Agricultural Science Scheme of Work (Secondary)

BECE/NERDC-aligned Agricultural Science syllabus topics.

  1. Importance and Forms of Agriculture
    1. Meaning of Agriculture in a broad sense
    2. Importance in society: food, clothing, etc.
    3. Types of local practices: Pastoral, Arable, etc.
    4. Forms of activities: crops, livestock, fish, apiculture, snailry
  2. Classes and Uses of Crops
    1. Plant forms: Monocotyledon (maize), Dicotyledon (cowpea)
    2. Classification by lifespan: Annual, Biennial, Perennial
    3. Uses: food crops (cereals, tubers, pulses, fruits/vegetables), oil crops, spices, latex, beverages, fibre
    4. Source of nutrients: carbohydrate, protein, fats/oils, minerals, vitamins
  3. Classes and Uses of Farm Animals
    1. Types: work, dairy, guard, poultry, aquatic, pets
    2. Basic characteristics
    3. Classification by size (large/small), habitat (aquatic/terrestrial), mammals/non-mammals, stomach (ruminant/non-ruminant)
    4. Uses: food, work, sport/guard, hides/skin, manure
  4. Methods of Weed and Pest Control
    1. Weed characteristics; uses (medicinal, food)
    2. Control methods: rotation, herbicides
    3. Effects on vegetation/soil: pollution, pasture contamination
    4. Insect pest classes: piercing/sucking; biting/chewing; damages and yield effects
  5. Factors of Agricultural Production
    1. Land, Labour, Water, Money, Management
  6. Farm Structures and Buildings
    1. Description and uses: barns, silos, rhombus; poultry house, pens, store, office, utilities, security post
    2. Maintenance
  7. Crop Propagation and Cultural Practices
    1. Meaning and methods: seed (sexual), vegetative organs (asexual)
    2. Advantages of each method
  8. Agricultural Practices
    1. Pre-planting: site choice, clearing, stumping, plotting, tilling, seed selection, nursery
    2. Planting: seed treatment, spacing
    3. Post-planting: thinning, supplying, mulching, manuring/fertilizer, harvesting; timely vs late harvesting
    4. Post-harvest: processing, storage
  9. Animal Feeds and Feeding
    1. Meaning; feed types (energy, protein)
    2. Feeding tools: troughs, drinkers
  10. Animal Pest and Disease Control
    1. Diseases: bacterial (mastitis, contagious abortion), fungal (ringworm), viral (FMD), protozoan (coccidiosis, trypanosomiasis), worms, nutritional (bloat)
    2. Transmission: contact, discharges, vectors
    3. Symptoms, effects (reduced productivity, weight/appetite loss, death), prevention/control (sanitation, medication/immunization, isolation/disposal)
  11. Fishery
    1. Definition; classes by habitat (fresh/salt) and morphology (bony/cartilaginous)
    2. Other aquatic organisms (shellfish, reptiles, mammals); uses, methods of fishing, risk factors
  12. Forest and Forest Uses
    1. Description; types (mangrove, rainforest, derived)
    2. Resources (trees, wildlife, fruits, herbs, shelter); uses; effects on environment
    3. Human activities affecting forest: deforestation, hunting, bush burning, farming
  13. Packaging Criteria
    1. Criteria: nature, bulkiness, live/frozen/dry, distance
    2. Packaging items: boxes, drums, cages, polythene, trays
  14. Pricing and Advertising
    1. Definition of pricing; determinants: cost, quality, quantity, demand/supply, market price, seasonality
  15. Records and Book Keeping
    1. Farm records: purpose; types (diary, inventory, input, production, consumption, sales, P&L)
    2. Computer-aided records; book-keeping; source documents; journals
  16. Agriculture in Stock Exchange
    1. Meaning; participants (buyers, sellers, agents); importance (investment, contract farming)
  17. Export Promotion in Agriculture
    1. Meaning; examples (cocoa, palm produce, hides/skins, cassava, groundnut, pepper); benefits (foreign exchange, market outlet)