Chapter 2.

Basic
Concepts of Agricultural
Crop Production
For. ROMUALDO B. DE GUZMAN, JR., MSA, MBio
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR 2
 Take the challenge!

At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:

Lesson 1: Define and Appreciate Agriculture
Lesson 2: Understand the Brief History of Agriculture
Lesson 3: Distinguish the Branches of Agriculture
Lesson 4: Determine the Types of Agricultural Crops
 Take the challenge!

At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:

Lesson 5: Define the Different Types of Commercial Food
Crops in the Philippines, Its Common, Local and Scientific
Names
Lesson 6: Identify and Explain the Parts of the Plants and
Its Function
Pre-assessment
Review. As a review of the past lesson
that connects to the present the
topics, the learners were asked
questions on the following.
1. What is agriculture?
2. Enumerate the importance of
agriculture?
Activity.
1. What is the definition of
agriculture? Justify
2. Cite a value of agriculture that
without it can create serious national
problem.
Processing of the Activity.
1. What is agriculture?
2. What are the importance of agriculture? Explain
3. Enumerate and discuss the brief history of
agriculture?
4. Enumerate and explain the branches of
agriculture?
5. What are the four branches of livestock
production? Describe each
6. Enumerate the different kinds of agronomy
crops?
7. What are the three (3) branches of horticulture?
Describe each
Elements in the Definition of Agriculture

 It is a science, because of systematically organized

body of knowledge which not only based on opinions,
hypothesis and theories but on factual and absolute
knowledge. Also, it is a practice because of the actual
applications of the ideas.
 Of farming, because is the act or process of working
the ground, planting seeds, and growing edible plants.
It can also include raising animals for milk, meat and
wool.
VALUE OF AGRICULTURE
 Agriculture has a vital role in the life and progress of an economy.
 provide food and raw material
 employment opportunities
 source of livelihood contribute to
micro and macro community, supplying and sustaining food and
fodder
 promoting the diplomatic friendship

 facilitated by trading system in local, national and international arena,

 marketable surplus products

 source of saving of the entire national budget and
basis of the economic development of a country.

 Without agriculture, the economy will be at high risk to food security

that may result into serious national problems. The effect may be
adverse or
even worse.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago,
 Ancient Origins
 Fertile Crescent of the Middle East site of the earliest
 planned sowing and harvesting of plants (wild).
 Independent development of agriculture occurred in
northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea
and several regions of the Americas.
 Barley found archeological sites in Levant, and East of the
Zagros Mountains in Iran.
 The eight so-called Neolithic founder crops of agriculture
includes emmer wheat einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas,
lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax. Bitter vetch and
lentils along with almonds and pistachios appear
 in Franchthi Cave Greece 9,000 BC.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
• Greece, and they appear 2,000 years prior to domesticated
wheat in the same location.
• By 7,000 BC, small-scale agriculture reached Egypt.
• From at least 7,000 BC the Indian subcontinent saw farming
of wheat and barley, archaeological excavation at Mehrgarh
in Balochistan.
• By 6,000 BC, mid-scale farming was entrenched on the
banks of the Nile. About this time, agriculture was
developed independently in the Far East, with rice, rather
than wheat, as the primary crop.
• Chinese and Indonesian farmers went on to domesticate
taro and beans including mung, soy and azuki.
• To complement these new sources of carbohydrates, highly
organized net fishing of rivers, lakes and ocean shores in
these areas brought in great volumes of essential protein.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
• By 5,000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core
agricultural techniques large scale intensive cultivation of
land, mono-cropping
– irrigation, and use of a specialized labor force,
waterway the Shatt al-Arab Persian Gulf delta to the
confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.
– Domestication of wild aurochs and mouflon into cattle
and sheep, in large-scale
– use of animals for food/fiber and as beasts of burden.
– The shepherd joined the farmer sedentary and semi-
nomadic societies.
• Maize,manioc, and arrowroot were first domesticated in the
Americas as far back as 5,200 BC.
• The potato, tomato, pepper, squash, several varieties of
bean, tobacco, New World, extensive terracing of steep
hillsides in much of Andean South America.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
• Greeks and Romans built on techniques pioneered by the
Sumerians few fundamentally new advances.
• Southern Greeks struggled with very poor soils, yet
managed to become a dominant society for years.
• Romans were noted emphasis on the cultivation of crops for
trade.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
Middle Ages
 Muslim farmers in North Africa and the Near
 East developed and disseminated agricultural technologies
including irrigation
 the use of machines andwater raising machines, dams, and
reservoirs.
 Wrote location-specific farming manuals, and were instrumental
in the wider adoption of crops including sugar cane, rice, citrus
fruit, apricots, cotton, artichokes,
aubergines, and saffron.
 lemons, oranges, cotton, almonds, figs and sub-tropical crops
such as bananas to Spain.
 The invention of three field system of crop rotation during
 Chinese-invented moldboard plow, vastly improved
agricultural efficiency.
 discovery and subsequent cultivation of fodder crops
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
Modern Era
• After 1492, a global exchange local crops and livestock
breeds occurred.
• Exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, cocoa and
tobacco going from the New World to the Old,
several varieties of wheat, spices, coffee, and sugar cane going
from the Old World to the New.
• important animal exportations from the Old
World to the New were horse and dog
• not usually food animals, the horse (including donkeys
and ponies) and dog quickly filled essential production roles on
western hemisphere farms.
• By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed
stocks and cultivated plants selected and given a unique name
because of its decorative characteristics.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
• With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th
and 20th centuries
– particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could
be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible.
– Advances led to efficiencies enabling certain modern farms in
the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany, and a few other
nations to output volumes of high quality produce per land unit.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
• The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate
represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to
overcome previous constraints. In the past century agriculture
has been characterized
– enhanced productivity, the substitution of labor for synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding,
mechanization, water pollution, and farm
subsidies.
• In recent years a backlash against the external environmental
effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic
movement.

• Agricultural exploration expeditions, since the late nineteenth

century, have been mounted to find new species and new
agricultural practices in different areas of the world.
 BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE

• There are four main branches

of agriculture, namely;
1. Livestock Production or
Animal Husbandry
2. Crop Production or
Agronomy
3. Agricultural Economics
4. Agricultural Engineering
 BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE
Livestock Production or Animal
Husbandry
• Animal Husbandry is the branch of
agriculture concerned with animals
that are raised for meat, fiber, milk,
eggs, or other products.
• The term "livestock" encompasses
many species and numerous breeds
within animal
• species which can produce food and
other raw materials.
Livestock production or Animal Husbandry has 4
common classifications
Nomadic Pastoralism
• husbandry of grazing animals
• Pastoral nomadism is commonly
practice where climatic conditions
produce seasonal pastures
• But cannot support sustained
stationary agriculture because of the
animals’ food limitations.
Livestock production or Animal Husbandry has 4
common classifications
Poultry Farming is the raising of birds
domestically or commercially,
• primarily for meat and eggs as well
as for feathers. Chickens, turkeys,
ducks, and geese are of primary
importance, while guinea fowl and
squabs (young pigeons) are chiefly
of local interest.
Livestock production or Animal Husbandry has 4
common classifications
Swine Farming is the raising and
breeding of domestic pigs as
livestock,
and is a branch of animal husbandry.
• Pigs are farmed principally for food
• (e.g. pork, bacon, gammon) or
sometimes skinned.
Livestock production or Animal Husbandry has 4
common classifications
Apiculture is the scientific method of
rearing honeybees.
• ‘apiculture’ comes from the Latin word
apis meaning bee and colere means “to
culture”.
• Bees are mainly reared for their honey.
• Production of honey and the wax.
• commercially in apiaries, an area where
a lot of beehives can be placed.
• Apiaries can be set up in areas where
there are sufficient bee pastures –
usually areas that have flowering plants.
 BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE
Crop Production or Agronomy
It is the science dealing with the cultivation of
crops and vegetables on a
field scales either under rain fed or irrigation
conditions.
• Crops are mainly annuals cultivated food.
• requirements of each crop are studied in
terms of soil and climate, as well as planting
time and techniques, different cultivars,
fertilization, weed, disease, and insect control,
as well as the effect of stress factors.
 Crop Production includes:
Horticulture is the science and art of growing
and caring for plants,
especially flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
• The word is derived from the Latin hortus
which means “garden” and colere which
means “to culture”.
• General term, it covers all forms of garden
management, but in ordinary use it refers to
intensive commercial production. Horticulture
has 3 branches namely, pomology,
olericulture and floriculture.
 Three Branches of Horticulture
Pomology- is the branch of botany that
studies all fruits, specifically the science of
growing fruits and nuts.
• Derived from the Latin pomum which
means “fruit” and logia which means “field
of study”.
• Branch of horticulture, it focuses to the
cultivation of fruits, nuts, fruit bearing and
nut-bearing trees/plants for human use
and consumption.
 Three Branches of Horticulture
Olericulture is the science and art of
vegetable growing, dealing with the
culture of non-woody (herbaceous) plants for
food.
• Derived from the Latin oleris which means
“pot herb” and colere which means “to
culture”.
• language develops over long period of
time, it is simply defined as the science
and art of growing vegetables crops. It
deals with the production, storage
processing and marketing of vegetables.
 Three Branches of Horticulture
Floriculture refers to farming, plant care,
propagation, and cultivation with
one goal in mind, the maximum production of
flowering and ornamental
plants for gardens and floristry, comprising the
floral industry.
• Derived from the Latin floris which means
“flower” and colere which means “to culture”.
• floriculture is an entire gardening spectrum that
is geared towards understanding and improving
all aspects of bud and flower creation, including
indoor lighting, growroom requirements,
greenhouse needs, plant nutrition, irrigation,
pest management, and breeding new
cultivars/strains.
 BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Engineering is the area of
engineering concerned with the
design, construction and improvement of
farming equipment and machinery.
• Agricultural engineers integrate technology
with farming. For e.g. they design new and
improved farming equipment that may work
more efficiently, or perform new tasks.
• They design and build agricultural
infrastructure such as dams, water
reservoirs, warehouses, and other structures.
• Also help engineer solutions for pollution
control at large farms.
 BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Economics is study of the
allocation, distribution and utilization of the
resources used, along with the commodities
produced, by
farming. It concerns itself with the study of the
production and consumption of
food in both developed and developing countries
along with analysis of the
policies that shape the world’s largest country.
 TYPES OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS
AND ITS CLASSIFICATIONS
Agricultural crops are plants that are grown or
intentionally managed by man for certain
purposes. Classified in various terms used.
Types of Crops
Crops are divided into six falls into categories
and they’re as follows:
1. Food Crops
2. Feed Crops
3. Fiber Crops
4. Oil Crops
5. Ornamental Crops
6. Industrial Crops
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
I. Food Crops – A plant that is primarily raise,
culture and harvest for the
human consumption. It has two sub categories,
the field crops and root
crops.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
a) Field crop is a crop (other than fruits or
vegetables) that is grown on a
large scale for agricultural purposes.
Examples are wheat, rice, corn,
sugarcane and other forage crops. These
crops typically consist of a
large majority of agricultural acreage and
crop revenues.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
b) Root Crops – are underground plant
parts edible for human
consumption.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
II. Feed Crops – A plant that is primarily
raise, culture and harvest for the
livestock consumption.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
III. Fiber Crops – A plant that is primarily
raise, culture and harvest for its
fibers which are used as raw material.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
IV. Oil Crops – A plant that is primarily raise,
culture and harvest as base
for biodiesel production.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
V. Ornamental Crops – A plant that is
primarily raise and culture for
decorative purposes especially in gardens
and landscape design projects.
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
VI. Industrial Crops – A plant that is
cultured for their biological materials
which are used in industrial processes into
nonedible products.
(Example: Tobacco)
 Descriptions of Crops According to their
Categories
VI. Industrial Crops – A plant that is
cultured for their biological materials
which are used in industrial processes into
nonedible products.
(Example: Tobacco)
Classification of Crops According to their
Reproduction
1. Sexual - plants that develop
from a seed or a spore after
undergoing
union of male and female
gametes.
Classification of Crops According to their
Reproduction
2. Asexual – plants which
reproduce by any vegetative
means without the
union of the sexual gametes.
Classification of Crops According to Mode of
Pollination
I. Naturally Self Pollinated
Crops – predominant mode
of pollination in
this plant is self-pollination.
Classification of Crops According to Mode of
Pollination
II. Naturally Cross Pollinated
Crops – pollen transfer in
these plants is
from another of one flower
in a separate plant.
Classification of Crops According to Mode of
Pollination
III. Both Self and Cross
Pollination Crops – these
plants are largely self
pollinated but in varying
amounts.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
I. Herb – succulent plants with
self-supporting stems.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
II. Vines – herbaceous climbing
or twining plants without self-
supporting
stem.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
III. Lianas – woody climbing or
twining plants which depend
on other
plants for vertical support to
climb up to the tree.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
IV. Shrubs – a small tree or tree
like plants generally less than 5
meters in
height but other authorities
restricted to small, erect
woody plants.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
V. Trees – plants having erect
and continuous growth with a
large develop
of woody tissue, with a single
distinct stem or trunk.
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
VI. Evergreen – plants that
maintain their leaves
throughout the year
Classifications of Crops According to Growth
Habits
VII. Deciduous – plants which
naturally shed off or lose
leaves annually for
extended periods.
Descriptions of Crops According to their Life
Span
I. Annual crop is a
plant that completes
its life cycle, from
germination to
production of seed,
within one growing
season, and then dies.
Annual crops examples
are rice, corn and
others.
Descriptions of Crops According to their Life
Span
II. Biennial crop is a
plant that takes two
years to complete its
biological
lifecycle. Its examples
are cabbage, parsley
and others.
Descriptions of Crops According to their Life
Span
III. Perennial crop is a plant
that lives more than two
years. The term is often used
to differentiate a plant from
shorter-lived annuals and
biennials. The term is also
widely used to distinguish
plants with little or no woody
growth from trees and shrubs,
which are also technically
perennials.
TYPES OF COMMERCIAL FOOD CROPS
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Food Crop
A crop primarily raised and
culture for human
consumption. There are 5
major categories of common
commercial crops in the
Philippines they are the
following: cereal crops, root
and tuber crops, sugar crops,
vegetable crops, fruit
crops.
Food Crop
a) Cereal Crops – are one
of the members of grass
family with their seed
to eat
Food Crop
b) Root and Tuber Crops
– a crop that is root
vegetables and thick
underground part of the
stem which is edible to
consume by human.
Food Crop
c) Sugar Crops – several
species of tall perennial
grass that are grown for
extraction of sugar
product.
Food Crop
d) Vegetable Crops – are
edible part/s of the plant.
Food Crop
e) Fruit Crops – are
groups of different types
of fruits that are edible to
consume by human.
Common Commercial Food Crops in the
Philippines
COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME ENGLISH NAME

Palay Oryza sativa Linn Rice

Mais Zea mays L. Corn/Maize
Niyog Cocos nucifera L. Coconut
Tubo Saccharum officinarum L. Sugarcane
Saging Musa sapientum var. Banana
Pinya Ananas comosus L. Pineapple
Kape Coffea sp. Coffee
Mangga Mangofera indica Mango
Tabako Nicotiana tabacum Tobacco
Mani Archis hypogaea Linn. Peanut
Munggo Vigna radiata L. Mungbean

Kamoteng Kahoy Manihot esculenta Crantz. Cassava

Kamote Ipomoea batatas Lam Sweet Potato

Tomato
Kamatis Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
Common Commercial Food Crops in the
Philippines
COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME ENGLISH NAME
Bawang Allium sativum Linn. Garlic
Sibuyas Allium cepa Linn. Onion bulb
Repolyo Brassica oleracea L. Cabbage
Talong Solanum melongena Linn. Eggplant
Kalamansi Citrus madurensis Lour. Calamansi