from latex.

Harvesting of rubber is done mainly during the dry season. Rubber is grown in states where there is considerable amount of rainfall and Cross river falls among those states.

Rubber helps our economy through the following means: it provides raw materials for agro-based industries, it also provides a considerable number of Jobs for Nigerians, Nigeria is a major exporter of rubber.

The aforementioned crops display that Assiga is definitely a very endowed community and if you are looking for cheap crops with value, Assiga in Cross river state is the state to patronize.

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