Creative Writing Contest Vol. 19 | Farming: How has the quality and quantity of the crops grown in your community changed over time?

Accept Warm greetings from this end fellow steemians and it's a pleasure to participate in this wonderful contest organised by @thegreen. Its a special contest because it looks into the specificities of the Cameroonian economy which is based mostly on agriculture.

Introduction.
Conceptualization of Concepts.

Farming.

Farming as a great profession involves the acquisition of land,Clearing the land and cultivation of crops. it also involves the keeping of animals such as goats, fowls, cows ( so as to produce beef and milk for both home consumption and for sale

Quality.

We can say quality is how good a commodity is as compared to other commodities which are similar.

Quantity.

Quantity is how much of a thing is produced at a particular time. It could also refer to the number of a commodity produced at a given point in time.

Community.

A community can be referred to as a group of people who live in a particular area and they often have certain things in common.

Part One.

The quality of Crops produced in my Community

Crops produced in my community include Yams, Cocoyams,Beans,Maize,and a host of others. The production of these crops in the early 80s and 90s was celeberated for good quality. It should be noted that food quality is what really matters when compared to food quantity. You can only achieve a high quantity of crops on a small piece of land through the use of food enhancement products like manure and fertilizers. These enhancers were limited in supply in the early 80s and 90s and hence a high price. Farmers in this era were to poor to acquire these stuffs hence they referred to these prducts as not good for farming.Thus quality was achieved. Some of the advantages of producing quality crops may include;

A healthy living.
Long Life.
while some disadvantages of quality crops is that;

There is limited supply of crops

There is an increase in price as a result of limited supply.

Farmers remain Poor.

Part 2.

How has the quantity and quality of crops changed over time?
We can not compare the quantity and quality of crops produced in the 80s and 90s to that produced in the 21st century. The quantity of crops produced has increased drastically and vice versa. The reason for this increase in quantity of crops can be accounted for by;
The availability of Manure. Poultry Farmers, pig producers and cattle rearers collect alot of fowl dropings and cow dungs which serve as an ample source of manure to farmers which boost the quantity of crops production.
Fertilizer. Also referred to as angrais Bulk is an organic chemical which is used to enhance food production. unlike in the 80s and 90s people in the 21st century have resorted to using this products to boost crop production so as to solve the food shortage problem in the market.
Insecticides and Paesticides. Pest and insects which used to destroy crops can now be controled with the use of insecticides and pesticides and hence and increase in quantity of crops.
An increase in the demand for food crops. Unlike in the 80s, There has been a drastic increase the population. Which means there are many more mouths to feed. as an attempt to cub this problem, farmers have resorted to exploiting more lands and the used of machines to solve the growing need of the population.

How has crop quantity increased? ( The case of palm oil.)

Palms oil
source
is and esential oil produced from palm nuts.
source

It is produced in my community (Ngie). In the yesteryears, The milling method was through the use of pits commonly referred to as "Mboki" This method was lenthy and tiring and hence less production unlike now when Machines have been introduced to ease the work. Also the old specie of palm nuts which was rather unproductive is being replaced with high breath American palms which a small quantity of it it can yield a greater amount of palm oil. its should be noted that the quality of oil produced using the mboki is better to that produced by the machine as many complain that the oil has an umpleasant smell.

Conclusion.

It is difficult to achieve quality and quantity at thesame time.There must be a fall in one.if there's a reduction in the quantity, quality of the product can be attained and vice versa. special thanks to @thegreens for this wonderful contest which probes into our societal realities and please keep up the good work.Thanks to @chiabertrand for encouraging me in all ramifications as far as steemit is concerned.