Title Page

Name of school: Christiansburg Wismar Secondary School

Name of Candidate: Shaquel Williams

Candidate number: 09001601930

Centre No.: 090016

Territory: Guyana

Year: 2018
 Table of Content
Unit Page
Introduction…………………………………………………….………………..3

Research methodology…………………………………………….…………….4

Activity………………………………………………………………………...5-9

Data collection…………………………………………………………..……...10

Results………………………………………………………………………11-13

Discussion…………………………………………………………………..14-15

Conclusion & recommendation……………………………………………...…16

Cost analysis 1………………………………………………………………17-20

Appendix……………………………………………………………………….21

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………22
 Introduction
Poi (Basella Alba) is an edible perennial vine in the family ‘basillaceae’. According
to Maggie Fry “sandy soil have a light texture and loose structure, which cause
them to drain quickly and not hold water well, hence it can lead to low fertility”.
As stated by Marin Master Gardeners “soil texture refers to the relative proportions
of sand, silt and clay minerals particle in a soil. Soil texture affects plant growth
because it determines the tilth, or fitness of the soil as a medium for growing
plants. Texture is important because the size of the three particle types affects the
size of the pore spaces among these particles which, in turn influence the amount
of air and water the soil can hold”. This explain why sand has very poor water
holding capacity. According to Dr. Lois Berg Stock, extension professor “organic
matter (OM) is previously living materials on the soil surface there is usually
undecomposed om known as litter or duff. Organic matter improves water
retention, making it a good addition to sandy soil”. As stated by Master Gardener
in Northern Michigan “making the soil more hospitable to bacteria and fungi by
adding organic matter improve sandy soil. The best type of organic matter to be
added is compose or Bio-char”. Sandy soil also have its disadvantages. Sandy soil
has its good points, it is easy to dig and can be work earlier in the spring than other
soil types. This was proven in the school’s garden since secondary tillage is not
always necessary because of the coarseness of the soil particles.

Aim
To investigate the growth pattern of poi over a six weeks period when the soil
amended with clayey- loam.

Statement of problem
Poor soil structure experienced on the Christianburg Wismar Secondary School
garden
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Experimental Design: Four (4) beds were constructed, two(2) of the beds
were amended with loam+chicken manure, and the other two(2) using only
chicken manure. Where as twelve(12) seedlings were place on each bed. Both
groups beds were amended at the same time, both groups were provided with
shades and each bed shade were remove and put on back at the same time, and
both groups measurement were taken at the same time.

LIST OF MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT USED:

Water can, hand trowel, spade, wood, shovel, fork stick, hoe, branches, seedlings,
ruler, knife, rake, spray can, plastic bags, cutlass, water, manure,
pesticides/insecticides.
 MATERIALS USES

1. Wood Use to level the soil after ploughing and

harrowing it.
2. Water can Use daily for the watering of plants

3. Plastic bags Use to put the poi in after harvesting.

4. Spade Use to dig drains aside each beds.

5. Branches Use to shade seedling from the sun.

6. hoe Use to get out the large stumps from the

soil.
7. cutlass
Use to clear the weeds off the land.

Use to put the insecticides/pesticides to

spray the bed.
8. spray can
Use as a foundation to help hold up the
9. fork sticks shade.

10. manure
Use to add the nutrients necessary for the
plants.

ACTIVITY
Land preparation

1. The land was cleared with a cutlass

2. A rake was used to clear the weeds off the land

3. Then the land was plough using a fork and hoe

Bed preparation

1. A hoe was used to pull out root in the soil and

2. The soil was then upturn using a pitch fork/cutlass.

3. Drains were dug using a spade

4. The rake was used to break up the large clumps of soil into a fine tilt and
also to level the beds.

5. Holes were dug 3cm (cutlass length) apart from each other using a hand
trowel.

6. Manure was thrown in each hole on the beds and was mixed with the soil.

7. The seedlings were planted

8. Fork sticks were then placed around each bed.

9. Branches were placed on the fork sticks to shade the plants

10. The seedlings were then watered

Mulching
1. Dry grass was placed around the plants to protect it from direct sunlight and to help hold
the water.
Moulding

1. With the use of a hand trowel manure was placed around the plants and was
then stirred.

Weekly Watering

1. The plants were watered using a water can in the morning and in the
evening. The shade was remove in the night so that the plants can get dew
where by the shade was removed to water the plants in the morning and was
then shaded again. In the evening the shade was removed and the plants
were watered and the shade was left off until morning

Harvesting

1. A knife was used to cut the stem of the poi and the plants

Harvested were washed and placed in plastic bags

Packaging

2. The poi was washed after harvested and placed into clear plastic bags to be
marketed
Marketing

3. After the poi was packaged it was sold to persons in the community.
 Data Collection

Two sets of data that were collected are:

4. Height of leaf – this was done by placing the ruler alongside the plant and
record the measurement.

5. Width of leaf – this was done by placing the ruler across the leaf and record
the measurement.
 Results
Length of leaves
Weeks Organic matter only Organic matter +
loam

1 3cm 3.5cm

2 4.5cm 5.8cm

3 6.3 cm 8.2 cm

4 8.7 cm 9 cm

5 11 cm 13 cm

6 12.5 cm 13.5 cm

7 16 cm 17 cm
 The
bar graph above clearly illustrate the increase in the length of poi (callaloo) leaves
when amending the soil with loam+chicken manure as compare to amending the
soil only with chicken manure over a seven week period . From the experiment
done it clearly showed when the soil was amended with loam+chicken manure
there was an increase in production as compare to using only chicken manure.

Width of leaves
Weeks Organic matter only Organic matter, loam

1 2cm 2.1cm

2 3cm 3.5cm

3 4 cm 5 cm

4 5.5 cm 6.7 cm

5 6.4 cm 8.2cm

6 8 cm 9.4 cm

7 9.3 cm 11.2 cm
 The
line graph above clearly shows and improvement in the leaf width of poi
(callaloo ) over a seven (7) week period when the soil is amended with loam and
chicken manure as compare to when the soil is amended with only chicken
manure ,having a difference of 1.7 cm more when the soil is amended with
loam+chicken manure.

Discussion
An experiment was done using four beds, two beds using organic matter + loam
and the other two beds using organic matter only. After the experiment was a
success, it was observed that the two beds with the organic matter + loam was
proven better than the two beds using organic matter only. From the information
figure one (1), the graph shows that the length of the leaves on the beds using
organic matter only and organic matter + loam. Hence the graph show consistent
increased of the beds using organic matter + loam every week but not by a big
difference. E.g. week one, beds with the organic matter and loam increased by 1.3
in length than the other beds using organic matter only. Week two, beds with
organic matter and loam increased by 0.9. In week three there was a difference of
0.3 of the leaves of the plants with the organic matter and loam. In week four a
difference of 2 was shown on the graph with the bed using organic matter and
loam. Week five and six the beds with the organic matter + loam has increased by 1
than the beds using organic matter only. According to Dr. Lois Berg Stock,
extension professor “organic matter (OM) is previously living materials on the soil
surface there is usually undecomposed om known as litter or duff. Organic matter
improves water retention, making it a good addition to sandy soil”. As a result
from the experiment done it was proven that when the soil was amended with loam
and chicken manure it produce a better yield than when the soil was amended with
only chicken manure. ”. As stated by Master Gardener in Northern Michigan
“making the soil more hospitable to bacteria and fungi by adding organic matter
improve sandy soil. The best type of organic matter to be added is compose or Bio-
char”. Sandy soil also have its disadvantages. Sandy soil has its good points, it is
easy to dig and can be work earlier in the spring than other soil types. This was
proven in the school’s garden since secondary tillage is not always necessary
because of the coarseness of the soil particles. . According to Maggie Fry “sandy
soil have a light texture and loose structure, which cause them to drain quickly and
not hold water well, hence it can lead to low fertility”, as a result of fast drainage
the experiment was done in order to improve the soil fertility of the sandy soil in
the school farm. After the experiment was a success it had proven that when sandy
beds in the school farm was amended with loam and chicken manure it produces
a better yield as compare to only amending the soil with only chicken manure .As a
result the loam and chicken manure had improve the soil structure, hence it had
produces a better yield.
 Conclusion
From the experiment done four (4) beds were constructed, two (2) using loam and
chicken manure, and the other two (2) using only chicken manure. Where as
twelve (12) seedlings was place on each bed for a seven (7) week period to observe
the length and width of poi (callaloo) leaf using loam and chicken manure to
amend the first two beds and only chicken manure on the other two . As a result the
beds that were amended with the loam and chicken manure had proven to yield a
better crop as compare to the beds that only used chicken manure. The group that
used loam and chicken manure produce a better yield as compare to the group that
only used chicken manure, having a difference of 1.7cm difference. Although the
experiment was a success there was still some limitation.

Limitation

Fast drainage: as a result of fast drainage because of the soil particle size the crop
wasn’t able to retain much water.

No drip irrigation : as a result of this when the plants was watered it drained very
fast because of the type of soil the school farm has , which is sandy soil which has
a very low water retention .

Recommendation

Amend the soil which will reduce the fast drainage of waters from beds.

Have drip irrigation system which will reduce constant watering . And as a result
this may even save in on labour.

Cost Analysis 1
budget

Income Quantity Unit Price ($) Total ($)

Sale of poi 35 Bags 200 7,000
 200
50 bags 10,000
Total projected income 17,
000
Expenditure Quantity Unit Cost ($) Total ($)
Poi seedlings 48 Plants 15 720
Manure 6 bags 200 1,200
Transportation 1,000 1,000
Cultivator 1 tool 6,00 600
Pesticide 1 bottle 1,200 1,200
Plastic bags 100 bag 200 200
Total projected 4,
expenditure 920
Projected profit = 12
,080

Income Statement

Income Quantity Unit Price ($) Total ($)

Sale of poi 30 Bags 200 6,000

55 bags 200 11,000

Total projected income 17,
000
Expenditure Quantity Unit Cost ($) Total ($)
Poi seedlings 48 Plants 15 720
Manure 6 bags 200 1,200
Transportation 1,500 1,500
Cultivator 2 tool 6,00 1200
Pesticide 1 bottle 1,200 1,200
Plastic bags 100 bag 200 200
Total projected 6,
expenditure 020
Projected profit = 10
,980

Bar graph showing the comparison between the budget and the income statement
The bar graph above shows a comparison between the income statement and the
projected budget. From the graph above the total income for the income
statement and the projected budget was the same this was so because the
projected total income had come up to the same amount in the income
statement. For the total expenditure in the income statement there was an
increase as compare to what was projected in the projected budget which showed
a decline.

Analysis
The projected budget and the income statement clearly shows the total for
both the projected and the income statement being the same. This was so because I
would have t was projected that the total income total income would have be an
amount of $17,000 and in the income statement it was so.

It was estimated that in the projected budget the total expenditure would
have been $4,920 and in the income statement it was $6,020 having a difference of
$1,100, which shows an increase in the income expenditure as compare to the
projected budget.

In the projected budget the net profit was $12,080 and in the income
statement it was $10,980 having a difference $1,100 which shows a decline in the
income statement as compare to the projected budget.

Bibliography
Appendix