DISEASE TRIANGLE

AGRICULTURAL
SCIENCE NOTE
JS2 THIRD TERM
2024
ACADEMIC SESSION

PRESENTED BY THE DEPARTMENT

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SCHEME OF WORK/TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction to farm animal diseases: meaning of health. Disease. Examples of common farm
animal diseases and common symptoms
2. Farm animal diseases cont. : Classification of farm animal diseases – Bacterial, viral,
protozoan, fungal, parasitic and mal- nutritional diseases
3. Cooperative societies in Agriculture; meaning, objectives, guidelines/ principles of
Agricultural cooperatives; advantages and disadvantages.
4. Management of cooperatives in Agriculture
5. Packaging of agricultural produce and criteria for selecting and packaging materials for
agricultural produce
6. Marketing of agricultural produce: i Define marketing of agricultural produce,
ii State five problems of agricultural marketing
7. Pricing of agricultural produce: i Define and explain the term pricing of agricultural produce
ii State problems associated with pricing of agricultural produce.

8. Revision and examination

INTRODUCTION OF FARM ANIMAL DISEASES:

Health: This is defined as state of alertness or freedom from illness, usually associated with
growth and productivity of farm animals. Its signs include alertness, good appetite, bright eyes,
normal temperature etc. disease on the other hand is defined as any disturbance In the normal
body function.
Signs of good health in farm animalsof an organism due to infection, nutritional
deficiency/imbalance, heredity, functional disorder as well as injuries. It is characterized by poor
growth, poor feed utilization, and poor yield of products and eventually results in death. Disease
is either hereditary or acq
a. Alertness
b. Bright eyes
c. Normal body temperature
d. Normal pulse rate
e. Normal breathing rate
f. Good appetites
g. Standing coat

Common symptoms of farm animal diseases: These are the external features (mostly visible
signs) exhibited by diseased farm animals. They include the following:

- Un-thriftiness (failure to grow or put on weight).

- Lack of appetite
- Dullness
- Rough coat
- Ruffled feathers
- Blood in the mucus from nostrils
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 - Anus pasted with stool
- Reduced productivity
- Wasting (a disease condition that makes an animal become gradually weaker and thinner)
or emaciation
- Reduced weigh
- Reduced water intake
- Decreased activity
- Discharge from mouth and eyes
- Drooping tongue
- There may be distensions of the abdominal contents
- Impaired vision
- High mortality rate
- Morbidity increases -(having a strong unpleasant interest of sadness)
- Abortion etc.
Immunity: This is defined as resistance against infection (disease). A susceptible host is one in
which disease symptoms develop following infection with a pathogen after a period of
incubation.

Types of Immunity

1. Natural immunity: This is immunity caused as result of challenge posed by pathogens in the
body of animal. Animals respond by building up anti- bodies naturally. When the body of the
host makes active effort to produce antibodies it is called active immunity. Passive immunity
is when immunity is acquired through maternal placenta and colostrums (1st milk)
2. Artificial Immunity: This is when a substance that stimulates the production of antibodies
(antigen) is introduced into the body of an animal artificially. This helps animals to resist
disease. E.g the use of vaccine to prevent diseases.
NB: Susceptibility: Is a condition in which an animal is easily attacked or infected by diseases.
Resistance is the ability of the animal to withstand the attack of a disease and remain healthy.
CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMAL DISEASES:
Animal diseases are classified on the basis of the organism (pathogens that cause them. These
included
1. Viral diseases: These are diseases caused by viruses. Viruses are microscopic transmissible
organisms that live and multiply only inside living cells of specific hosts. Viral diseases are
contagious and infectious e.g. New castle in poultry. Other disease include: foot and mouth,
rinderpest etc. These are diseases are prevented by the use of vaccines.
2. Bacterial Diseases: These are diseases caused by bacteria. Bacteria are minute’s single-
celled organisms known to survive where other organisms cannot. They can also be
contagious as well as infectious e.g, anthrax, foot rot, mastitis, tuberculosis etc. Bacteria are
called plants because they possess a cell wall.
3. Protozoan diseases: These are disease caused by protozoan. Cause rupture of certain parts of
animal body. These diseases include: Trypanosomiasis, coccidosis etc.
4. Fungal diseases: These are diseases caused by fungi. Fungi are plants without roots, shoots
and chlorophyll. Their modes of feeding are either saprophytic or parasitic. A typical
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 example is Aspergillosis in poultry.
5. Parasitic diseases: These are diseases caused by parasites e.g worms. Parasites are
organisms that depend on other organisms for their survival. They are generally classified
into two:
I. Endo parasites: Those organisms that live inside the body of farm animals and cause
harm to them. E.g. Tape worm, liver flukes, round worm, hook worm etc.
II. Ecto parasites: Those organisms that live on the outside of farm animals and cause
harm to them e.g. Ticks. An example of disease is Gastro-intestinal helminthiasis.
6. Malnutrition diseases: Diseases caused by lack or deficiency of nutrients in the body. This
can be due to animals inability to digest and absorb nutrients e.g. Bloat.
Generally, diseases can be classified as follows:
a. Pathogenic disease caused by living micro organisms
b. Parasitic diseases caused by multicelluar animals e.g. worms
c. Malnutritional disease- which are diseases caused by deficiency of nutrients in the
body.

Specific examples of livestock diseases

BACTERIAL DISEASES

1. Anthrax: (Splenic fever) this is caused by bacteria (Bacillus anthraxis) mode of

transmission: water, pasture, and feeds contamination with and spore, files, inhalation of
spore-laden dust. Contaminated animals and equipment. (ingestion, inhaling, skin abrasion,
blood sucking insects. Affected animals include cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.
Symptoms :
High fever, excitement, staggering, dullness, loneliness, swelling, around the neck and body part,
constipation, convulsion, blood oozes from mouth, nose and anus (natural openings) and sudden
death, grinding of teeth, distressed breathing, weakness, death
Prevention/control
- Disinfection contaminated areas with bleaching powder
- Wash contaminated hands with suitable disinfectants
- Suspected carcasses should be deeply buried or incinerated
- Isolate infected animals
- Regular vaccination and good sanitation

2. Brucellosis (contagious abortion disease): (bang’s disease) This is caused by bacteria

(Brucella abortus).
Animals affected: Cattle, sheep, goat and pigs
Mode of transmission: Contaminated pasture, feeds and water, service by carrier bull,
artificial insemination, feeding on after-birth and discharge.

Symptoms :
Abortion (cows between 5th and 7th months abort), testicular enlargement. And uterus infection that

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could result in sterility, high fever, still-birth, retention of after birth (placenta) infertility in male
animals.
Prevention/control
- Vaccination of young animals
- Good sanitation
- Proper management and isolation of infected animals
- Quarantine new animals
- Purchase from disease fee herds
- Slaughter affected animals
- Do not use feed or equipment from a infected farm in an uninfected farm
3. Tuberculosis:- (Pearly disease) This is caused by Bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis).
Animals affected: Cattle, sheep, goat , poultry birds and pigs
Mode of transmission: Contaminated feeds, water, litter and droppings, milk and meat if
infected cow, germs taken in inhalation.

Symptoms: Difficulty in breathing, constant cough with yellowish – grey or blood stained
sputum, loss of weight and appetite, pale comb and wattles, infection of liver and spleen in
poultry, lungs, meat and udder in cows, lungs in pigs, discharge from the nose and eyes, high
mortality. In lactating animal, milk becomes thinner and greenish in colour with white flakes.

Prevention/control
- Kill infected animals
- Isolate suspected ones
- Burn infected carcasses
- Proper sanitation
- Regular vaccination
- Disinfect the livestock house
- Man should not consume milk of an infected animal
Treatment is by administering an antibiotic drug e.g. streptomycin
4. Mastitis : Causal organism: Bacterial
Animals affected: Cattle, sheep, goat and pigs
Transmission
1. Through injuries on udder and teats
2. Dirty environment
3. Contaminated feeds, water, and equipment.
Symptoms:
1. Uneasiness in cow during milking
2. Swollen and hot udder
3. Increase in body temperature
4. Clotting of blood
5. Painful udder

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 Prevention/ control
1. Disinfect hands before milking
2. Proper sanitation of sheds
3. Avoid overcrowding
4. Use antibiotics at drying of period.

mastitis in cow

VIRAL DISEASES
1. Foot and mouth: This is caused by FMD virus is highly contagious
Animals affected: Cattle, sheep, goat and pigs
Mode of transmission: Direct contact, inhalation, contaminated hay, pasture, water,
improperly treated bone meal, of infected carcasses.
Symptoms : lesion (blister) in the mucous membrane of the mouth and around the foot
region, loss of appetite, abortion, lameness, reduced milk and death, inflammation of tests
and udder, salivation, dullness, fever.
Prevention/control: Vaccinate once a year. Isolation, quarantine, and disinfection of pen and
materials. Slaughter and bury infected and exposed animals.

2. Rinderpest (cattle plague): This is caused by Virus.

Animals affected: Cattle, sheep and goats
Mode of transmission: Direct contact with discharges from infected ones through to beddings
and utensil is through respiratory tract by droplet contaminated water, feeds, faces and urine.
Symptoms:
High fever, weariness, weakness, difficulty in breathing, blood stained diarrhea, high mortality,
loss of appetite and weight. Temperature rise, eye and nostril discharge, twitching of muscles
(sudden quick movement without control of the animal).ulcer in the mouth and tongue.
Prevention/control:
- Vaccination

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 - Slaughter all affected herd
- Proper sanitation
- Avoid getting ruminants and pig from infected areas
- Isolated infected animals
All susceptible animals should be vaccinated using tissue culture Rinderpest vaccine (TCRV)
Week 2
Farm animal diseases continues

3. New castle disease: This is caused by virus

Animals affected: Poultry birds
Mode of transmission: Direct contact, food and water contaminated with droppings.
Inhalation of droplets, improper disposal of dead birds.

Fowl infected with new castle.

Symptoms : Dullness, sneezing, cough, eye and nose discharge, yellowish droppings,
purple comb and wattles. Birds appear nervous (nervous disorder) resulting paralysis,
trembling, walking backward and twisting of neck (break dance).
Prevention/control:
- Vaccination
- Dispose all dead animals properly
- Disinfect all contaminated m,aterials
- Good management practices.
- Disinfect foot wears before walking into poultry houses.
- Resist the entry of strange birds
4. Fowl pox: this is caused by virus
ANIMALS AFFECTED: Poultry birds
Mode of Transmission: contact with faces of infected animals, contaminated water and
feed
Symptoms: producing poxes in fowls, blisters develop on comb and wattles, emaciation,
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 yellow, difficulty in breathing.
Prevention/control: vaccination of young stock, apply iodine to the affected parts. Also
isolate infected birds.

Fowl infected by fowl pox

5. Avian influenza (bird flu): caused by virus

Mode of Transmission: waste matter from infected area, contaminated water, equipment
and feed.
Symptoms: High fever, weakness, loss of appetite, lameness, respiratory difficulty,
emaciation, swelling of ear lobe and legs.
WK2.
PROTOZOA DISEASES
1. Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness): Caused by protozoa called (Trypanosoma spp).
ANIMALS AFFECTED: Cattle , sheep and goats
Mode of transmission: Transmitted by the tsetse fly (Glossina spp) – (Trypanosoma
congolensis) and (Trypanosoma vivax)

Symptoms :
Intermittent fever, dullness (sleeping sickness), emaciation, reduced production, paralysis and
death.
Prevention/control:
- Eradication of tsetse flies and wild animals
- Usefull drugs include: diminazecs aceturate, quinapy – ramide and homidium chloride.
- Isolation of affected animals
- Biological control of insect vectors.
Resistant breeds include Muturu, N’dama, keteku
Susceptible breeds include- White Fulani, Red Bororo, Sokoto Gudali as well as all exotic
breeds.

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 2. Coccidiosis: This is caused by protozoa (Eimeria spp) ------- specifically—(Eimeria
Isospora)
Animals affected are poultry birds and rabbit.
Mode of Transmission: Wet litters, overcrowding, Water and food contaminated with
droppings (cocysts) of host animals.
Symptoms: Fever, bloody diarrhoea, weakness in poultry. There is emaciation, restlessness,
ruffled feather and huddling (clustering together), loss of hair in rabbit.

3. Red water fever (Piroplasmosis or Babesiosis): This is caused by protozoa (Bebesia

spp)
Animals affected are sheep goat cattle and pigs
Mode of Transmission: Transmitted through the bite of an infected animal by a vector
called blue tick.
Symptoms: Rise in body temperature, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, pale red colour of urine,
emaciation and death.
Prevention: Spraying insecticides to kill insect vectors, inject animals with drugs like
Trypan blue, Bebesan or acaprini.
FUNGAL DISEASES
1. Aspergillosis: This is caused by fungus known as (Aspergillus fumigates)
Animals affected are poultry birds, pigs and cattle
Mode of Transmission: It is transmitted through mouldy litter, mouldy feeds, contaminated
incubator, inhaling droplets, fodder and grains
Symptoms: Nasal congestion, difficulty in breathing sneezing, coughing, loneliness,
emaciation, swollen joints, lameness, twisting of neck in donkey.
Prevention: Avoid mouldy litter as well as feeds
2. Ring worm: (Dermatomycosis) caused by fungus (Trichophyton spp)
Mode of Transmission: contaminated materials such as brushes feeders and drinkers,
contact with infected animals.
Symptoms:
- Los of hairs, round grayish lesions on the nose, ears above the eye and large areas of
the body, head and neck itching, loss of appetite
Prevention/control:
- Disinfection of all animal housed and equipment
- Treat affected animals’ parts every 2-6 days with sulphur and Vaseline.
- Old scaly areas should scraped off following the application of iodine solution
- Administer vitamin A supplement to young animals
Local treatment- Remove crust by scrapping/ brushing and applying weak solution of iodine,
mecury ointment rubbed/brushed vigorously.

Systemic treatment- Apply sodium iodine injection.

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Malnutrition Diseases: Diseases caused by lack or deficiency of nutrients in the body. This can
be due to animals inability to digest and absorb nutrients or the nutrients are not even present in
the animal feeds e.g. Bloat.
1. Ricket and ostomalacia.
Causes: lack of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D
Symptoms: Flexible and curve bones and soft shell eggs.
Correction: Add bone meal or oyster shell and fish meal to animal feeds.
2. Pregnancy toxemia.
Causes: Lack of sufficient energy ketosis.
Symptoms: loss of appetite
Correction: Feed carbohydrate to animals
3. Milk fever.
Causes: low blood sugar
Symptoms: Loss of appetite and nervousness .
Correction: Feed on carbohydrate
4.Baby pig Anaemia .
Causes. Low iron in blood.
Symptoms: Loss of appetite and nervousness .
Correction: Inject iron dextran into the body
5.Night blindness.
Causes: Lack of vitamin A
Symptoms: Inability to see clearly in dim light.
Correction: Feed animal with yellow maize
6. Scurvey:
Causes: Lack of vitamin C
Symptoms: lesion around the connective tissues
Correction: Feed animal with vegetables and fruits
7. Beri- Beri.
Causes: lack of vitamin B1( thiamine)
Symptoms: Lack of appetite, fatigue and loss of weight
Correction: feed with yeast, cereals, and vegetables
8. Bloat.
Causes: excessive consumption of fresh grasses or herbages this result to gas build up in
stomach leading to breathing difficulty.
Symptoms: swollen stomach .
Correction: puncture the animal stomach

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 WK3
COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN AGRICULTURE
A cooperative is a legal business formed by a group of people for the purpose of helping them
solve their common economic problems. Typically, it involves a group of people who have an
identifiable common tie. The common tie may be that they are involved in the same business, for
example farmers; or are all working in the same place as a produce company; or are all indigenes
of the same town, or that they all just share common goals and so forth.

When the cooperative is formed to operate and cater for the interest of members basically in the
field of agricultural cooperative society.

OBJECTIVES OF AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES

 To buy farm produce in bulk from farmers

Agricultural cooperatives buy farm produce in bulk from farmers and retail them to their
members. Typically, this ensures that members buy the goods at the next farm prices. There
is virtually no restriction to the type of arm produce that can be purchased and retailed.
.To receive savings from members
Agricultural cooperatives receive regular savings from members, many of whom are farmers
and keep them in individual members’ accounts. When all members are working in the same
agro-based organization, these savings are deducted from the workers’ salaries from source
making it very convenient for individual workers to at least save some amount of money
each month.

 To advance loans to members

Agricultural cooperatives give advance loans to members. Such loans are twice or thrice the
total amount that the member has in his or her account with the cooperative. Cooperative
loans have two principal advantages over loans sourced from banks. The first is that no
collateral of whatever kind is demanded unlike what is obtained in the banks. The second is
that much less paper work is required to enjoy cooperative loan. Every members is entitled to
a loan and becomes due for it again as soon as the former loan has been repaid. Of course to
enjoy a loan the member also has to present guarantors which are also members of the
cooperative organization. It is good to notice that unpaid loans and bad individual debts are
rare in cooperatives unlike banks.
At short notice, agricultural cooperative also grant special loans such as special purchase
loan, special festivity loan, loans for unexpected celebrations, and so forth to their members.
This is virtually unheard of in most of the other lending institutions such as banks.

 Investing on behalf of members

Agricultural cooperatives collectively invest saved funds on behalf of members of the society
in interest-yielding portfolios. Accruing interests are later shared among members of the
cooperative according to level of individual savings.

 Acquiring farmland on behalf of members

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 Agricultural cooperatives also require huge tracts of lands which they develop into big farms
by selling plots to members. Plots acquired from cooperatives tend to be cheaper than those
purchased individually from other vendors. This is due to the fact that because of
comparatively large number of plots involved, economics of scale are realized and the
associated costs of development and use of the land become minimal.

 Providing social security to members

Cooperative in a real sense offer some social security to people. This is particularly true of
agricultural cooperatives. In Nigeria and many other African countries, citizens have learnt
from experience not to trust their governments very much. Therefore when real needs for
goods, money and other assistance arise they approach their cooperatives for some possible
helps. Such requests often work out.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES

Agricultural cooperatives along with other cooperative organizations operate on the following
guiding principles:
 The membership is open to all those who qualify to be its members. For instance to become a
member of an agricultural cooperative society one must at least have a recognizable interest
in agriculture as a basic qualification for membership. Someone with virtually no interest in
agriculture will not be a useful member of the agricultural cooperative society.
 No member of a cooperative is allowed to have controlling shares in the cooperative. Where
the number of members large each has an equal number of shares.
 A cooperative is democratically controlled. Executive members are voted in and they are all
members of the cooperative. Each members of the cooperative has just one vote.
 Each members regularly contributes a specific amount that is decided by him or her into his
or her account held by the cooperative
 Profits which accrue to the cooperative are to be distributed among members according to
their level of contributions and patronage of the cooperative. According to law, profits of the
cooperative societies are not taxed.
 A cooperative society must be neutral in respect of politics, religion, ethnicity and other
things of a divisive nature. However, outside the ambit of the cooperative society, individual
members are free to belong to any side of the divide as they deem fit.
 No unusual risks are allowed to be undertaken by a cooperative society. The reason for this is
the need to protect the capital contributed to the cooperative by its members. Cooperative
societies are also excluded from involvement in illegal investments.
 Good quality goods must be sold at all times and at prices that are close as much as possible
to producer’s prices.
 There is no limit to the size of membership of a cooperative society.
 Cooperative societies have unlimited liability. In addition the business is not a separate legal
entity.

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 WK4.
TYPES OF COOPERATIVES

Cooperatives are of various types.

1. Some are single purpose multipurpose while others are
2. Multipurpose cooperatives
3. Some are activity based cooperatives while others are
4. Commodity-based cooperatives depending on the commodity

 Producers’ Cooperatives: Examples found in agriculture include oil palm producers

cooperative, cocoa producers cooperative, cotton producers cooperative and others
 Consumers’ Cooperative: Examples found in agriculture are buyers’ cooperative which are
also the counterparts of the sellers’ cooperatives. Members purchase the produce from
farmers and process them. These are associations of consumers who buy commodities in bulk
at wholesale prices and sel them (retailing them) to both members and non-members of the
cooperatives.
 Marketing Cooperative: Examples found in agriculture include grain sellers cooperative,
maize sellers cooperative, cowpea sellers cooperative, meat sellers cooperative and others.
 Credit and thrift cooperative: This involves farmers and non-farmers alike. Members are
not compelled to be involved in agriculture. Anybody who chooses to be involved in farming
is not discouraged.
 Farmers’ Cooperative: The farmers’ cooperative typically involves all farmers regardless of
the type of produce, size of farm and farming system used.
 Agricultural Multipurpose Cooperative Society: This kind of cooperative involves
farmers and non-farmers who however play productive roles in agriculture. For instance,
sellers of agricultural inputs such as tools, seeds, herbicides, pesticides and others are also
accepted as members
ADVANTAGES OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES

 Members easily access loans without too much paper work and no collateral unlike the case
with banks and other financial institutions.
 Cooperatives encourage a sense of belonging and togetherness in members. This is crucial to
the well being of every human being. Many people derive a sense of achievement from
jointly pooling resources together to achieve goals which are out of reach of individuals
working alone. A farmers’ cooperative for example can buy one or two tractors which will
serve its members alone.
 Cooperatives are significant avenues through which those of modest means come within
reach of the instruments of social advancement. Loans, enriching seminars, literacy classes,
plots of land, home gadgets and so forth are made available to members by the cooperative
society. Given time, members enjoy and increased standard of living.
 Cooperatives undertake ventures which private business avoid due to low profit margins. For
example during festivities these societies buy essential goods and sell to members at
producers’ price.

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 Cooperatives are important organized structures through which the government can reach
down directly to the populace. Many states have departments which are charged with the
responsibility of overseeing activities of cooperatives and offer them assistance when needed.
 The government also seeks to intimate them with its policies and programmes particularly as it affects
agriculture.
 Credit and thrift cooperative societies inculcate a saving culture among their members.
Because members of the cooperative must save money continually. Cooperative encourage
the development and flourishing of a culture of saving in the populace.
 Cooperatives allow small sized-producers to enjoy the advantages of large scale production.
For example on his own a subsistence farmer cannot afford to purchase, ploughs, harrows,
ridgers, other farm machinery and other modern farming inputs. However, when a large
number of subsistence farmers pool their resources together as a farmers’ cooperative they
can buy these inputs and jointly share their use.
 Since employees of cooperatives are also members, in this manner, cooperatives are also
employers of labour in the overall interest of the economy.

DISADVANTAGES OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES

 The profits of cooperative are exempted from taxation. The financial discipline which
taxation forces on a business organization is therefore lost in the case of the cooperative.
 Insufficient membership size can restrict the capital available to the cooperative. This also
means a strong hindrance is placed on the usefulness of the cooperative to individual
members. The real benefits of a cooperative to members come with large size of
membership. This is due to the fact that big size usually translated to big capital available for
disbursement as loans and for purchase to members.
 Since the managers of the cooperative society invariably come from the membership,
administrative quality and management acumen is limited to what is available in the society.
If the manager is generally poorly educated, this ultimately reflects in the management of the
society’s affairs.
 Since cooperative are not as strongly regimented as limited liability companies, cases of
fraud and embezzlement among officials of such societies are not unusual. For example,
many cooperative societies hardly publish their accounts for members to see.
Week 5
MANAGEMENT OF SOCIETIES IN AGRICULTURE

Management is the attainment of organizational goals through the effective combination of

people, capital, structures, equipment, materials, time, processes and other resources.
Management is one of the factors of production. The effectiveness of management or lack of it
directly impacts on organization and results in their successes or failures. This is even more the
case in agricultural organization such as cooperative societies and agro-based companies. In this
chapter, we shall focus on a discussion of management of societies in agriculture. The focus is on
how cooperative societies are formed, management of agricultural cooperative society and
qualities of a good cooperative member.

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How cooperative societies are formed?
Cooperatives are formed by deliberate action of people who have similar interests. The people
may be linked by the fact that they are engaged in the same business; work in the same place;
originate from the same town and so forth. Whatever the link may be, the following are the
essential steps.

1. Interested members come together, meet and discuss.

The first step is that a group of people who desire a cooperative come together, meet and discuss
issues which relate to certain economic problems which they have and desire solution to. They
may then see the need for them to consider the possibility of forming a cooperative society.

2. Identification of goals and interests

Individuals who have opened discussions in step one above, then articulate their economic goals
and interests which they would like to pursue, using a cooperative society as an instrument.

3. Formation of the society

After the goals and interests have been well articulated, the interested individuals then agree to
form a cooperative society if they are convinced that the formation of the society will be in their
overall best interest as regards attainment of their economic goals. What they are to do next are
discussed in the next section as management of cooperative society.

WK5.

Management of Cooperative Society

When a cooperative is to be formally managed, the following are the essential steps which ought
to be taken.

1. Constitute a management committee

A management (or steering) committee should be set up. It is the best that some of the
individuals who originally proposed the idea of forming this society are members of this
committee. The reason for this is that they have the original vision and therefore more likely to
be interested in seeing the vision evolve to a desire conclusion than those who came later.

2. Develop the constitution or bye-laws for the cooperative society:

A constitution is a document or written statement containing the fundamental laws and basic
principles through which an organization is governed or run. A cooperative society also must in
line with standard cooperative practice have a constitution. The steering committee may draw up
the constitution or supervise its drawing up through another committee. In doing so, legal advice
should be sought. Issues such as membership, election of officers, income expenditure, obtaining
loans, profit sharing and others should be clearly spelt out in the constitution of the society.

3. Open a bank account for the cooperative

A bank account for the cooperative society needs to be with a trustworthy bank. It is better to
contact a bank which has qualitative experience in managing accounts of cooperative societies.
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In dealing with the bank, the new cooperative society can also draw upon the experience of other
cooperative societies who are already clients of the bank.

4. Register the cooperative

To gain recognition under the laws of the country, the cooperative should be formally registered.
Registration grants the cooperative the right to exist and also be subject to the laws of the
country.

5. Involve all members in the activities of the cooperative

All members of the cooperative society should be encouraged to actively participate in
programmes of the organization. Typically, there are those members who will hide or at best
demonstrate lack-lustre participation. They prefer others carry the burden of running the society.
Such people should be instructed by the statement that none of us is as smart as all of us. A lot
creative power is released when all of us jointly work at a task.

Qualities of a good cooperative member

i. Have team spirit

Team spirit is that quality which makes a member of the team to always place the overall interest
of the team above personal interest. The team member realizes fully well that he or she makes no
progress except the team progresses. Personal advancement is also tied to group advancement.
Every cooperative member needs to develop and exercise a good team spirit. With that attitude,
progress for the cooperative organization is much more assured.

ii. Show dedication to the course of the group

The cooperative member must at the very least believe in the aim, goals and other ideals for
which the cooperative stands. That assured, he or she must show commitment to these ideals. He
should pay his dues on schedule, attend meetings regularly, patronize the marketing schemes put
in place by the organization from time to time, read minutes, notices and other communications
and participate in other programmes of the cooperative.

iii. Must be a team player

Being a team player means being active in the team. The cooperative member must participate in
the programmes of the cooperative. It is more in the interest of the organization for members to
be fully involved in its activities. Also, the active member should be positively active, serving to
build the cooperative and advance its interests. It is destructive for any member of a cooperative
to raise up an opposing camp otherwise called fifth columnists, meant to hinder the mutual
progress.

iv. Must show selfless attitude and impressed character

The cooperative member must show all selfless attitude and impeccable character, utterly
devoted to the mutual progress of members and overall progress of the organization. Impeccable
character must first and foremost be the watchword. Time-tested desirable attributes of honesty,

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loyalty, trustworthiness, frugality, perseverance, firmness in decision-making and others should
be generally desired, developed and revered among the members of the cooperative.

Week 6

PACKAGING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

Packaging agricultural produce is very important in agriculture. Good packaging and storage
methods enable farmers and agricultural producers to improve on the quality and market value of
the agricultural produce. Efficient and good packaging reduces losses in the quality of
agricultural produce and general, makes it easier to store and display the produce in shops for
sale to customers.

Packaging agricultural produce is a very wide topic. In this note, we shall not cover all the
aspects of this topic. We will focus attention on the criteria which are used to select materials and
methods for packaging agricultural produce. We will also describe some common examples,
which you can see every day, of packaging of agricultural produce.

Whenever you go to the market or shops in your town, you will observe that most agricultural
produce are kept in different kinds of packages.

WHY ARE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE PACKAGED?

Packaging actually means wrapping or enclosing agricultural produce in suitable materials that
will protect them when they are being transported from the farms where they are produced, when
they are kept in stores, and when they are being distributed and displayed in shops for people to
buy.

Packaging agricultural produce is a very important process in the transportation of produce in the
long journey farms to consumers.

The Major purpose for packaging agricultural produce are to:

i. Protect them being damaged when they are transported from the farm, where they are
produced to stores or to markets;
ii. Protect them from damage by weather conditions such as heat and rain;
iii. Protect them from contamination and damage by pets and disease organisms;
iv. prevent produce, especially fresh foods, from being spoiled and losing their value; and

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 v. Make agricultural produce easier to handle, store and more attractive in the shops and
markets so that they are attractive to customers and easier to sell.

SELECTING MATERIALS FOR PACKAGING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE

The materials used for packaging different types of agricultural produce must be carefully
selected so that they protect the produce efficiently.

Therefore, when selecting materials for packaging agricultural produce, the following criteria are
taken into account.

1. The packaging material must be suitable for the type of agricultural produce. For example,
delicate produce such as the fruits, mango, avocado like yams and cassava tubers, or palm oil
2. Packaging materials for animal products such as dressed chicken, or meat, or eggs are also
very different from the materials used for packaging plant products such as vegetables, fruits
and tubers.
3. The packaging material must hold the agricultural produce properly and keep them secured
without any form of breakage, leakage or damage to the produce.
4. The packaging container must enclosed the produce in convenient units for handling and
distribution. The agricultural produce must fit very well inside the container, with little
wasted space.
5. Packaging materials must be strong enough to protect the agricultural produce from hazards
during transportation, storage and distribution. Containers must be sturdy enough to resist
damage during packaging, storage and transportation to the market.
6. In agricultural produce packaged and displayed for sale, the package must have a label which
shows detail and useful information about the agricultural produce inside. In many countries
including Nigeria, Producers are required by law, to provide information such as the name of
the produce, the brand, size, grade, variety, net weight, count and name of the producer. This
information is important for people who wish to buy the produce.
7. Packing materials must prevent the agricultural produce form being contaminated and spoilt
by dirt, insects, micro-organisms, moisture, heat, light and other factors in the environment.
8. The materials should be easily available and cheap so that it does not increase too much, the
price of the agricultural produce.

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9. The materials must make it easy to carry the agricultural produce, in terms of weight and
form.
10. The packaging materials should be easily disposed off so that the re-cycling material does
not cause pollution is the environment.

The requirements for packaging agricultural produce depend on the system used for selling
the agricultural produce.
The major systems for selling agricultural produce are as follows:
i. Farmers can bring their produce and sell them directly to customers in local markets;
ii. Farmers may also sell their produce to traders, acting as middlemen and middle women, who
go to the farms to buy agricultural produce directly from farmers;
iii. Farmers may sell their produce to collection centres which are orgainsed by local farmers
association or cooperatives;
iv. Sales to buyers agent for business companies that process the agricultural produce; and
v. Sales to companies which act as wholesalers or retailer in cities and towns in urban areas.
Therefore, depending on the system of sales the agricultural produce is packaged so that the
produce is well protected, eases to carry and sold in the system. We will now describe some
common examples of packaging agricultural produce.

Examples of packaging materials agricultural produce

Packaging materials are manufactured locally by many companies, so it is easy for farmers to
obtain products for use in packaging their agricultural produce. S wide variety of materials is
used for packaging agricultural produce. Packaging materials include the following:

1. Jute or Calico Sacks:- Various sacks used for packaging agricultural produce are made from
woven plant fibers such as sisal, kenaf or from rough cloth such as calico. Packaging sacks
are also made from plastic. Sacks are used for packaging dried agricultural produce such as
maize, rice, cowpea, millet, sorghum, dried cocoa beans for transportation and storage.

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2. Plastic or Polythene bags:- Used for packaging flour such as maize flour, cassava flour.
Plastic bags and sachets are very cheap and are easily available locally, they are light weight
and strong and can hold small quantities of agricultural produce, such as ground rice, yam
flour or ground beans displayed for sale in shops.

3. Brown Kraft paper sacks:- These are brown paper sacks used for packaging small
quantities of dried grain, such as rice, beans and maize displayed for sale on shop shelves.
4. Cardboard boxes and trays:- For packaging produce such as eggs, pineapple, mango and
banana. The size and shape of the cardboard boxes must be carefully selected so that they
prevents the contents from moving about rubbing each other and becoming damaged when
the boxes are transported and stored.
5. Hard plastic containers:- These are plastic boxes manufactured specially for carrying
vegetables. Using these plastic containers to package agricultural produce makes it easy to
carry them around and to store them.
6. Plastic Wrappers:- For wrapping bread, for dressed chicken for sale in shops and markets.
Plastic wrappers are commonly used to package dried produce such as plantain chips
displayed for sales.
7. Wooden crate:- For packaging fresh fruits such as tomato, mango and avocado pear.
8. Plastic bottles:- For packaging liquids such as vegetable oil, milk, etc
9. Glass bottles and Jars:- For packaging liquids such as honey, palm wine, coconut oil, palm
oil. Sometimes, coloured glass bottles are used to package products that can be damaged
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 when they are exposed to sunlight for long periods.
10. Mental Drums and Cans:- Mental drums are used for packaging large quantities of liquids
vegetable oils, such as palm oil and corn oil, Metal cnas are used for packaging fish such as
sardines and mackerel for sale.
11. Baskets:- Baskets made locally of raphia, palm fronds or other plant materials are very
useful for packaging fruits and fruits and vegetables to transport them to markets or to
display fruits for sale. Baskets are usually cheap, light weight strong and are very good at
preventing fruits and vegetables from damage by crushing when they are transported.
Another advantage of baskets is that they can be used reused and can be easily disposed of by
degrading in the soil.
Week 7
MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL MARKET
Agricultural marketing involves all the activities relating to the flow of goods and services from
the producers (farmers)to the consumers. It also involves the various processes by which farmers
purchase input such as seeds, fertilizers and chemicals which they use for production.
Importance of agricultural marketing
1. It creates employment to many peoples.
2. Marketing makes products to be available throughout the year.
3. It helps to locate where there are surpluses of products and brings them to where there are
storages
4. It helps in price determination.
5. It enables the producers to know the consumers want.
6. It makes the producers to go into to research in order to meet the needs of the consumers.
7. It helps in the provision of infrastructure such as roads, electricity, pipe borne water e t c.
8. Export of agricultural products provide foreign income to a nation.
9. It links producers (farmers) and consumers together.
Marketing Processes or Activities.
These are things producers should do to their products before marketing without these the price
may be too low or sales may not even take place. This can also be regarded as value added.
1. Packaging of goods
2. Naming
3. Labeling
4. Branding
5. Advertising
6. Processing into the finished state.
7. Distribution to various outlets
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 8. Transportation
9. Storage
10. Fixing price on commodity
PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL MAARKETING
1. Poor transportation system.
2. Small scale production
3. Crops are seasonal and this affects regular supply.
4. Problems of perishability of products. E.g eggs and tomatoes.
5. Poor storage facilities resulting to wastage of agricultural products.
6. Poor finance on the side of the buyers.
7. Poor prices of produce, this may discourage farmers from continuous production.
8. Problems of diseases and pests affecting the viability of products.
9.Problems of communication between the buyers and farmers.
10. No uniform weight and measurement.
11. Problems of middlemen.
12. Mixing of bad quality with good once.

Week 8
Pricing and Advertising Agricultural Produce

Commercial farmers are involved in agricultural activities specifically to make a lot of money
from selling agricultural produce. They undertake agriculture purely as a business. Agricultural
activities vary from crop and animal production to processing agricultural produce,
transportation and selling produce in local and other markets. Farmers who produce more than
the food needs of their families sell the extra products to make money to improve their
livelihoods. This means that these farmers are involved in agricultural trade which is also
generally called agricultural marketing.

Pricing Agricultural Produce

Producing crops and animals is very different from selling marketing them. Agricultural
Production and marketing are activities that require special knowledge and skills because
someone who is a successful producer may not have the skills required to market the products.
To market agricultural products, the producer will need to know a lot about demand and supply
and pricing of agricultural produce as well as how to negotiate with middlemen and women

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traders and consumers. So how does a farmer determine the prices of agricultural products? The
price of an agricultural product is the amount which a producer asks to be paid for the product by
people who desire to buy the products. The price of any agricultural product depends on an
environment which is called the market. A market is described as the specific place where
producers (also called suppliers and buyers also called consumers) meet for exchange of
materials. The producers supply agricultural products and exchange of materials. The producers
supply agricultural products and exchange them for money which is provided by the traders or
consumers.

The Concept of Supply and Demand

The price of an agricultural product is determined by the supply and demand for the product in
the market. The supply of a product is the total quantity of the product that producers offer for
sale in the market while demand is the total quantity of the product desired by all the traders and
customers for the product. If the supply of an agricultural product is low, which means there is a
shortage of the product in the market, many people will want the product and some traders and
customers will be prepared to pay extra money to buy the product. In this situation, the price of
the product will be high.

When the supply of an agricultural product is high, which means that there are large quantities of
the product in the market, well over the quantity demanded by the buyers in the market, some
products. The price of any agricultural product depends on an environment which is called
market. A market is described as the specific place where producers (also called suppliers) and
buyers also called consumers) meet for exchange of materials. The producers supply agricultural
products and exchange them for money which is provided by the traders or consumers.

Demand curve

The Concept of Supply and Demand

The price of an agricultural product is determined by the supply and demand for the product in
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the market. The supply of a product is the total quantity of the product that producers offer for
sale in the market while demand is the total quantity of the product desired by all the traders and
customers for the product.
If the supply of an agricultural product is low, which means there is a shortage of the product in
the market, many people will want the product and some traders and customers will be prepared
to pay extra money to buy the product. In this situation, the price of the product will be high.

When the supply of an agricultural product is high, which means that there are large quantities of
the product in the market, well over the quantity demanded by the buyers in the market, some
producers will be willing to sell their products at a low price to attract buyers. The price of the
product will therefore be low.

We can therefore, say that the price of an agricultural product is determined by the quantity
supplied by producers and the demand of the product by customers.

Supply and demand for and agricultural products are not stable because they change often
according to certain factors. Here are some of these factors:

i. The supply of an agricultural product depends on the amount of land, labour and finance
available to produce the product, the total quantity produced during the season and the
quantity of the same product which is imported from other countries and released into the
market. For example, during the growing season, there are plenty of yams, tomatoes and
other vegetables in the market because the supply is high. Therefore farmers are compelled to
lower the prices of these products so that they can sell. But during the dry season, production
of these crops is low, therefore, supply of these products is low and farmers ask for high
prices.
ii. Demand for a product is affected by the amount of money people have to buy the product,
the place and time of the year when the product is supplied for sale and the price of the
product in the market. For example, during festival periods of Christmas and New Year, the
demand for chickens and other food items is very high and producers increase the prices of
food items. The same happens during the Muslim Ramadan festivals when the demand for
rams is very high and the prices of these livestock are therefore high.

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 supply curve
Factors that Determine Pricing of Agricultural Produce

In the last section, you leant about the concept of supply and demand and how these affect
fixing the prices on agricultural produce. There are other factors that determine how farmers
determine the prices of their produce. We will now explain these factors:

1. Cost of Production:- This is the amount spent by the farmer to product. To Produce any
agricultural product, the farmer must spent money in land, labour, seeds and other planting
materials, looking after the crops in the field, harvesting, packaging, storage and
transportation of the products from farm to the market for customers to buy. These
production costs are taken into account when producers fix the selling price of the products
so that these costs are recovered and the producer makes profits.
2. Quantity of Produce:- The total quantities of particular agricultural products produced
influence the selling price. if the farmer produces a large quantity of products, there will be
too many of the products in the market and the supply will exceed the demand. Therefore, the
farmer must offer products at a low price to be able to sell them. When there is an oversupply
of a product, the market will become saturated and producers must lower their prices
otherwise they cannot sell their products and will therefore lose money.
3. Quality of Produce:- Customers always demand to buy high quality products because they
do not wish to spend their money to buy products which are of poor quality. For example,

farmers who produce rice and beans must ensure that these grains are free from stones and foreign
materials which lower the quality of the grains.
In the same way, customers will not buy yams or cassava or tomatoes which are damaged or
rotten. Similarly, a livestock farmer must ensure that the sheep, ram and goats offered for
sale look very good, clean, healthy ad well maintained. In this way, the animals will be
offered for a high selling price. So, the higher the quality of a product, the higher the price
that it will sell in the market.
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 4. Demand and Supply:- The ways in which supply and demand the price of agricultural
products has been fully explained above.
5. Market Places: - The price of an agricultural product is determined by where the market is
located. If the market is far from the site of production, the producer has to spend a lot of
money in transporting the products from the farm to the market. To recover the cost of
transportation, the farmer must fix the price of the product at a price that will enable him
cover this extra cost. If the market is near the source of production, the cost of transportation
and storage will be less, therefore the farmer will not need to fix a high selling price on the
product.
The demand of a particular agricultural product can also vary from place to place. For
example, in cities, because the demand for food items is always high, the prices are high but
in villages, because many rural people grow their own food items, demand is low and
therefore, prices are generally low. Therefore, you can see that a food producer will sell more
agricultural products at higher prices in the city markets than in local village markets.
6. Seasons: Many crops are grown during special seasons of the year and so, they are available
in large quantities in the market during the season. At other times, when the seasonal
conditions are not favourable for the growth of the crops, only limited quantities are
produced for the market.
Therefore, during this off season, the price of the product in the market is high because demand
exceeds supply. Typical examples of crops that are seasonal are yams, maize, plantain, sorghum
and millet, tomato and leafy vegetables.

Advertising Agricultural Produce

Every agricultural producer who wishes to earn a lot of money from agricultural activities must
become involved in marketing. The aim of marketing activities is to increase the profits which
farmers earn from their agricultural production efforts. Advertising is an essential part of marketing
agricultural produce.

The purpose of advertising agricultural produce is to attract the interest of people who desire to
buy the products and influence them to pay a good price for the products. To attract many
customers to buy a product, the producer must advertise the product as widely as possible in the
area where the customers can easily obtain in the information about the product. Advertising is a
special professional activity and therefore, producers need to use experts in advertising to
publicise information about their products. Generally, agricultural products are advertised in

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local newspapers, radio and television programs, on billboards located along the major roads in
villages and towns. Nowadays, farmers use computers, the internet and mobile phones to inform
customers of the products that they have produced and are available for sale. In other words,
they use electronic media to advertise agricultural products.

Information provided to advertise an agricultural product includes:

i. The common trade name of the product;

ii. The high qualities of the product; an
iii. Where the product can be easily obtained;
REFERENCES

1. Junior Secondary Agriculture for Nigerian schools, Books 1 to 3, by Anthony

Youdeowei, S.O. Adesiyan, J.N Ogbazi, Terry Olowu
2. Essential Agricultural Science for Senior Secondary Schools by O.A. IWENA
3. STAN Agricultural Science for Senior Secondary Schools.

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