AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE SINGLE AWARD

(SBA)
Cost Analysis for Crop Production (Pack Choy)

Name: Amoya Nicholson

Registration Number:
School: Porus High School
Country: Jamaica
Year of Exam: 2020
Agricultural Science Single Award
Date Started:
Title of Project: The effect of fertilizer on Pack Choy on a clay, loam soil.
Problem Statement: To determine the effects of different types of fertilizer on a
clay/ loam soil.
List of materials and equipment:
 Ploughing machine
 Water
 Hoe
 Machete
 Fertilizer
 Bucket
 Cord
 Seeds
 Sticks
 ACTIVITIES
 Land Clearance
In the process of growing Pack Choy for our Agricultural SBA the first activity
we had to commence was the clearing of land. This is the process of removing
trees, stumps, bushes, stones and other obstacles from an area as required to
increase the size of the crop producing land base of an existing farm or to
provide land for a new farm operation. By doing this we used a machete to clear
away the bushes, weeds and even stones from this area to clear the small piece
of land that we needed to conduct our farming operation. In some cases the
machete could not be used so we had to use our hands to pick up the stones and
even clear away some of the bushes and weeds that were not removed by the
machete. We removed the rocks from the top soil to prevent the growth of
rhizomes. In order of getting this done we had to apply a lot of force in order to
get our ending result.

 Ploughing the Area

The second activity was to plough the land. Ploughing is the process of turning
over the earth so that seeds can be planted. By carrying out this activity we
decided to use a ploughing machine, machete and a hoe. We started out with
the ploughing machine to plough the land or seed bed then in the middle we
switched to using a hoe. The seed bed were ploughed no wider than 1ft apart so
that we would be able to spread our legs over the seed bed and work
comfortable at the same time. Some parts of the soil had some cracks in the
seed bed so we decided to use the machete to plough it up then applied water to
it. While doing this activity we found some organisms in the soil and we killed
them so that their body would decompose in the soil therefore providing
nutrients for the soil. We used a machete to construct rows in the seed bed.

 Sowing of Seed
The third activity was to sow the seeds. This is the art of placing seeds in the
soil at a particular depth with the correct amount of seed per unit for good
germination of the seed. In this process we sowed the seeds by broadcasting
also known as scatter in the rows that were properly constructed. This is a
method of sowing areas by scattering seed mechanically or by hand but in this
case we used our hands. The seeds were sowed no farther than 1cm under the
ground and no more than 3 seeds were placed into each hole. After sowing the
seeds and covering the holes we then used a machete and our feet to beat out the
lumps of soil into smaller particles.

 Transplanting of Seedling
Another activity was to transplant the seedlings. This is the process of moving
a fully germinated seedling (or mature plant) and replanting it in a permanent
location for the growing season. The first thing we did was to dig some holes
on the farm. After that we used a machete to dig up the mature plants (Pack
Choy) out of the nursery then we replanted them in the holes that we dogged as
to let them grow.

 Water Seedling
After transplanting the seedlings we did another activity which was to water the
seedlings. This is the process of applying water to the roots of the plant. On the
farm is a big black drum with a pipe so we took some buckets from the shed and
filled them with water. We also had some small jugs where the bottoms were
filled with holes. We then filled these jugs with water from the buckets then
sprinkled the water on our crops and at the roots.

 Fertilizing Plant
After watering the seedlings we decided to fertilize the plant which was another
activity. This is the process of applying something to the soil to make it better.
Chemicals as well as manure can be used for fertilization. In our activity we
decided to use poultry manure as our fertilizer in order to ensure that our crops
would be fertilized. We went to the chicken coop gathered two bags of poultry
manure then took it back to the farm. Afterwards we emptied the bags of
manure on just a small piece of the land. We then took up the poultry manure
with our hands, crushed the big pieces into them into smaller ones because the
manure had hardened up. After that we then scattered them around the roots of
each plant as to ensure that each and every one would be fertilized.

 Weed Control
Another activity we had to engage in was weed control. First of all a weed is
any plant growing where it is not wanted. Therefore weed control is a process
which involves keeping down of the weed sufficiently to permit economical
agricultural production and the methods include: biological, mechanical,
physical and most of all chemical which involves the use of weedicides and
herbicides. In the process of controlling the weeds we used a machete to
remove the weeds which were growing near the seed beds as they would affect
our crop (Pack Choy) by taking away its nutrients, water, space, light thus
lowering its production and some weeds harbour pests. While doing this we
observed that some pest were feeding on our crop so we all came to a
conclusion that we should remove or kill these pest because they will end up
destroying the leaves of our crop.
 LAYOUT OF INVESTIGATION

PLOT 2
PLOT 1
14:28:14
No fertilizer
Mixed fertilizer

PLOT 3
PLOT 4
Urea or nitrogen
Poultry manure
Straight fertilizer
 DATA COLLECTION

Week Plot 1 (cm) Plot 2 (cm) Plot 3 (cm) Plot 4 (cm)

1 4 4 4 4
2 4.5 5 6 4.5
3 9 12 15 10
4 13 17 19 16
5 18 23 25 21
6 24 28 30 26
Average 12.1 14.8 16.5 13.5
Height (cm)
 PRSESENTAION OF DATA
The researcher decided to present the data using a Pie Chart, Bar Graph (3D
Clustered), Line Graph and a

PIE CHART

Plot 1
Plot 2
Plot 3
Plot 4

Fig 1.1 The pie chart above shows that the average height in percentage of the
Pack Choy that grew in plot 1 is 21%, plot 2 is 26%, plot 3 is 29% while the
remaining 24% goes to plot 4.
 BAR GRAPH

30

25

20

15

10

0
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4

 LINE GRAPH

Chart Title
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4

Week 6
TABLE
 DATA ANALYSIS
This section is to tell what happened to the Pack Choy on each plot during the
six weeks. Therefore there should be a total of four long paragraphs each
explaining what happened to the pack Choy in each week.
PLOT 1
First paragraph
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

PLOT 2
Second paragraph
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

PLOT 3
Third paragraph
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6

PLOT 4
Last paragraph
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6