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LABORATORY EXERCISE NO. 01

IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT CROPS

INTRODUCTION

Agricultural crops are diverse in nature, and knowledge on the identity and classification of a
crop is very helpful. A crop can be identified by its common name which varies from one locality to
another or by its scientific name which is constant the world over. Knowledge of the scientific name of
the economically important crops is vital for ease of reference and communication. The scientific name
also provides a key to all published information about the plant.
Many different classifications of plants have been proposed due to this diversity. The artificial
system is based on convenience in which a structure or feature serves as a basis of grouping. Another
system is the natural system which utilizes the most prominent and the most peculiar morphological
structure of the plant with the intention of grouping together those crops which are the most similar in
a number of structures. In the phylogenetic system, plants are classified according to their
evolutionary status.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS:

1. According to mode of reproduction
a. Sexual – plants that develop after undergoing processes of meiosis and fertilization in the
flower to produce a viable embryo in the seed.
b. Asexual – plants that are produced by any vegetative means not involving meiosis and the
union of gametes.
2. According to life cycle
a. Annuals – complete their cycle in 1 year or less. These plants germinate from seed, induce
vegetative growth, flowers, fruits and seed and die within 1 growing season e.g. squash.
b. Biennials – plants ordinarily require 2 years or at least part of 2 growing seasons with a
dormant period between growth stages to complete their life cycle. e.g. celery, carrot,
cabbage.
c. Perennials – plants that do not die after flowering but live from year to year.
3. According to growth habit
a. Herbs – succulent plants with self-supporting stems
b. Vines – plants without self-supporting stems
c. Shrub – may have several main branches with no trunk and rarely grows higher than 5
meters
d. Tree – with single central stem to which branches are attached, usually taller than shrub

CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS BASED ON USE OR PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE CROP IS

GROWN:
1. Cereal/grain crops – grasses grown for their grains
Examples: rice, corn, wheat, sorghum
2. Legumes – for pods and seeds
Examples: soybean, peanut, mungbean, sitao, cowpea, ricebean, winged bean, pigeon pea
3. Root crops – for enlarged roots/tuberous roots
Examples: cassava, sweet potato, ubi, arrow root, carrot, radish
4. Fiber crops – grown for their fibers used in textile, cordage, twines, sacks, bags, etc.
Examples: cotton, ramie, kenaf, jute, abaca, buri, kapok, maguey
5. Oil crops – grown for their oil content
Examples: soybean, peanut, sunflower, castor, coconut, African oil palm, lumbang, safflower
6. Sugar crops – grown for their sugar content
Examples: sugarcane, sugar beet
7. Pasture/Forage crops – used for roughage source for animals
a. Grasses – para grass
- Napier grass
- Guinea grass
b. Legumes – ipil-ipil
- Stylosanthes
Laboratory Exercise No. 01 (CROP SCIENCE 1) prepared by Ms. Delony A. Ugali, 1st Sem, SY 2024-2025. Page 1
 8. Beverage crops – used for brewing non-alcoholic drinks
Examples: coffee, cacao, tea
9. Spices, condiments, essences – used to provide special flavor, scents, and color to food,
perfumes, soaps and body dressing.
Examples: black pepper, vanilla, citronella
10. Latex and resins – used for extracting sap from the trunk/stem
Examples: rubber, chico, pili, rimas, papaya

11. Medicinal and poison crops – with curative, laxative and pesticidal properties
Examples: lagundi, tsaang-gubat, sambong, yerba buena, golden shower, tobacco.
12. Vegetables – usually eaten with staple crops, further classified according to similarities in the
method of culture.
a. Leafy vegetable – grown mainly for their leaves
Examples: pechay, mustard, lettuce, kangkong, celery, etc.
b. Cole crops or crucifers – belong to the Cruciferae family
Examples: Cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage
c. Root and bulb crops – grown for their swollen underground roots or stems
Examples: potato, carrot, radish, onion, garlic
d. Legumes or pulse crops – belong to the Leguminaceae family
Examples: sitao, cowpea, winged bean, pigeon pea
e. Solanaceous crops – belong to the Solanaceae family, economically useful parts are
the fruits
Examples: Tomato, eggplant, pepper
f. Cucurbits – belong to the Cucurbitaceae family
Examples: Squash, upo, patola, ampalaya, chayote
g. Okra
h. Sweet corn
i. Tree vegetables
Examples: malunggay, katuray
13. Fruits – edible botanical fruits usually used for dessert which may be eaten raw, cooked or in
processed form
a. Small fruit – e.g. pineapple, grapes, strawberry
b. Nut fruit – e.g. cashew
c. Tree fruit – e.g durian, mango, santol
14. Ornamental – plants cultivated mainly for their aesthetic value, further classified according to
their special uses
a. Cutlower or florists crops – grown for its flowers
Examples: gladiolus, roses, daisies, chrysanthemum, anthuriums, orchids
b. Cut-foliage or florists greens – foliage provides background in floral arrangement
Examples: Ferns, asparagus, fortune plant, palmera
c. Flowering pot plants – plants grown in containers for their beautiful flowers usually used for
display purposes
Examples: Kalanchoe, African violets, poinsettia
d. Landscape plants – for landscaping purposes such as ground cover, barrier, specimen,
edging, accents, filler, etc.
Examples: blue palm, white grass, Bangkok kalachuchi, Song of India
e. Foliage – for attractive foliage, maybe grown indoor or outdoor for decoration
Examples: Begonia, philodendron, aglaonema
f. Turf – used in lawns or greens
Examples: Bermuda grass, carabao grass, blue grass

Special groups:
1. Green manure – A crop that is plowed under while still green and growing to improve the soil
(e.g. sesbania).
2. Cover crops – A close-growing crop grown primarily for the purpose of protecting or improving
soil between periods of regular crop production or between trees and vines, orchards and
vineyards (e.g. centrosema).
3. Companion crops – A crop sown with another crop and harvested separately. Small-grain
cereal crops are often sown with forage crops (grasses or legumes) and harvested in the early
summer, allowing the forage crop to continue to grow. Ipil-ipil is planted with black pepper.
4. Trap crop – A crop which is planted to protect the main crop from pests (e.g. cassava, ipil-ipil).
Laboratory Exercise No. 01 (CROP SCIENCE 1) prepared by Ms. Delony A. Ugali, 1st Sem, SY 2024-2025. Page 2
 5. Catch crop – Short-season crops grown immediately after the failure of the main crop to utilize
residual resources (e.g. pechay, mustard)
6. Soilage – Grasses that are grown, cut and directly fed to animals.
7. Silage – Grasses grown, cut and fermented and preserved before being fed to animals

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the exercise, the student should be able:
1. Identify by common and scientific name the major agronomic and horticultural crops.
2. Classify the crops according to their life cycle, mode of reproduction, growth habit and
agronomic or horticultural classification.
3. Identify important by-products of crops.

PROCEDURE

The student is encouraged to browse the internet and search for examples of agronomic or
horticultural crops and classify each of them. He/she can verify the real crop (edible part) by visiting a
vegetable market where different harvested produce is sold. This way he/she can also become familiar
with the plants.

REQUIRED OUTPUT
At the end of this exercise, the student should submit the attached table which should be filled-
up with the required information.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1. What is the importance of knowing the following in the production of a crop? Give a specific
example.
a. Life cycle
b. Mode of reproduction
c. Growth habit

2. Differentiate agronomic from horticultural crops.

3. Enumerate three crop examples for each of the following growth habit:
a. Herb
b. Herbaceous vine
c. Woody vine
d. Shrub
e. Tree

4. Match the products available in the market in column (A) with the crops in column (B)
A B
Cough tablets a Wheat
Ginataan, Perla soap b Lagundi
Kisses c Mungo
Sinamay d Sweet potato
Spaghetti noodles e Cotton
Pansit bihon f Peanut
Sotanghon g Soybean
Taho, soy sauce tokwa h Cassava
Adidas shoes i Coconut
Giordano T-shirt j Abaca
Barong Tagalog k Pineapple
Bath scrub (loofah) l Rice
Spaghetti sauce m Chili
Ginisa mix n Oregano
Cheese pimiento o Patola
p Sugarcane

Laboratory Exercise No. 01 (CROP SCIENCE 1) prepared by Ms. Delony A. Ugali, 1st Sem, SY 2024-2025. Page 3
 q Onion
r Tomato
s Black pepper
t Cacao
u Rubber

Table 1. Identification and classification of some major crops.

DISTINGUISHING
COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME GROWTH HABIT LIFE CYCLE
CHARACTER
1. Use
Cereals
a. Corn
b. Rice
c. Wheat
d. Sorghum
e. Barley
Legumes
a. Mung bean
b. Cowpea
c. Peanut
d. Winged bean
e. Pigeon pea
Root Crops
a. Potato
b. Sweet potato
c. Taro / gabi
d. Yam
e. Cassava
f. Carrot
Fiber Crops
a. Abaca
b. kenaf
c. Cotton
d. Jute
e. Ramie
Oil Crops
a. Coconut
b. Castor
c. Lumbang
d. Sunflower
e. African Oil
palm
Beverage Crops
a. Coffee
b. Cacao
c. Tea
Medicinal Crops
a. Lagundi
b. Tsaang gubat
c. Yerba Buena
d. Sambong
e. Tobacco
Vegetable Crops
a. Cabbage
b. Radish
c. Tomato
d. Eggplant
e. Snap beans
Laboratory Exercise No. 01 (CROP SCIENCE 1) prepared by Ms. Delony A. Ugali, 1st Sem, SY 2024-2025. Page 4
 DISTINGUISHING
COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME GROWTH HABIT LIFE CYCLE
CHARACTER
Vegetable Crops
f. Sweet pepper
g. Pechay
h. Cauliflower
i. Squash
j. Lettuce
Fruit Crops
a. Rambutan
b. Mango
c. Longgan
d. Lanzones
e. Durian
f. Lychee
g. Jackfruit
h. Tamarind
i. Guava
j. Santol
Ornamental Crops
a. Rose
b. Anthurium
c. Sampaguita
d. Poinsettia
e. African Daisy
f. Gladiolus
g. Orchids
h. Gumamela
i. Rosal
j. Kalanchoe

2. Mode of Reproduction Sexual Asexual (specify method)

1. Mango
2. Banana
3. Pineapple
4. Durian
5. Okra
6. Orchid
7. Cotton
8. Cassava
9. Soybean
10. Tomato

REFERENCES

Bautista, O.K. 1994. Introduction to Tropical Horticulture. 2nd edition, SEAMEO-SEARCA. 597p.
Brown, W.H. 1956. Useful Plant of the Philippines. Bureau of Printing, Manila.
Chandler, W.H. 1958. Evergreen Orchards, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia.
Hartman, H.R. and D. E. Kester. (3rd Ed.) Plant Science: Principles and Practices. Prentice-Hall,
Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 660p.
Ochse, J.J. 1961. Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture.
Purseglove, J.W. 1968. Tropical Crops. Dicotyledons. Longman Group, Ltd. London. 719p.
Purseglove, J.W. 1972. Tropical Crops. Dicotyledons. Longman Group, Ltd. London. 885p.

Laboratory Exercise No. 01 (CROP SCIENCE 1) prepared by Ms. Delony A. Ugali, 1st Sem, SY 2024-2025. Page 5