Just like any other village in Eket, Ikot Udoma people have practised subsistence farming since the founding of the village. The farms were of two categories - the farm within and around the residential part of the village known as "akogh" and the farms some distance away from the village. The major crops planted were
cassava, yam, coco-yam, plantain, banana, vegetables such as fluted pumpkins, okra, melon, etc. In "akogh" the men planted fruit trees, plantains, bananas and the species of yams that needed very big trees to creep on while the women planted vegetables that could be harvested for urgent needs without having to walk a long distance to the farm. Other crops were planted in the distant farms. The farm work was done mainly by the women and their children but the men helped to clear the land and to get the sticks for supporting the yams to creep on. A greater part of the harvested products was consumed by the family while some was exchanged in the local evening market or sold at Fionetok market or Udua Nka located in Eket town. The rotational planting fallow system of farming such as described by Dr W.B. Morgan was generally practised whereby some farmlands were cultivated over a period of one year or two and then left fallow for about five years while the farmers shifted their farming activities to other farmlands. All the villagers knew which farmlands would be cultivated in a particular year and the ones to be cultivated the following year. In this way, everyone cultivated farmlands at one location each year. This uniformity in rotation ensured that one family did not farm alone at one location while other families were at other locations. This method allowed the soil to recover and regenerate itself naturally as fertilizers were not known in those days. This farming method was possible because the population was small and there were enough farmlands to farm on and to spare. The names of some of the popular farmlands were Ndon Obong, Akai Uyo, Atemfegh, Anigh Idua, Edi Ite, Mbukpönö, Udua Akwöng Nno, Ndiöng Akpe Udögh, Akai Udua, Iko Akpe Eka, Abia Udök, Idim Anigh, Ndun Akpe Udim, Iko Nkukruk, Atama Idang, Mkpa Ukugh, Ndedeng, Ndon Obio Edem, Atai Ukana, Udua Ateke, etc. With the advent of western education and the flourishing of white-colour jobs and the resultant population explosion in the village and its environs, most of these farmlands have now become residential or commercial areas, thereby depriving the indigenous people of farmlands. For
protein, the villagers set traps for games in the bushes and forests or caught fresh-water fish in the seasonal streams such as Mkpa Nsat, Ifukho, Idim Nweb, Isi Nsang, Idim Anigh, Akai Udua and Abak Idim. Locally made fish traps known as "Ikpaa" were used but some people also used hooks and baits. Occasionally, groups of young and middle-aged men who had dane guns organized hunting expeditions in the day time. They used specially trained hounds for tracking and retrieval of games shot. A few daring hunters hunted in the night using a kind of carbide lamp (acetylene gas lamp) tied to the head to provide forward illumination in the night. As Ikot Udoma is in the mangrove belt which experiences six months of heavy rains and six months of harsh sunshine and harmattan, wild oil palm trees were found in abundance in the bushes, swamps and forests. It was a thing of pride for boys and young men to learn how to use the locally made climbing robes known as "Ikpoo" to climb the tall oil palm trees in order to harvests the fruits from which were processed
palm oil and kernels. Some of the palm oil and kernels were consumed at home but some quantities were also sold to produce buyers who sold them to the foreign trading companies located near the Qua Iboe River at Eket town, e.g.
Royal Niger Company, United Africa Company (UAC), Patternis Zochonis (PZ), GB Olivant, French Company (CFAO) and German company Rafia palm trees were also found in abundance in the swamps and forests. The men tapped the rafia palm trees for the sweet palm wine that was relished by the natives before the advent of European traders and their factory-distilled alcoholic beverages. Fresh and "over-night" palm wine was a most valued beverage in all the Eket and Ibibio communities and it was a prominent item at marriage ceremonies, burials, social events, etc. With time the villagers learnt how to ferment and distil the palm wine in order to make a stronger type of alcohol known as "ufo-fop" or "ogogoro" in pidgin English. From the rafia palm trees, the people cut bamboos for fencing, furniture making and for constructing the rafters for the roofs of their houses. From the long leaves of the rafia palm trees, thatch was woven for roofing while the trunk of the trees provided piassava which was used for making climbing ropes (Ikpoo) or processed for sale to the foreign trading companies. Women had some domestic animals in their compounds such as goats and chickens which could be slaughtered for food or sold at the market to provide funds for important projects, e.g. payment of school fees, payment of
bride price, etc. == References ==