WAEC Agricultural Science 2010 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2010 WAEC Agricultural Science paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 53 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

WAEC Agricultural Science 2010 questions and answers

1. 1.The biotic factor which derives much benefit from livestock and reduces productivity is a
   1. A
      Parasite
      Correct
   2. B
      Pathogen
   3. C
      Competitor
   4. D
      Predator
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Parasite is correct.

   A parasite lives in or on the body of the livestock (its host) and continuously feeds on its blood, tissues, or nutrients — ticks, lice, tapeworms and liver flukes are common examples in Nigerian livestock farming. The parasite gains food, shelter and a place to reproduce, so it "derives much benefit" from the animal. At the same time, this constant drain lowers the animal's growth rate, weight gain, milk yield or egg production, so productivity falls. This two-sided relationship — one side benefiting while the host's output drops — is exactly what the question describes.

2. 2.The main sources of farm power in West Africa are
   1. A
      water and fuel power
   2. B
      machine and electrical power
   3. C
      human and animal power
      Correct
   4. D
      wind and solar power
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Human and animal power are the main sources of farm power in West Africa. Most farms in the sub-region are small-holdings worked by peasant farmers who rely mainly on their own labour (hoe, cutlass) and, in the savanna areas, on draught animals such as oxen and donkeys for operations like ploughing and carting. Mechanized power (tractors and other farm machinery) is used on only a small fraction of farms because of the high cost of machines, fuel and maintenance, and the small, scattered nature of most farm holdings, so it cannot be described as a "main" source.

3. 3.The function of the mouldboard in a mouldboard plough is to
   1. A
      To cut the soil vertically ahead of the share
   2. B
      To break the ploughed soil into a fine tilth
   3. C
      To invert the furrow slice and bury weeds and crop residue
      Correct
   4. D
      To cut the soil horizontally below the surface
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   Answer: C

   A mouldboard plough has several working parts, each with its own job, and this question is testing whether the student can tell them apart.

4. 4.Which of the following practices promote agricultural development?
   1. A
      Overgrazing of pastures
   2. B
      Mechanization of farm operations
      Correct
   3. C
      Bush burning before planting
   4. D
      Shifting cultivation
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Mechanization of farm operations is correct. Agricultural development means moving farming from a slow, subsistence, low-output system to one that produces more, more efficiently and more sustainably. Using tractors, improved implements, irrigation equipment and other machinery increases the area a farmer can cultivate, speeds up operations like ploughing, planting and harvesting, and raises overall output — this is exactly what "agricultural development" means in the syllabus.

5. 5.An infectious disease of livestock characterized by sudden death and black bloody discharge from the nose, mouth and eyes is known as
   1. A
      Anthrax
      Correct
   2. B
      Foot-and-mouth disease
   3. C
      Rinderpest
   4. D
      Blackleg
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Anthrax is correct. It is a highly infectious bacterial disease of livestock (caused by Bacillus anthracis) that often kills the animal suddenly, with little warning. A key diagnostic sign is that dark, tarry blood that fails to clot oozes from the natural body openings — the nose, mouth, ears and anus — shortly before or after death.

6. 6.Which of the following activities are cultural practices? I. Harrowing II. Filling-in III. Mulching
   1. A
      II and III only
      Correct
   2. B
      I and II only
   3. C
      I and III only
   4. D
      I, II and III
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Cultural practices are the management operations carried out on a crop after it has been planted, to help it grow well and give a good yield. Land preparation (tillage) operations, on the other hand, are the operations done to the soil before planting, to make it ready to receive the crop.

   Since only filling-in and mulching are carried out on the growing crop as management practices, the correct answer is II and III only. The option listing all three wrongly treats harrowing as a cultural practice, and the options that drop either filling-in or mulching wrongly exclude a genuine cultural practice.

7. 7.The maize stem borer is best controlled by
   1. A
      practising crop rotation with a cereal crop every season
   2. B
      applying a fungicide to the base of the plant
   3. C
      spraying the crop with a suitable insecticide
      Correct
   4. D
      planting resistant varieties only, without any chemical treatment
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   The maize stem borer (e.g. Busseola fusca, Sesamia species) is an insect pest whose larvae tunnel into the stem of the maize plant, weakening it and causing "dead heart" and poor cob formation.

8. 8.Which of the following feedstuffs requires much processing before being fed to animals?
   1. A
      Cowpea
   2. B
      Cassava
      Correct
   3. C
      Maize
   4. D
      Guinea corn
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Cassava is the feedstuff that requires much processing before it can be safely fed to animals. Fresh cassava tubers and peels contain cyanogenic glucosides, which release poisonous hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid) when the plant tissue is damaged. Before cassava can be used as livestock feed, it must go through several processing steps such as peeling, chopping, soaking/fermenting, and sun-drying (the same steps used in making garri or cassava chips) to break down and drive off this cyanide, bringing it down to a safe level.

   So among the options, cassava stands out as the one that genuinely "requires much processing" before it is safe to feed to animals.

9. 9.Which of the following groups of crops grow best in the savanna zones of West Africa?
   1. A
      Cocoa, oil palm, rubber and kola nut
   2. B
      Rice, sugarcane, banana and coffee
   3. C
      Yam, cassava, cocoyam and plantain
   4. D
      Guinea corn, millet, cotton and groundnut
      Correct
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: D

   Guinea corn, millet, cotton and groundnut are the crops that grow best in the savanna zones of West Africa.

10. 10.The disease which affects only animals other than humans is
    1. A
       Anthrax
    2. B
       Rinderpest
       Correct
    3. C
       Rabies
    4. D
       Tuberculosis
    Show answerHide answer

    Answer: B

    In farm animal health, diseases are grouped into those that are zoonotic (can pass from animals to humans) and those that attack only animals.

    Rinderpest (cattle plague) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed ruminants only. A human being cannot catch rinderpest from a sick or dead animal, which is exactly what the question is asking for.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.

Practise all 53 questions we hold from the 2010 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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