AGRIC PRODUCTS IN LAGOS AREA MARKETS: ARTICLE NINETEEN - SORGHUM

By S. Olanrewaju Disu.

Sorghum, which we call locally as “guinea-corn”,is historically reputed to be among the world’s grain crops, ranking fourth in importance after wheat, rice and maize.Sorghum, also known locally in Lagos Area as “oka-baba” is scientifically called “Sorghum bicolor, Family Gramineae”.

Sorghum is available in most Lagos Area urban retail markets where grains are sold.These markets include the “Ikotun Market”, the “Ejigbo Market”, and the “Mushin Market”. However, the number of residents that patronize sorghum in Lagos Area is not relatively large. The reason is cultural.Sorghum is a dry area cereal, an edaphic situation found in the northern part of the country.Therefore, not all the ethnic populations of Lagos Area consume sorghum.Human consumption is normally in the form of food like “ogi”- i.e. local custard, porridge or cake.Some are used for formenting to local beer, popularly called “burukutu”. This local beer originates from the northern part of the country, where sorghum is vastly cultivated.In Lagos Metropolitan Area , there is an area called “Idi-Araba”, which is predominantly populated by people from the north. In this area, brewing and drinking “burukutu” is a thriving business.Other sorghum-based diets are consumed with relish at “Idi-Araba”.

Also, some residents of the state, who are of south-western Nigerian extraction, and call sorghum by the name “oka-baba”, use sorghum seeds to brew and drink what is called “oti-baba”, meaning sorghum-beer.

Sorghum is an annual or perennial grass with stout culms-i.e. monocotyledonous stems.Culturally, the culms of some self-sown (perennial) plants of sorghum are used to make flutes in the northern part of Nigeria.

The dietetic value of sorghum is reportedly poor, though it is a very important dry area cereal.Sorghum is known to be conspicuously deficient in minerals except phosphorus and magnesium.It is reported that in threshed and polished sorghum grains, vitamins A and B and protein are depleted.Nonetheless, sorghum serves as poultry and cattle-feed. Large, modern breweries in Lagos Metropolitan Area use sorghum as part of their local contents in beer-making. Some of our modern, state-of- the –art flour mills mill them, too.

PHOTO: Sorghum seeds sold in Lagos urban markets.

AGRIC PRODUCTS IN LAGOS AREA MARKETS: ARTICLE EIGHTEEN - PALM OIL

By S. OLANREWAJU DISU

One of the greatest gifts of nature to the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the earth is the palm-tree family. Palm-trees belong to a family called “palmae”. They are monocotyledonous trees with usually a simple stem and terminal crown of large, fan-shaped leaves. The oil-palm[Elais guineenis] is an oil crop which belongs to this palm-tree family. We obtain oil and kernel from it, and these are of importance commercially.

Palm oil is an edible fat obtained from the flesh of the fruit of the oil-palm – called the palm kernel. In Lagos Area markets, the palm-oil is available all-year either on whole-sale or retail basis. As a matter of fact, to several families in the metropolis, their household or kitchen’s food items are inchoate without the palm-oil. The palm-oil is life!

Both domestically and industrially, the palm-oil is very useful. Palm-oil is used in soap-making, manufacture of candles and lubricants. Palm-oil is used in the making of margarine. In Lagos State, there is a big firm whose factories produce margarine on a very large scale.Many whole-sale palm-oil sellers derive huge profits by supplying palm-oil to these factories and others that use palm-oil as industrial raw material.

Residents flock into and purchase palm-oil in Lagos Area Markets on a continous daily basis for diverse reasons: home-cooking, frying of bean-cakes near bus-stops for itinerant workers, frying of fish and meat as a means of preserving them for non-immediate use, ceremonies, festivals,etc.

Palm-oil is sold in all shapes and sizes of glass-bottles and plastic jars that range from 2cl to 5liters on retail basis at all our urban and sub-urban markets on retail basis. Whole-sale of palm-oil is done in selected markets-e.g. the “Daleko Market” and the “Mushin Market”. At these markets, the containers used are large 200 liter metal drums. These large drums are used ab initio to bring down palm oil from various palm-oil making factories- and they are many- in the hinterland into Lagos State. The above – named markets are the chief depots for palm-oil delivery. Needless to say, delivery of palm-oil as an industrial raw-material to factories is usually effected in large 200L drums. Commercial transporters, using long-haulage trucks, make brisk business delivering palm-oil to factories.

Palm-oil is sometimes used in the pharmaceutical industry as a component part of suppositories. Also, palm-oil is medically used as an antidote in food-poisoning or accidental swallowing of chemicals.Hence, the palm-oil, derived from the fruit of the palm-tree, is a very important agricultural product in our markets in Lagos Metropolitan Area. A wonderful gift of nature, indeed!

PHOTO’S : Bottled palm-oil on retail sale at the urban “ Iyana- Ejigbo” market.

ARTICLE SEVENTEEN - GROUNDNUT (PEANUT)

By S. OLANREWAJU DISU

A very important agricultural product found in Lagos Metropolitan Area markets and, indeed, along the streets being hawked by street-traders, is the ground-nut (or the peanut). Humans and livestock derive benefits from this wonderful gift of nature.

The scientific name of groundnut ( or peanut ) is “ Arachis hypogaea”. It derives its name
“groundnut” from its special peculiarity: the flowers of the groundnut plant are borne on spikes in the axils of the leaves. The ovary is at the base of this structure termed “peg”. On fertilization, it becomes meristematic and positively geotropic, extending and pressing itself into the soil. At about 2-7 cm deep in the ground, it loses its geotropism to turn sideways; then the ovary grows and swells into a fruit lying horizontally in the soil- the groundnut!

Though wherever the groundnut is grown it is primarily for its seeds, the fruit’s husk is also fed to cattle, goats and rams. The husk, withered leaves and stems are very valuable to livestock during the dry and harmattan seasons when the grasses dry out.

Groundnut cultivation requires warm to hot conditions and a well distributed rainfall during the growing season. These climatic conditions are found in both the northern and southern parts of Nigeria. Furthermore, scientific preservation of harvests in silos have helped in the continuous availability of this annual leguminous product in our markets in Lagos.

Groundnut cultivation has encouraged the set-up of diverse economic activities. A large percentage of the groundnut harvest is crushed industrially for oil used in cooking, making margarine, shortening and soap. Groundnut cake left after the expression of the oil is used as food by humans and also, it is added to livestock feeds as valuable protein content. The groundnut cake also has industrial applications – e.g. it enters into the preparation of a glue for bonding plywood.

On the domestic scene in Lagos area, roasted groundnut is a favorite food of many residents. It is eaten by itself or in conjunction with roasted corn. During the hot dry season, roasted groundnut is eaten with a bye-product of “cassava” known as “garri” while the latter is soaked in cold water. Also, boiled groundnut is very popular among the populace. It is not taken as a whole meal, but as snack.When groundnut is fully in season, many street-traders hawk boiled groundnut all over our streets in addition to sales in road-side urban markets.

Finally, roasted groundnut is eaten with roasted plantain as mid-day and evening snacks. The chaotic traffic situation in our metropolis keep many residents away from home from morning till dusk during week-days. Hence, the availability of ad-hoc meals like fried or boiled groundnuts is a very pleasant relief to itinerant residents of Lagos metropolis.



PHOTO’S :

A---- Groundnut cake and bottled groundnut oil for cooking (on sale at an urban market in Lagos)

B. Groundnuts [peanuts] on sale at a Lagos sub-urban market.

C----Groundnut cake in pellets [ loved by school children, and adults, too! ]