WASSCE SHS
Farm tools and machines apply power to the land. The power may come from a person, an animal or an engine. Mechanisation is the use of machines to replace or reduce that hand work.
A cutlass clears bush and harvests some crops. A hoe weeds and draws soil into mounds. A rake gathers trash and levels a bed. A mattock breaks hard ground. A watering can applies water to a small nursery. Each tool does a poor job at another tool's work, so an answer should match the tool to the task. Maintenance is part of the tool. Wash off soil, dry the metal, oil pivots, sharpen the cutting edge, and hang the tool off a damp floor. A blunt hoe does not save labour. It wastes it, and a rusty blade fails in the following season.
Animal drawn implements include the plough, the harrow and the cart. Tractor drawn implements include the plough, the harrow, the planter and the trailer. Mechanisation covers a field faster, finishes work in the short weather window, and reduces the hardest labour. It also costs money to buy, fuel and repair, and it needs a person who can operate and service it. Small or scattered plots make a large machine awkward. A machine can compact wet soil. It can also reduce the number of people hired at weeding or harvest, which is a social cost in a community that depends on that work. Sources of farm power in the syllabus are human, animal and mechanical, with wind and water as further sources. Name the source the question asks for, and do not claim a machine is always cheaper. Cheaper per hectare on a large, open farm is not the same as cheaper on a small, stumpy plot.
The General Agriculture tips guide sets out the papers, how to answer the essay and the practical, and the mistakes that cost marks. WASSCE General Agriculture tips
Match the tool to the operation. A cutlass is not the best weeding tool where a hoe is meant. Maintenance must be an action: clean, dry, oil, sharpen, store. "Take care of it" earns nothing. Advantages of mechanisation are speed, timeliness and less drudgery. Limits are cost, skill, spare parts, plot size and compaction. Give the limit that fits the farm in the question. A large open field and a small rocky plot do not share the same answer. Human, animal and mechanical power are the three to keep distinct.
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
3 marks
Name the tool most suitable for each task: clearing a bush path, weeding a maize row, watering seedlings in a nursery. (3 marks)
A cutlass clears the path. A hoe weeds the maize row. A watering can waters the seedlings.
4 marks
State three maintenance practices for a metal farm tool, and give one reason for them. (4 marks)
Clean off the soil, dry the metal, and oil it or sharpen the edge. This stops rust and keeps the tool able to cut or dig.
4 marks
(a) State two advantages of mechanising land preparation. (2 marks)
(b) State two limits of mechanisation on a small farm with scattered plots. (2 marks)
(a) The work is faster, and it can be done in the short period when the soil is ready.
(b) A large machine is costly for a small output, and scattered plots waste time in moving it. Stumps and small plots also make turning difficult.
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Practise General Agriculture freeWash off the soil, dry the metal, sharpen the edge, and store the tool off a damp floor. Oil on the blade helps stop rust. A blunt tool makes the work harder and damages the crop or the user.
When the plots are small, scattered or full of stumps, or when the farmer cannot pay for the machine, the fuel and the repairs. On a large open field the same machine can be the cheaper way to finish land preparation on time. Speed is an advantage only where the machine can actually work. All WASSCE General Agriculture past questions