National Horticultural Crop Production as Influenced by Unconventional Horticultural Practices and Urbanization in Nigeria: A Case Study of Housing Estates in Imo State, Nigeria
Nze, Edward Onuawuchi *
Department of Crop Science and Technology, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Owerri, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The advancement of horticultural practices is closely related to human society and culture. Hence, human settlement patterns can be traced from the hunting and gathering practices of the Stone Age to highly technical and sophisticated agricultural methods such as computerised greenhouse nurseries, hydroponics and tissue culture. Although the level of horticultural crop production in developed countries is higher than in developing African countries, particularly Nigeria, contributions to national horticultural crop production arising from unconventional practices associated with urban development patterns are mostly ignored or not recognised, apart from the activities of the National Institute of Horticultural Research (NIHORT), which has the national mandate to research, train and develop all horticultural crops in Nigeria, and a few individual horticulturists engaged in full-time horticultural production. This chapter therefore reports a survey of unconventional horticultural practices in selected housing estates in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. A total of 40 compounds were sampled from each housing estate, giving a total sample size of 120. The chapter examined development patterns in Nigeria, the importance of horticultural crops, and the identification, distribution and analysis of horticultural crops in the selected estates using simple frequency tables and percentages. The results indicated consistency in the horticultural plants identified among the sampled residential compounds, confirming the existence of unconventional horticultural practices within the estates. However, fruit trees had the highest frequency in all three estates compared with the other categories of horticultural crops. It was therefore recommended that estate dwellers plant more ornamental and vegetable crops while using improved varieties to optimise profit. This is because planting many fruit trees near residential buildings may have long-term negative effects, as expanding underground roots may damage buildings and fences, thereby increasing maintenance costs.
Keywords: Settlement patterns, housing estates, unconventional horticultural crop production, urbanisation