Agricultural Science (AS)·Crop science · NSSCAS 3.3
Vegetable crop production: growing spinach in Namibia
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A farmer at a green scheme project on the Kavango River wants to sell fresh, dark-green spinach at the market in Rundu — but Namibia is hot and dry, and spinach is a tender leafy crop that wilts fast. How do you space it, feed it, water it and harvest it so it grows well? And once it is picked, how do you keep it crisp long enough to sell? In this lesson we grow a spinach crop from the first seed all the way to the cool box.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS Agricultural Science (AS) 3.3):
- Explain what is meant by a vegetable crop, and identify spinach as a leafy vegetable
- Discuss the factors that determine the plant spacing and planting depth of spinach
- Compare direct sowing and transplanting as ways to establish a spinach crop
- Explain the crop husbandry needed to create suitable conditions for spinach: seedbed preparation, soil, irrigation, fertiliser, weeding and pest and disease control
- Discuss and evaluate the factors that influence spinach yield and quality (water, nutrients, spacing, variety, pests, temperature and soil)
- Explain the methods that could be used to improve the production of spinach
- Explain how spinach is harvested
- Explain how the shelf life of harvested spinach can be improved through cooling, washing, packaging and timing
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