Back to: Botany 500 Level
My ever-ready Afrilearn Scholar, how you dey today?
I trust say you dey feel strong and sharp like fresh ginger! Today’s lesson na one wey go open your eyes to the things wey dey threaten the very plants wey give us food, medicine, jobs and money. We dey talk about Threats to Economically Important Plants. These are crops like cocoa, oil palm, ginger, kolanut, and others wey support our economy and daily life. But some serious issues dey chop them down quietly, and if we no shine our eye, we fit lose them. Make we reason am together.
Threats to economically important plants
Imagine say one day, your mama go market and palm oil don double in price because of poor harvest. Or your uncle wey dey process ginger can’t find enough raw materials to buy. These things no dey happen by chance. Many of our valuable crops dey face plenty wahala—from pests to pollution, poor farming to climate
wahala. These threats dey reduce how much we grow, kill our income, and even affect food security. Understanding these problems na the first step to finding lasting solutions.
- Pests and Diseases
One of the biggest enemies to crops na insects and plant diseases. For example:
- Cocoa dey attacked by black pod disease and cocoa mirid (capsid insect), which can wipe out whole farms.
- Oil palm dey face wilt disease and weevils.
- Ginger dey suffer from rhizome rot, especially during storage.
These reduce crop yield and quality, and make farmers lose money. Imagine spending months on a cocoa farm and disease wipe out everything overnight. E no funny at all!
- Climate Change and Unpredictable Weather
Hotter temperatures, excessive rainfall, or long dry spells affect plant growth and harvesting. Crops like coffee and cocoa need specific weather. If rain no come when expected, or heat too much, the plants go suffer. In Jos and Mambilla, farmers dey complain say coffee no dey grow like before because of weather shifts. - Deforestation and Habitat Loss
As people dey clear forest for building or farming, many native plants dey disappear. Some plants only grow in special forest areas—like some medicinal herbs and wild fruits. When these places vanish, the plants vanish too. Even oil palm plantations don replace plenty natural forests in Cross River and Delta. - Overharvesting and Poor Farming Practices
Sometimes, in the rush to harvest more, farmers no dey allow plants mature well or dey use harmful chemicals. For example, overharvesting of Prunus africana bark (used for medicine) don nearly finish the tree for some regions. Without good farming methods, soil go spoil and plant quality go drop. - Invasive Species and Weeds
Some foreign plants or weeds enter farms and disturb local crops. These invasive species compete for space, water, and nutrients. One popular example na Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata), wey don scatter many farms across Nigeria. - Urbanisation and Land Grabbing
As cities dey grow, farmland dey reduce. Valuable lands for crops like kolanut, cocoa, and rubber dey turn to housing estates or roads. This dey push farmers away and reduce plant cultivation.
Summary:
- Economically important plants face threats like pests, diseases, climate change, poor farming, invasive species, and deforestation.
- These issues reduce plant quality, harvest size, and farmers’ income.
- Understanding the threats helps us protect our valuable plant resources.
Evaluation:
- Mention three threats to economically important plants.
- What is one disease that affects cocoa in Nigeria?
- How does urbanisation affect plant cultivation?
You just dey grow stronger in wisdom every lesson. Keep this energy—na this kind knowledge dey change lives, protect our resources, and build better communities. With Afrilearn, you no just dey learn—you dey prepare to lead. Next class dey wait for you. Let’s go higher together!
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