CROP SCIENCE 12

PRINCIPLES OF CROP PRODUCTION

Introduction:
■ Agriculture
- synonymous to farming.
a. an art,
b. a science and
c. a business
- raising of crops and animals for the basic needs of man, including luxuries. It is the
mother of all industries and maintainer of human life.
Introduction:
■ Agriculture
- systematic raising of useful plants and livestock under the management of man.
- It is a purposeful work through which the elements of nature are harnessed to
produce plants and animals to satisfy human needs and without agriculture,
civilization cannot be developed.
- It is engaged in the production of plants and animals for:
a. food and fiber
b. the provision of agricultural services
c. processing,
d. Marketing
e. distribution of agricultural products.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this Unit, the students are expected to:
1. Describe the development of world and Philippine agriculture;
2. Familiarize the major crops of the Philippines and their geographic distributions;
3. categorize the types of seasons in the Philippines and identify the regions/ provinces
per type; and
4. Analyze the problems, nature and features of Philippines agricultural systems.
Topics/Subtopics Covered
1.0 Agricultural Development
1.1 Origin, Domestication and History of Major Crops of the Philippines
1.2 Centers of Early Agriculture
1.3 Regions of the World where Major Crops were Domesticated
2.0 Stages in the Development of Philippine Agriculture
3.0 Some Data and Facts About Philippine Agriculture
4.0 Problems, Status and Prospects of Philippine Agriculture
5.0 Nature and Features of Agricultural Systems
6.0 Nature of Agriculture as a Field of Study
Assignment
1. Why agriculture is important?
2. What is the current status of agriculture in the Philippines?
3. What can you contribute to our agriculture sector as an agriculture student/s?
Introduction:
A. Agricultural Development
- It is the process of creating the conditions for agricultural potential to be realized.
Criteria:
a. Knowledge
b. Availability of the technology
c. Distribution of inputs and outputs
A. Agricultural Development
Importance:
- It is beneficial in planting of crops, harvesting, and processing for safer food
standards.
- More than 70% of people living in rural or underdeveloped areas rely on agriculture
for a living.
- Food security and Sustainability
- The main source of raw materials – these have many uses in a variety of important
industries (e.g. sugarcane, cotton, abaca, pineapple, coconut, corn, rice)
A. Agricultural Development
Importance:
- Important for international industry – A large portion of international trade is made
up of agricultural materials.
- Provides employment – Agriculture provides many jobs throughout the industry
making it one of the largest areas of employment.
- Tied to a country’s development – The agriculture of a country is the main source of
economic development.
A. Agricultural Development
Importance:
- Creates a healthy environment – Proper agriculture methods have the ability to heal
the land.
- A food supply source – The most obvious and important benefit of sustained
agriculture is that it produces a food supply the world over.
- A driver of technology – Maintaining a healthy agricultural system is so important
that innovative technology has focused on this sector.
A. Agricultural Development
Stages of A.D
1. Pastoral stage – This is characterized by
■ food gathering in terms of hunting and fishing and using randomly acquired
weapons
■ man lived on the gift of nature
■ gathering wild plants for their medicinal
■ Cosmetic
■ aphrodisiac properties as well as for their food value
■ For communities near bodies of water, fishes are caught by hand.
A. Agricultural Development
Stages of A.D
2. Middle Stone Age (from 8,000 BC)
a. use of bow and arrow;
b. catching, drying a storage of fish;
c. stored seeds, nuts and fruits.
A. Agricultural Development
Stages of A.D
3. New Stone Age or Neolithic Age (between 6,000 – 7,000 BC)
■ Discovery of the relation of seed to plant
■ Domestication of plants and animals
■ Growth of villages and the transition from food collection to deliberate raising of
crops.
a. Seed agriculture – raising of cereals and legumes where seeds are sown and en
masse and harvested at the same time.
b. Vegeculture – vegetatively propagated plants like taro, sweet potato, yam, banana,
etc. and other annual crops
Origin, Domestication, and History of Major
Crops of the world
Middle East
- the earliest domestication of plants occurred.
- these people were called Cushites.
Cushites
- who experimented with plants as a source of food, and also attempted to culture
them.
- They are semi-nomadic, establishing communities on burned land
- planting gardens with stored seeds and domesticated on any suitable location
(Matheson, 1975).
- Great seafarers and land travelers
- Spread of knowledge on crop domestication.
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
3 major components of Man’s Diet
a. Carbohydrates
b. Proteins
c. Vitamins
- Graminae (cereals) and Leguminoseae (grain legumes) family.
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Crops by races
■ The Americans - maize and soybeans
■ African - sorghum and beans
■ The Middle East - wheat, barley and beans
■ Asia - rice and soybeans
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
ORIGINS OF SOME MAJOR CROPS
1. Soybean – Leguminoseae family – sub family Papilionideae – originated in Asia (China)

2. Sorghum – Graminae family – originated in North Africa (Abyssinia/Ethiopia)

3. Corn – Graminae family tribe Maydeae – originated in Southern America (Mexico through Latin
America)

4. Rice – Graminae family – originated from India, species Oryza perennis;

■ rice species domesticated in Africa (Niger River in West Africa) is Oryza

■ glaberrima (Africa rice).
■ indica, japonica and javanica.
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Oil Crops
1. Peanut
- Native to South America, introduced into Africa along with bananas
- Forms a large part of the diet of the people
2. Coconut
- sub-family Cocoideae
- center of diversity in Northwest South America
- Nuts probably floated in ocean currents and germinated ashore in new locations
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Vegetable Crops
1. Beans, snap or green and lima beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)
- native to tropical America.
- most widely grown beans and the world’s most important grain legumes for consumption.
2. Eggplant
- eggfruit, aubergine or guinea squash
- native to South and Eastern Asia but also grown in China
- thought to be domesticate in India and spread to the tropics.
3. Muskmelon
- originated in Asia (Iran and India)
4. Okra
- gumbo, gombo, gobo or lady’s finger; either Asian or African origin
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Vegetable Crops
5. Tomatoes
- tropical Central and South America
- progenitor was cherry tomato in the wilderness of Peru-Ecuador
6. Asparagus
- Southern Russia, but also found in Europe, England, Poland and Mediterranean
7. Onion
- domesticated in Asia (wild ancestors were unknown)
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Cultivated Tropical Fruits
1. Bananas
- Southeast Asia, spreading to India, Africa and finally to tropical America
2. Citrus
- cultivated species in Southeast Asia, now cultivated extensively in the sub-tropics with
Mediterranean climate
3. Mango – originated in India-Bangladesh-Burma region
4. Pineapple
- tropical regions of South America and was grown in the new World for food, medicinal
properties and for wine making
5. Papaya
- probably originated in Central America
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Cutflowers
1. Chrysanthemum
- China, brought to Europe in 1789 by Capt. M. Blanchard of Marseilles
2. Carnation
- Mediterranean area and cultivated by man by over 2,000 years.
- Man’s improvement of Dianthus (greek word for divine flower) began in the 16th century
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Cutflowers
3. Rose
- northern temperate zone.
- The earliest record of a rose is thought to be of Damascene rose, a natural hybrid
between Rosa gallica and Rosa phoenicea.
4. Gladiolus
- recognized over 2,000 years growing in the field of Asia Minor and were called as
“corn lilies”
5. Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum)
- Japan and its center of origin is Japan.
- Its local counterpart in the Philippines is Lilium philippinense.
Unit 1. Nature and Importance of
Agriculture
Origin and Domestication of Some Important Crops of the Philippines
■ Cutflowers
Damascene Rose

Easter lily

Gladiolus
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Southwestern Asia (8,000-9,000 BC) – area is known as the Fertile Crescent (Middle
East) – often recognized as the Cradle of Civilization
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Egypt – (before 4,500 BC) – farming on Nile river banks; production practices suchas land
preparation, irrigation and pruning were introduced
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Europe – (before 6,000 BC)
- botany and aided in the transition to scientific agriculture.
- The Romans adopted and improved Greek agricultural practices
a. crop rotation
b. manure fertilization
c. weed control
d. asexual propagation and use of greenhouses (specularia)
- Roman times – ornamental horticulture developed
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Africa – crops by diffusion along the Nile river
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Southern Asia
- first crop spread from Iraq and Iran
- In Southern India and Cylon, irrigation reservoirs were constructed in 1,500 – 1,300
B.C
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Central Asia
- wheat and barley farming pattern was established and spread to Iran.
- Grapes, peaches, apricots and melons were raised
Centers of Early Agriculture
■ Eastern Asia
- diffusion of SW Asian wheat complex.
- yams and taro, bananas, bamboo, sorghum, soybeans and rice are native to the
tropical Far East region.
- Agriculture flowed from China and Thailand to Malaysia, Indonesia and the
Philippines.
- Plowing in china started during Han dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD).
- Horses were used in plowing (100 BC) after the invention of the horse collar by the
Chinese.
- Japan adopted rice farming from China via Korea but northern Japan remained as a
hunting and fishing area.
- In the 12th century, the Chinese introduced tea to Japan.
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ North America – plum (grape), blueberry, cranberry, pecan, sunflower, tapery bean
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Meso America – maize (corn, tomato, sieva bean, scarlet runner bean, cotton,
avocado, papaya, cacao, cassava, sweet potato
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Lowland South America
Crops:
✓ Yam
✓ Pineapple
✓ Cassava
✓ Sweet potato
✓ Cotton
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Highland South America
Crops:
✓ Potato
✓ Peanut
✓ Lima bean
✓ Common bean
✓ Cotton
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated

■ Europe
Crops:
✓ Oats
✓ Sugarbeet
✓ Cabbage
✓ Grape
✓ Olive
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Africa
Crops:
✓ African rice
✓ Sorghum
✓ Millet
✓ Yam
✓ Watermelon
✓ Cowpea
✓ Coffee
✓ Cotton
✓ Sesame
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated

■ Near East
Crops:
✓ Wheat, Barley, Pea, Lentil, Chick
pea, Fig, Date
✓ Flax
✓ Pear
✓ Pomegranate
✓ Olive
✓ Grape
✓ Apple
✓ Plum
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Central Asia
Crops:
✓ Common millet
✓ Buckwheat
✓ Alfalfa
✓ Hemp
✓ Grape
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ China
Crops:
✓ Soybean
✓ Cabbage
✓ Onion
✓ Peach
✓ Foxtail millet
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Southeast Asia
Crops:
✓ Oriental rice
✓ Banana
✓ Citrus
✓ Yam
✓ Mango
✓ Thin sugarcane
✓ Taro
✓ Tea
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ South pacific
Crops:
✓ Sugarcane
✓ Coconut
✓ Breadfruit
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ Australia
Crops:
✓ Macadamia nut
Regions of the world where major crops domesticated
■ India
Crops:
✓ Pigeon pea
✓ Eggplant
✓ Cucumber
✓ Cotton
✓ Sesame
 Stages in the Development of Philippine
Agriculture
1. Pre-colonial period – Indo-Malayan migrants brought with them wet-rice agriculture
and carabao as source of manpower. It predominated near bodies of water. Slash
and burn or kaingin culture or non-plow farming predominated in other areas. It is a
shifting kind of agriculture; pattern of agriculture was subsistence. Main crops
include rice, gabi, yam, Banana, millet, coconut, ginger, clover, cinnamon and
nutmeg.
 Stages in the Development of Philippine
Agriculture
2. Colonial period – This period introduced a non-producing class for which Filipinos
produced surpluses leading to an increase in agricultural production. Plan
introduced include; mulberry, wheat, cucumber, cantaloupe, water melon, new
varieties of cereals, peas and other vegetables. The development of haciendas
allowed for the introduction of technological innovations in production and
processing; e.g. steam or hydraulic-powered sugar mills.
March 6, 1909 – UP College of Agriculture in Los Baños was founded.
 Stages in the Development of Philippine
Agriculture
3. Post-war period – This is characterized by the introduction of technological
improvements; use of modern farm inputs and farm mechanization in 1950;
building up of market for tractors and power tillers in 1960s; IRRI was established;
introduction of high yielding varieties; and development and expansion of
international agricultural trading especially for coconut and its by-products,
tobacco, sugarcane, pineapple, etc.