Lecture Manual in

CROP SCIENCE 1:
Principles of Crop Production

BEN BAREJA
DONNA RIA CAASI, Ph.D.
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture

Mindanao State University

General Santos City, Philippines
2014
 CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 4
A. Agriculture and its divisions ......................................................................................................... 4
B. Origin, domestication and history of some important crops ...................................................... 4
C. World food situation and centers of production ......................................................................... 6
D. The Philippine agriculture ............................................................................................................ 7
E. Major Crops of the Philippines and their geographic distribution (BAS, 2012):.......................... 8
F. Meaning and Scope of Crop Science.......................................................................................... 10
II. THE BIOLOGY OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS ................................................................................ 11
A. Classification and taxonomy of crops ........................................................................................ 11
B. The nature and composition of plants ....................................................................................... 13
C. Plant growth and development ................................................................................................. 23
III. PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES AFFECTING CROP PRODUCTION ................................................... 25
A. Photosynthesis ........................................................................................................................... 25
B. Respiration ................................................................................................................................. 27
C. Transpiration .............................................................................................................................. 28
D. Translocation and partitioning of assimilates ............................................................................ 28
E. Mineral Nutrition ....................................................................................................................... 29
F. Plant movements ....................................................................................................................... 31
G. Plant growth regulators (PGRs).................................................................................................. 31
IV. CROP IMPROVEMENT AND SEED SELECTION ........................................................................... 36
A. Propagation of crops .................................................................................................................. 36
C. Goals and basic concepts in crop improvement ........................................................................ 38
D. General methods of crop improvement .................................................................................... 39
V. FACTORS AFFECTING CROP PRODUCTION ................................................................................ 50
A. Phenotype (P)............................................................................................................................. 50
B. Genotype (G) .............................................................................................................................. 50
C. Environmental (E) ...................................................................................................................... 52
D. G x E interaction ......................................................................................................................... 62
E. Human Factors ........................................................................................................................... 62
V. SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION .................................................................................... 63
 A. Man and crops in an ecosystem ................................................................................................ 63
B. Production systems and crop management .............................................................................. 68
C. Features of sustainable crop production ................................................................................... 69
D. Other aspects of Agricultural Production .................................................................................. 71
VI. APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 71
V. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 86
I. INTRODUCTION

A. Agriculture and its divisions

• Agriculture:
o is a late Middle English word from the Latin word agricultūra originating from the root words
ager meaning “field”, and cultūra meaning “cultivation or growing”.
o simply, it is the domestication of plants and animals for human consumption
o the management or cultivation of plants and the raising of animals for food and other needs.
• Two main branches of agriculture:
o Crop production: the art and science of producing plants which are useful to man either directly
or indirectly, raw or processed, aimed at increasing productivity and quality of the products in
order to maximize monetary returns but at the same time minimize, if not completely eliminate,
the negative effects on the environment.

Crop Science: the science that deals with the study of the principles and practices in crop
production
o Animal production or Animal husbandry: the art and science of producing animals to meet
humans needs and luxury
• Two main divisions of crop production:
o Agronomy:

is an early 19th century word from the French words agronomie or agronome meaning
“agriculturist”. The words agronomie or agronome also originated from the greek words
agros meaning “field”, and nomos meaning “arranging” which was also derived from the
greek word nemoein meaning “arrange”.

The production of field crops or the production of crops under a system of “extensive” or
large-scale culture. The products are usually utilized in high dry matter form or in a “non-
living state”.
o Horticulture:

is a late 17th century word derived from the Latin word hortus meaning “garden” and the
English word agriculture.

The production of crops under a system of “intensive culture”. Horticultural products are
usually utilized in the “living-state” with high moisture content, thus highly perishable.

A science that deals with the production and utilization of garden crops
• Four branches of Horticulture:
o Floriculture: the production of ornamental crops
o Olericulture: the production of vegetable crops
o Pomology: the production of fruit crops
o Landscape horticulture: the art and science involved in beautification and protection of the
environment
B. Origin, domestication and history of some important crops
• Theories explaining the origin of life on earth:
o Creation: 7 days of creation of life on earth including Adam and Eve by God
o Spontaneous generation: living things arouse from non-living things
o Descent and natural selection: species descent with modification
o Panspermia: life forms that can survive the effects of space, such as extremophiles, were
trapped in debris and ejected into space after collisions of planets but become active and
evolving upon occurrence of an ideal condition on a new planet. This theory intends to explain
the distribution of life forms (and its possibility) in the universe.

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 o Chemical Evolution: small first molecules which were carbon-containing compounds in prebiotic
soup linked together to form nucleic acids and proteins which acquired the ability to self-
replicate, becoming the first living entity which led to biological evolution.
• Patterns of plant evolution:
Period Group of species involved
o Pre-Cambrian, more than 2 billion years - Archaic bacteria, the first organized living
agro things
o Pre-Cambrian, about 2 billion years - “Uralgae”, the first oxygen producing
plants
o Cambrian, 600 million years - Chlorophyta, first organized chloroplasts
o Silurian, 420 million years - Psilophyta, first true stems
o Devonian, 390 million years - Filicophyta, first true leaves
o Carboniferous, 345 million years - Gymnospermae, first true seeds
o Cretaceous, 135 million years - Angiospermae, first flowers
• Domestication: the process of bringing wild species (plants or animals) under the management of
man.
o First domesticated plants:

Rye: 11,050 BCE, believed to be domesticated during the Epi-Paleolithic Era at Abu Hureyra
in Syria

Bottle gourd: 10,000 BC, somewhere in Asia and brought by the immigrants to America

Cereal crops (e.g. Wheat and Barley) and Pulses (e.g. Lentils and peas): 10,000-9,000 BC in
Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in Fertile Crescent) including the now
modern countries of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria (Middle East)
o First domesticated animals:
Animal Approximate date Region

Dog - 15,000 BC - Multiple locations

Goat - 10,000 BC - Asia and Middle East

Sheep - 8,000 BC - Asia and Middle East

Pig - 8,000 BC - China

Cow - 8,000 BC - India, Middle East and Sub-Sahara

Chicken - 6,000 BC - India and South East Asia

Water buffalo - 4,000 BC - China

Silkworm - 3,000 BC - China
o Consequences of domestication:

Change in plant type and limited ecological adaptation

Higher yield

Loss of seed dormancy

Conversion from perennial to annual

Increased susceptibility to diseases
o Centers of origin of some important crops (Abellanosa and Pava, 1987):

China: millet, buckwheat, soybeans, legumes, many vegetables.

India (and an Indo-Malayan Center including the Philippines): rice, sugarcane, many legumes,
many tropical fruits such as mangoes and citrus

Central Asia: wheat, peas, lentils, several oil plants and cotton

Near East: wheat, rye, grapes, peas, cherry, almond and fig

Mediterranean Center: St. John bread, beet and several vegetables

Ethiopia: barley and wheat

South Mexico and Central America: corn, beans, squash, chili pepper, many fruits, cacao and
cotton

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South America (Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia) with subcenters in Chili, Brazil and Paraguay:
white potato, cassava, peanut, pineapple, cashew, rubber tree
o Earliest civilizations:

Sumer: about 5,000 BC or earlier. The Sumerians were a race who occupied the Fertile
Crescent between the great Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in the Near East.

Egypt: 4,000 BC in the Nile River.

India: prior to 2,500 BC along the banks of the fertile River Indus in what is now Pakistan.

China: about 3,000 BC along the banks of Hwang-ho or Yellow River.
o Other historical events relevant to agriculture:

Development of the plow: 3,000 BC, Egyptians cultivated figs, dates, bananas, cucumbers,
grapes, olives, melons, lettuce and lemons.

Cultivation of beans and maize: 2,000 BC, when Mayas from Asia settled in America

Development of landscaping: 1,500 BC, Egyptians developed landscape gardens in which
flowering plants, shade trees and ornamental shrubs were planted and cultivated for their
beauty alone.

Development of terrace gardening with irrigation: 605-560 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II built the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Iraq) in four
hectares. They were not hanging gardens, but gardens with balconies or terraces supported
with concealed large pillars, irrigated from below by pumps manned by slaves or oxen.

Discovery of tea, and development of paper and bonsai making: 200 BC-AD 200, Han
Dynasty of China. Tea was discovered and paper was made. Monks practiced bonsai making.

The Green revolution: initiated in the year 1940s but soared in the late 1960s. Characterized
by a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives which resulted to
increased agricultural production around the world especially Asia. Led by Dr. Norman
Borlaug, the "Father of the Green Revolution" and a Noble Peace Prize fellow, who is
credited for saving over a billion people from starvation due to the development of high-
yielding varieties of cereal grains, more efficient irrigation infrastructures, modern
agricultural techniques, hybrid crops, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides.
C. World food situation and centers of production
• Food security: “A situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food
preferences for an active and healthy life. Based on this definition, four food security dimensions can
be identified: food availability, economic and physical access to food, food utilization and stability
over time” (FAO, 2013).
• Food insecurity. “A situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe
and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. It may be
caused by the unavailability of food, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution or
inadequate use of food at the household level. Food insecurity, poor conditions of health and
sanitation and inappropriate care and feeding practices are the major causes of poor nutritional
status. Food insecurity may be chronic, seasonal or transitory” (FAO, 2013).
• Current world population: 7,125, 655,200 people
• Number of people suffering from chronic hunger: 842 million people (12% of global population),
year 2011-2013
• Sub-Saharan Africa: remains the regions with the highest prevalence of undernourishment
• Major source of food in the world:
o Agriculture: mainly
o Fisheries or aquaculture: 15-20%
o Forestry

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 • Centers of Agricultural Production:
o International Rice Research Institute: research and development in production of rice
o CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
o CIP: International Potato Center of CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research)
o FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
D. The Philippine agriculture
• Proclamation of the Philippine Independence (June 12, 1898): President Emilio Aguinaldo formed the
Department of Agriculture (DA) as one of the first agencies in the Philippines. The first three
directors of the DA are Jose Alejandrino (1898-1899), Graciano Gonzaga and Leon Ma. Guerrero,
both during the latter part of 1899.
• The DA was renamed to the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) in the year
1947, and in the years 1953-55, under DANR Secretary Salvador Araneta, three major agricultural
agencies were created including Agricultural Tenancy Commission (precursor of the Department of
Agrarian Reform); Philippine Tobacco Administration (forerunner of the National Tobacco
Administration); and Philippine Coconut Administration (now known as Philippine Coconut
Authority).
• The Abaca Development Board (forerunner of the Fiber Development Authority) was created in the
year 1961 under Cesar Fortich as DANR chief.
• The Bureau of Agricultural Economics (forerunner of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics); and the
National Rice and Corn Administration or RCA (now known as the National Food Authority) were
established in 1962 under President Diosdado Macapagal and DANR Secretary Benjamin M. Gozon.
• The Philippines was able to export rice for the first time in the year 1968 due to improved rice
production programs in the country.
• The DANR was split into two agencies, Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) during the early years of Martial Law in the year 1974, which became Ministries
four years later. DA became Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF).
• The Philippines became self-sufficient in rice and white corn, and an active rice exporter under
Arturo R. Tanco, Jr. as Minister of Agriculture and Food. Masagana 99 is among his programs for the
improvement of rice production in the country.
• The Intensive Rice Production Program (IRPP), an import-substitution program, was initiated in 1984
which included government’s animal dispersal program such as the Bakahang Barangay (cattle
raising at village level) and Pagbababuyan (swine raising), under MAF Minister Salvador H. Escudero
III.
• The EDSA People Power Revolution arouses in the year 1986 which resulted to higher farmgate
prices of agricultural goods.
• Executive Order No. 116 signed by President Corazon Aquino in the year 1987 led to the renaming
and reorganization of MAF to DA which introduced reforms in rural credit system and established
Comprehensive Agricultural Loan Fund (CALF).
• The Livelihood Enhancement for Agricultural Development (LEAD) program was launched in the year
1988 for farmers' organizations to access financing, management expertise, and marketing. Also,
Agriculture and Fishery Councils (AFCs) were set up at the sectoral, regional, provincial and municipal
levels to provide inputs on major programs and policy decisions and help plan and monitor
government projects under DA.
• Other programs or projects launched under the DA included Rice Action Program (RAP) and Corn
Production Enhancement Program (CPEP) in the year 1990, Medium-Term Agricultural Development
Plan (MTADP) in the year 1992, Gintong Ani in the year 1996, Agrikulturang Makamasa in the year
1998, Ginintuang Masaganang Ani Countrywide Assistance for Rural Employment and Services

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 (GMA-CARES) in the year 2001, and Roll-On, Roll-Off or RORO transport program in the year 2002.
Other programs focused on modernization of agriculture in the Philippines including the recently
organized program (year 2010) Agrikulturang Pilipino or Agr-Pinoy.
• Presidential degrees (PD), Republic Acts (RA), Executive Orders (EO) and others passed by the
Philippine government for agriculture include:
o PD 1433 (The Plant Quarantine Law),
o LOI986 (Pesticide Residue Analysis and Monitoring),
o EO 1061 (creation of the Philippine Rice Research Institute or PhilRice),
o EO 116 (creation of the Bureau of Agricultural Research or BAR under DA),
o EO 430s (creation of the National Biosafety of the Philippines or NCBP in the year 1990),
o EO 514s (the strengthening of the NCBP),
o DAO 8-S (guidelines for importation and use of genetically modified or GM crops in the year
2002),
o RA 7394 (Consumer Act of 1992),
o RA 7308 (The Seed Industry Development Act of 1992, or the replacement of the Philippine Seed
Board into the National Seed Industry Council),
o RA 7607 (Magna Carta for Small Farmers),
o RA 5185 (Decentralization Act of year 1967),
o RA 7160 (Local Government Act of 1991),
o Morill Act (Land Grant Act of 1862),
o RA 9168 (The Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002),
o RA 8435 (Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act or AFMA of 1997), and
o RA 10068 (The Organic Agriculture Act of 2010).
o RA 10601 (Agricultural and Fisheries Mechanization “AFMech” Law of 2012)
E. Major Crops of the Philippines and their geographic distribution (BAS, 2012):
Major crops: account for more than 60 percent of the total crop production in the Philippines
1. Cereal crops
Common Geographical Volume of
Major crops Scientific name
name distribution* production (MT)**
Paddy Rice Palay Oryza sativa Linn. Nueva Ecija 18,032,422
Corn/Maize Mais Zea mays L. Isabela 7,406,830
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
2. Vegetables
Common Geographical Volume of
Major crops Scientific name
name distribution* production (MT)**
Cabbage Repolyo Brassica oleracea L. (Capitata) Benguet 126,356
Mungbean Mongo Vigna radiata L. Isabela 32,364
Eggplant Talong Solanum melongena Linn. Pangasinan 211,854
Tomato Kamatis Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. Bukidnon 203,578
Onion Sibuyas Allium cepa Linn. Nueva Ecija 124,824
Garlic Bawang Allium sativum Linn. Ilocos Norte 8,491
Peanut Mani Arachis hypogea Linn. Pangasinan 29,134
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
Priority crops
• Ampalaya • Gourd • Okra
• Asparagus • Lettuce • Pechay
• Banana blossom • Habitchuelas • Pepper
• Broccoli • Irish Potato • Squash
• Cauliflower • Kangkong • Stringbeans

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3. Root crops
Common Geographical Volume of
Major crops Scientific name
name distribution* production (MT)**
Sweet potato Kamote Ipomoea batatas Lam Leyte 516,366
Cassava Kamoteng Manihot esculenta Crantz. Lanao del Sur 2,223,144
kahoy
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
Priority crops
• Carrot • Ginger • Gabi
• Radish
4. Fruit crops
Common Geographical Volume of
Major crops Scientific name
name distribution* production (MT)**
Banana Saging Musa sapientum var. Davao del Norte 9,225,998
Pineapple Pinya Ananas comosus L. Bukidnon 2,397,628
Calamansi Kalamansi Citrus madurensis Lour. Oriental Mindoro 178,507
Mango Mangga Mangifera indica L. Pangasinan 768,234
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
Additional information on some major fruit crops:
Geographical Volume of
Major crops Variety
distribution* production (MT)**
Banana Cavendish Davao del Norte 4,694,640
Lacatan North Cotabato 942,893
Saba Davao del Sur 2,645,762
Mango Carabao Pangasinan 630,530
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
Priority crops
• Balimbing • Mangosteen • Watermelon
• Durian • Orange • Mandarin
• Lanzones • Papaya
• Rambutan • Tamarind
5. Non-food and industrial crops
Common Geographical Volume of
Major crops Scientific name
name distribution* production (MT)**
Abaca Abaka Musa textiles Nee Catanduanes 68,510
Rubber Raber Hevea brasiliensis Mull. Ara North Cotabato 442,998
Coconut Niyog Cocos nucifera L. Quezon 15,862,386
Tobacco Tabako Nicotiana tabacum Ilocos Sur 48,075
Coffee Kape Coffea sp. Sultan Kudarat 88,943
Sugarcane Tubo Saccharum officinarum Negros 26,395,893
Occidental
*Top crop producer in the country; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012
Additional information on some major fruit crops:
Geographical Volume of
Major crops Variety
distribution* production (MT)**
Tobacco Native Isabela 10,525
Virginia Ilocos Sur 23,644
Coffee Arabica Sultan Kudarat 18,783
Excelsa Sulu 5,737

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 Liberica Sulu 598
Robusta Sultan Kudarat 63,825
*Top crop producer in the country;; ** in metric tons, Volume of production in the entire Philippines for the year 2012

Priority crops
• Cacao • Oil palm fruit • Cashew
• Coconut wine • Rice hay • Cotton
• Green cornstalk • Kaong
6. Ornamentals
Priority crops
• Bromeliad
• Euphorbia

F. Meaning and Scope of Crop Science

• Crop Science: the art and science that deals with the domestication or production of crops including
the principles and practices in crop production
• Crop Science 1: focuses on the principles of crop production, specifically on the biology and ecology
of crops
• Crops
o are plants, s, but not all plants are crops.
o Plants:

organisms capable of synthesizing organic compounds from inorganic materials

capable of undergoing growth, differentiation and reproduction

have chlorophyll and develops cell wall

photoautotrophs: phototroph (takes energy from light) and autotroph (take carbon from
carbondioxide, CO2)

capable of photosynthesis
o in agriculture, crops are:

a population of domesticated plants

plants grownrown for human consumption (directly to eat or indirectly for other purposes)

plants that are grown to meet human requirement for food, shelter and clothing, as well
as, other needs and luxury items
• How are plants/crops different from other organisms?

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II. THE BIOLOGY OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS

A. Classification and taxonomy of crops

• The purpose of classification:

o For order and organization, and logical naming: imagine the difficulty in finding a certain book in
a disorganized library! It would be similarly difficult to find information about a certain organism
if organisms are not grouped according to similarities.
o For logical naming: common names are not adequate because common names vary from
country to country, even from region to region; classification of plants led to the so-called
binomial nomenclature by Carolus Linnaeus in the 18th century whereby a plant is given a two-
word Latin name.
• Bases for classification
o Aristotle classified plants based on structure and size (e.g. herbs, shrubs and trees); i.e.
morphology
o Linnaeus classified plants based on structure only, i.e. different species with similar structural
features were classified together in a broader group
o Modern classification of plants is based on phylogeny (i.e. the evolution of plants) and therefore
relies largely on evolutionary relationships, thus modern genetics has become a very important
tool of taxonomy; plant characters such as size, shape, color flower characteristics and kinds of
food reserves are likewise used as bases for modern classification of plants/crops.
• Botanical system
o This system of classifying plants or crops utilizes 7 categories (Kingdom, Division, Class, Order,
Family, Genus and Species); in many instances, an additional category (Variety) is needed.
o Using the botanical system of crop classification, the rice hybrid variety “Mestizo” can be
classified as follows:

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Cyperales
Family: Graminae
Genus: Oryza
Species: sativa
Variety: Mestizo

• Agronomic classification
o Basis for classification is mainly the use or purpose for growing the crop regardless of scale of
production
o Groups of agronomic crops include cereals (e.g. rice, corn, and wheat), legumes or pulses (e.g.
mungbean, peanut, and soybean), root crops (e.g. sweet potato and cassava), annual fiber crops
(e.g. cotton, jute and kenaf), special-purpose crops (e.g. green manure crops or cover crops),
pasture or forage crops (e.g. Napier grass, paragrass, and Stylosanthes sp.) and industrial crops
(e.g. sugarcane).
• Horticultural classification
o Classification is based mainly on cultural requirement and the ultimate use of the crop ; within
each group, subgroupings are created based on nature, culture, use and growth habit of the
plants

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 o For example, vegetables as a group has about 7 subgroups (leafy vegetables, cole or crucifers,
root and bulb crops, legumes or pulses, solanaceous crops, cucurbits, tree vegetables); fruit
crops have also subgroups (tree fruits, nut fruits, small fruits); plantation crops are sub-grouped
as (oil crops, fiber crops, beverage crops, spices, condiments and essences, latexes and resins,
medicinal and botanical pesticides).
o Horticultural Classification of Plants: Pomological or Fruit Crops, Olericultural or Vegetable
Crops, Floricultural or Ornamental Crops, and Plantation Crops.
• Other methods of classification
o Based on growth habit (vine, shrub, tree)
o Based on habitat (terrestrial, aquatic, epiphyte – plants that grow on live trees or dead trunks
but do not depend on them for water and nutrients, e.g. orchids)

Terrestrial – ground/land plants

Mesophyte: adapted to moderate conditions for growth

Xerophyte: adapted to little or no water or moisture

Aquatic/ hydrophyte: water plants, on or under water

Epiphyte: hanging plants but non-parasitic, air

Halophyte: grows in excessively salt-rich/ saline conditions

Sciophyte: grows in low light intensity area/ shade-loving plants

Epiphyte: grows upon or attached to a living plant usually deriving only physical support and
not nutrition from the host although they may sometimes damage the host.

Saprophyte: non-green plant that leaves on dead or decaying plant or animal matter.

Parasite: attaches to a host for water and/or nutrients
o Descriptive Classification According to Leaf Retention:
1. Evergreen
2. Deciduous
o Based on life span (annual, biennial, perennial)

Annual – live for a short time, in 1 growing season, perpetuated by seed and die after
producing flowers and seeds

Biennial – live for 2 growing seasons; first season characterized by accumulation of food
reserves while second season producing reproductive parts

Perennial – live for > 2 growing seasons, includes trees and shrubs, and herbaceous plants
that produce underground modified stems or roots
o Based on its use or purpose in agriculture according to human point of view

Crops – domesticated plants

Weeds – not domesticated, growing out of place/ unwanted
o Other classifications:

Cash crops: crops grown for added income

Green manure crops: legume crops grown to provide nitrogen in the soil

Cover crops: crops grown for soil erosion control

Dye and tannin-producing crops: special purpose crops for dye and tannins

Hedge crops: crops grown around the main crop

Biocidal crops: crops grown intended for products that can control other organisms

Trap crops: crops intended to attract pests and pathogens to avoid infestation or infection
of the main crop

Repellant crops: crops that repel pests and pathogens

Natural enemies attractant crops: crops that attract natural enemies for effective biological
control

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B. The nature and composition of plants

• Nature of a plant system: A Plant body or system
made up of organs
made up of tissues

made up of cells
made up of organelles
made up of molecules
made up of elements
• Cell: basic unit of an organism
o Basic parts of a plant cell:

Illustration: D.J. Caasi

o Organelles and other components of a Plant Cell:
1. Cell Wall: for cell support and regulation
Components of the cell wall:
A. Middle lamella: outermost layer, glue that binds adjacent cells, composed primarily of
pectic polysaccharides.
B. Primary wall: wall deposited by cells before and during active growth; comprised of
pectic polysaccharides, cross-linking glycans/ hemicellulose; cellulose and protein; All
plant cells have a middle lamella and primary wall.
C. Secondary Wall: some cells deposit additional layers inside the primary wall. This occurs
after growth stops or when the cells begin to differentiate or specialize; is mainly for
support and is comprised primarily of cellulose and lignin.
2. Plasma or Cell membrane: Cell boundary; selectively permeable (some can pass, some
cannot); separates the organelles and cell parts; bilayer of phospholipids with inserted
protein.
3. Nucleus: contains the genetic materials for heredity (DNA)
4. Cytosol/ cytoplasm: gel-like matrix within the cell in which other structures are embedded;
refers to the cell contents inside the membrane.
5. Mitochondrion: powerhouse of the cell; sites of cellular respiration (process by which
energy/ ATP is released from fuels such as sugar).
6. Ribosomes: sites of protein synthesis (translation).

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 7. Endoplasmic reticulum: site of lipids and membrane synthesis (smooth ER); also contains
ribosomes (rough ER) for protein synthesis; function in transport (a type of cell 'highway'
system) and support.
8. Peroxisome: membrane sac containing enzymes for metabolizing waste products from
photosynthesis, fats and amino acids.
9. Glyoxisome: membrane sac containing enzymes for fat metabolism, especially common in
seeds.
10. Golgi apparatus: site of processing and packaging cellular components, especially for
export.
11. Microtubules: involved in the cell cytoskeleton (for support), cell movements (cilia, flagella)
and cell division (spindle).
12. Plasmodesmata: “cell bridges/ tunnels”

Parts unique to plants:

13. Plastids: double membrane-bound organelles in plants which contain their own DNA (in
nucleoid region) and ribosomes.
Types of plastids:
A. Proplastid: small, precursors to the other plastid types, found in young cells, or actively
growing tissues.
B. Chromoplast: non-photosynthetic, colored plastid; give some fruits (tomatoes, carrots)
and flowers their color.
C. Amyloplast/ leucoplast: colorless and starch-storing plastid.
D. Etioplast: plastid whose development into a chloroplast has been arrested (stopped).
These contain a dark crystalline body, prolamellar body, which is essentially a cluster of
thylakoids in a somewhat tubular form.
E. Chloroplast: site of photosynthesis (energy capture). They contain photosynthetic
pigments including chlorophyll, carotenes and xanthophylls. The chloroplast is packed
with membranes, called thylakoids. The thylakoids may be stacked into pancake- like
piles called grana (granum, singular). The "liquidy" material in the chloroplast is the
stroma.
14. Vacoule: large, central cavity containing fluid called cell sap; for water storage and waste
disposal.

• Plant tissue system

o Tissue: made up of different types of cells
o Meristematic tissues: actively dividing and differentiating cells found in growing point

Apical meristem: shoot or root apex; upward and downward growth; below is the
development and differentiation of the apical meristem to different types of tissues:

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 14


Lateral meristem: sides of roots or stems; sideward growth

Intercalary meristem: between internode of grasses; regrowth of cut grasses

o Permanent tissues: mature, fully differentiated cells

o Simple tissues: only one type of cell

Parenchyma: thin-walled cells, makes up a large portion of many plant organs, seat of plant
activities

Collenchyma: thick-walled elongated cells, support cells/ mechanical support during growth

Sclerenchyma: thick-walled highly specialized, heavily lignified, mature or non-living:
 Fibers: long & tapered
 Sclereid: short & irregular; gritty texture (chico)

o Complex tissues: more than 1 type of cell

Phloem = sieve tube + companion cells + ray cells + fiber cells + parenchyma cells

Xylem = tracheids + vessel element + fiber cells + parenchyma

• Parts of the plant body

o Shoot: above ground structures; central axis with appendages
o Root: below ground structures

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 15

• Difference between a dicot and a monocot

Characteristic Dicot Monocot

Leaves Broad Narrow
Leaf venation (vein arrangement) Netted/ reticulated parallel
Leaf sheath None Containing
Branching Bushy Single stem with tiller
Stem Woody Herbaceous
Flower parts Multiple of 4 or 5 Multiple of 3
Mature root system Primary, adventitious or both Adventitious
• General anatomical regions of a plant body
o Epidermis: outermost layer, serves as protection
o Cortex: next layer to epidermis
o Pericycle: found in root branches; layers of cells adjacent to the cortex, found in roots.
o Vascular bundle:

Phloem: through its sieve tubes, transport food/dissolved sugar; passage way

Xylem: water passage way
o Pith: hollow opening in the center of the stem; absent in most roots.
• Anatomical regions of a leaf
o Epidermis: “skin”/ outer covering; a continuous “skin” that covers both sides of a leaf. It is
formed by a single layer of transparent, interlocking cells, which are covered by the cuticle,
designed to protect the leaf’s internal tissues from excessive dehydration. Numerous openings
called stomates (stomata). The majority or all of which are located on the undersides of leaves,
perforate the epidermis and permit a two-way exchange between the atmosphere and the
inside of the leaf of such gases as carbon dioxide, water vapor and oxygen.
o Mesophyll: cells containing plastids especially chloroplasts; contains the food-producing
machinery of the leaf, the chloroplasts. These are the specialized bodies imbedded within the
cytoplasm of the mesophyll cells which contain chlorophyll, the green pigment which is the basis
of photosynthesis.

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 o Vascular bundles (veins): for translocations; composed of specialized strands of tissue which are
located about halfway between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf and consists of two
kinds of tissue: thick-walled, woody xylem cells which conduct water and provide mechanical
support, and thin-walled phloem cells which serve as pipelines for liquid foods. Together they
form a conducting system which, branching from one or several main veins, permeates the
entire leaf.

Xylem: thick-walled, woody cells

Phloem: thin-walled cells

Parts of a plant leaf

• The Vascular vessels

o Xylem: translocates water and mineral ions from the roots to the stem and the leaves
o Phloem: translocates inorganic substances and sugars from the leaves to the parts of the plant
the need them, e.g flowers, fruits and roots
• Lignification: the process in which lignin wax is being laid down on the inside of cell walls, resulting
in death, but not necessarily dysfunction, of the cells. Also, for the same reason, used as a generic
term to describe the process when woody plant tissues harden.
o Lignin: a complex carbohydrate polymer making up about 25% of the wood in trees. It is also
found in the cell walls of sclerenchyma tissues and vessels, fibres and tracheids at maturity. It
increases the strength of such tissues.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 17

 Life cycle of a plant

• Main components of the shoot system

o Stem
o Leaf
o Flower
o Fruit
• Parts of a grass: • Parts of a plant seed

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 18

• Stem: important for translocation (transport of sugar, minerals and water); supports the leaves,
connects the leaves and roots; provides storage
o Buds: embryonic stems
o Arrangements: Alternate, opposite or whorled
o Position: terminal, lateral, accessory, or adventitious
o Nature of organs: leaf, flower or mixed
o Structure and growth pattern: single upright or prostate branched “creepers”
o Modified stem

Tendril: a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing
plants for support and attachment, generally by twining around whatever it touches; does
not have a lamina or blade, but can photosynthesize; can be formed from modified shoots,
or modified leaves.

Stem tendril: located on opposite side of the stem to that of the foliage leaf on the same
node; may be branched or bear small leaves

Rhizome: enlarged stem for storage and reproduction; with nodes and internodes; leaf
buds grow upward

Tuberous stem: enlarged stem for storage and reproduction; with bud eyes (where foliage
grows)

Corm: vertically growing enlarged stem; with nodes and internodes

Runners or stolons: Long slender branches which arise from the base of the stem growing
horizontally (grasses) or obliquely downwards.

Phylloclades/ cladodes: flattened or cylindrical green stems

Offshoots or suckers: daughter plants arising from a main plant

Bulbils: found in the axils of leaves, similar to underground stem with cork, has
parenchymatous ground tissue with scattered vascular bundles
• Leaf: Principal photosynthetic organ
o Absorbing organ for chemical and micronutrients (ectodermata)
o Transpiration organ (water regulation, stomatal opening/closing)
o As storage organ
o As plant propagule
o As ornamental for pigment color (aesthetics)
o Modified leaf:

Bulbs: vertically-growing underground shoots with fleshy leaves and a short stem
• Flower: reproductive organ of the plant; gives rise to the fruit; Plant structures serving for sexual
reproduction with seeds as the final product. Produced by spermatophytes or flowering plants (seed
plants).
o Two large groups of spermatophytes

Gymnosperms: evolutionarily older and more primitive group (systematically), no class on
their own but enclose two real classes that do not have the same ancestors: (1) conifers
and (2) cycadeans

Angiosperms: usually seen as the original flowering plants, do all belong to just one class,
represent the overwhelming majority of species
o Parts of a flower

Perianth: calyx and corolla
 Calyx: sepals (protects growing bud)
 Corolla: petals (attracts pollinators)

Androecium: the male reproductive organ comprising of the stamens with each stamen
consisting of a filament and an anther

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 19

  Staminodes: sterile stamens

Gynoecium: the female reproductive organ which includes the carpel which is made up of
the ovary and a stigma (contain one or more ovules)
 Apocarpy or choricarpy: each carpel forms a pistil
 Coenocarpy: several carpels form a pistil; one or more carpels may be combined to a
pistil (ovary, style, and stigma)

Pistil: made up of enlarged ovary (with embryo sac), a columnar style, and distal stigma
(receives the pollen)
o Morphology of the androecium and gynoecium:

Hypogynous: the perianth is attached to the receptacle below the pistil

Perigynous: the perianth and stamens are borne on the rim of a concave structure in the
depression of which the pistil is borne

Epigynous ovary: blossom seems to arise upon or above the ovary
o Types of plants depending on sexes:

Androgynous or hermaphroditic: flowers that contain both androecium and gynoecium;
e.g. papaya

Monoecious: both male and female flowers live on one plant; e.g. corn (tassel is the male
part, and the silk is the female part)

Dioecious: plants with male and female flowers borne on separate plants; e.g. squash
o Types of flowers:

Complete flower: all four floral organs (sepal, petal, stamen and pistil) are present in the
same flower structure, e.g. Gumamela or China rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis).

Incomplete flower: lacks any one or more of these parts; e.g. grasses
 mainly wind-pollinated and are incomplete, lacking both sepals and petals.
 Relying on wind to accomplish pollination, there is no need for these organs to attract
pollinators.

Perfect or bisexual flowers: flowers that contain both sexual flower parts (stamen and
pistil)

Imperfect or unisexual flowers: contain either stamen or pistil only (regardless of whether
they lack sepals or petals)
 Staminate flowers (male flower): bear stamens only
 Pistillate flowers (female flower): bear pistils only
o Flower Types Affecting Pollination:

Plants with flower synchrony based on the maturation of the male (stamen) and female
(pistil) flower parts
 Dichogamous: when the two organs mature at different time.
 Protandrous flowers (n. protandry), as in carrots: are those in which the stamens
mature ahead of the pistils so that by the time that the stigma becomes receptive,
the pollen grains within the same floral structure are already shed.
 Protogyny is the reverse of protandry: The stigma of protogynous flowers, as in
the water lilies (Nymphaea spp.), becomes receptive while the pollen grains are
still immature.
 Autogamous: plants self pollinate within the same flower (autogamy); Further divided
based on their opening or closing during the pollination period (pollination is the
transfer of pollen grains from an anther to a stigma):
 Chasmogamous flowers (n. chasmogamy): are open during the period of
pollination and are generally cross-pollinated.

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  Cleistogamous flowers (n. cleistogamy): flowers do not open during the period of
pollination and thus these plants are largely self pollinated. Ex. tomato, lettuce
and some rice species.
• Fruit: a part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower, one or more ovaries,
and in some cases accessory tissues; the means by which these plants disseminate seeds; results
from maturation of one or more flowers, and the gynoecium of the flower(s) forms all or part of the
fruit; contains the seed needed for dispersal and survival of the species.
o There are three general modes of fruit development:

Apocarpous fruits: develop from a single flower having one or more separate carpels, and
they are the simplest fruits.

Syncarpous fruits: develop from a single gynoecium having two or more carpels fused
together.

Multiple fruits: form from many different flowers.
o Kinds of fruits:

Simple fruits: can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or
compound ovary in a flower with only one pistil
 Dry fruits:
 Dehiscent: opening to discharge seeds
 Indehiscent: not opening to discharge seeds
 Achene: strawberry
 Capsule: Brazil nut
 Caryopsis: wheat, rice
 Cypsela: achene-like from individual florets in a capitulum; e.g. dandelion
 Drupe: coconut, walnut
 Follicle: single carpel, opens by one suture; milkweed
 Legume/pulse: pea
 Loment: indehiscent legume
 Nut: hazelnut, acorn
 Samara: elm
 Schizocarp: carrot seed
 Silique: radish
 Silicle: shepherd’s purse
 Utricle: beet

Simple fleshy fruits: part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity
 Berry: simple fruit created from a single ovary. The ovary may be compound, with
several carpels, e.g. tomato;
 Other berries:
 Pepo: berries where the skin is hardened, ex. cucurbits
 Hesperidium: berries with a rind and a juicy interior, ex. citrus
 Drupe/ stone fruit: drupe
 Aggregate fruit or etaerio: develops from a single flower with numerous simple pistils;
from single flowers that have multiple carpels which are not joined together; each
pistil contains one carpel, e.g. Raspberry
 Multiple fruit: one formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each
flower produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass, e.g. Pineapple
 Accessory fruit: some or all of the edible part of accessory fruit is not generated by the
ovary.
o Seedlessness: is an important feature of some fruits of commerce, ex. bananas, pineapples

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 o Parthenocarpy: where fruits set without fertilization (in some species), may or may not require
pollination but most seedless citrus fruits require stimulus from pollination to produce fruit.
o Stenospermocarpy: seedless bananas and grapes are triploids, and seedlessness results from
the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, requires normal
pollination and fertilization.
o Seed dispersal: by animals, wind, water, or explosive dehiscence.
• Functions of the root system
o Anchorage and support in the soil
o Absorption of plant nutrients and water
o Plant propagules for some crops
o Nitrogen fixation (legumes)
o Storage of water and carbohydrates
o Soil conservation (soil erosion control)
• Types of root systems
o Fibrous: numerous, similar sizes, no central primary root, makes shallow penetration in the soil.
e.g. monocot roots
o Tap: one central primary root with several branches, makes deep penetration in the soil. e.g.
dicot roots
• Other root classification
o Adventitious roots: arise from the stem
o Storage, Aquatic, Brace, and Aerial
• Modified and specialized roots
• Buttress roots:

Large roots on all sides of a big bottomed tree or shallow-rooted tree

Typically are found in nutrient-poor rainforest soils and do not penetrate to deeper layers

Prevent the tree from falling over (hence the name buttress) while also gathering more
nutrients
• Tuberous roots

enlarged tap roots for storage ,
 e.g. carrot
 originated from Afghanistan), historically white or purple, orange pigment is Beta
carotene (used by the body to make Vitamin A)
 Modern carrot has 75% beta-carotene than historical carrot (>20 genes affect
pigmentation in carrot)
 e.g. radish (has sulphur-based chemicals)
 e.g. Pachyrrizus erosus or sinkamas (23 kilos weight of sinkamas dug in Ilocos March
2010)
 e.g. Ipomoea batatas or sweet potato (Native to South America, domesticated at least
5000 years ago)
 e.g. Dioscorea esculenta or lesser yam or tugi (With purple pigments or anthocyanin)
o Prop or stilt roots

adventitious roots on trunks or branches

The adventitious prop roots help to support and securely anchor this shrub in the mud and
loose sand of tidal waters, also provides aeration

Lenticels: provide gas exchange and an additional source of oxygen for the submersed roots
are highly hydrophobic and prevent water penetration into the aerenchyma system during
the high tide

Pneumatophores (air-bearing/ breathing roots) or pneumatorrhiza: located above water
level or exposed at low tide).

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Aerenchyma tissues: aerial root projection allowing gas exchange (aerenchyma tissues), e.g.
rice.
o Root nodules: enlargements in roots which harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Rhizobium,
found in legumes, e.g. Pea plant

Root nodules develop as a result of a symbiotic relationship between rhizobial bacteria and
the root hairs.

The bacteria recognize the root hairs and begin to divide, entering the root through an
infection thread that allows bacteria to enter root cells,, which divide to form the nodule.
o Mycorrhiza: fungi and root symbiosis or mutual relationship; Plant provides the fungus with
carbohydrates, (e.g. glucose and sucrose) by translocation. Fungal mycelia provide higher water
and mineral absorbtive capacity (large surface area, mycelium: root ratio).

C. Plant growth and development

• Concepts related to plant growth
o Liebig’s Law of the Minimum: The growth factor in lowest supply (climatic, edaphic, biological or
genetic) sets the capacity for yield. This law is otherwise known as the “barrel” concept. If a
barrel has staves of different heights, the lowest one sets the capacity of the barrel.
o Blackman’s Theory of Optima and Limiting Factors: When the process is conditioned as to its
rapidity by a number of separate factors, the rate of the process is limited by the slowest factor.
Example: light and carbon dioxide are needed for photosynthesis. According to Blackman’s
theory, photosynthesis abruptly ceases (called Blackman’s response) if either light or carbon
dioxide becomes limiting. Response is linear. This is not exactly true because this kind of
response is rarely found in biological systems.
o Mitscherlich Law of Diminishing Returns: Mitscherlich noted that when plants have adequate
amounts of all but one limiting element, the growth response was proportional to the limitation
element. He also noted that plant growth increased with additional increments of a limiting
factor but not in direct proportion. The response is curvilinear contrary to Blackman’s concept of
linear response.
• Development: the change in size, shape, form, degree of differentiation and state of complexity.
Growth: the irreversible increase in size, including length and volume.
Differentiation: the progressive change from the structurally simple meristematic tissue to complex
and variable tissue and combinations of tissues in the adult plant body.
• Phases of Plant Growth
1. Lag : early vegetative growth
2. Log or exponential: grand period of
growth; rate of growth is
exponential
3. Declining or decreasing: onset of
flowering is offset by leaf
abscission so the rate of increase
decreases
4. Steady: grain filling and ripening
occurs at a steady rate until
growth ceases
5. Senescence: characterized by death
of the plant or the plant part

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• Stages of Plant Development
1. Seedling stage: starts from germination until true leaves are formed.
2. Vegetative stage: consists of the juvenile stage between germination and flowering,
characterized by progressive increase in the complexity and size of the root system and the
foliage including the increase in the number of branches and twigs.
3. Reproductive stage: occurs when the plant becomes physiologically ready for flowering until the
fruits and seeds mature.

Dormancy: the inability of the seed to germinate due to factors which are inherent in the
seed.

Quiescence: The failure of the seed to germinate due to absence of any essential
environmental requirement for germination.

Germination: The resumption of the active growth of the embryo resulting in the rupture of
the seed coat by the radicle (embryonic root) or by the shoot leading to the emergence of a
new seedling plant.

• Sequential stages in the Germination Process:

1. Awakening or activation
2. Digestion and translocation
3. Cell division and enlargement of the embryo and the emergence of the radicle or shoot,

• Patterns of Germination:
1. Epigeous germination – the hypocotyl elongates and raises the cotyledons above the ground
(generally dicot).
2. Hypogeous germination – the hypocotyl does not raise the cotyledons above the ground; only
the epicotyl emerges (generally monodicot).

• Essential Requisites for Germination:

1. The seed must be viable.
2. Internal conditions of the seed must be favored for germination.
3. The seed must be subjected to appropriate environmental conditions.

• Essential Environmental Conditions for Germination:

1. Water 3. Oxygen
2. Proper Temperature 4. Light in some species (red light)

• Methods of Breaking Seed Dormancy:

1. Soaking in water (cold or warm); dipping in boiling water.
2. Scarification: hard seed coats are rubbed in abrasive paper or any rough material to make them
permeable to water and gases.
3. Stratification: involves the storage of seeds under high moisture content at low temperature to
allow the seeds to undergo after-ripening. Layers of seeds are alternated with layers of
moistened sphagnum, sand or other appropriate material and stored at low temperature.
4. Chemical treatment: KNO3, thiourea, hydrogen peroxide and growth regulators (gibberellic acid,
kinetin, ethylene).
5. Breaking the seedcoat; removal hilum covering.

• Methods of testing Seed Germination:

1. Ragdoll 3. Petridish method
2. Seedbox method 4. Tetrazolium Test

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 24

III. PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES AFFECTING CROP PRODUCTION

A. Photosynthesis
• Crop yield: depends largely on the rate and
photosynthetic efficiency of the crop.
• General reaction: CO2 + H2O + light → CH2O + O2;
(carbondioxide + water + light → sugar + oxygen)
• Light used in Photosynthesis: Photosynthetically
active radiation (PAR), wavelengths of 380 nm (violet)
to 760 nm (red), within the visible region of the
energy spectrum.
• Photosynthetic Apparatus: Chloroplast (lens-shaped
organelle)
• Processes, products and sites: Schematic illustration of photosynthesis.

Light Rxn +
Calvin cycle ← CO2 PhotoPhos- → O2
sucrose synthesis
sugar ← ← triose ← (in chloroplast- ← NADPH ← phorylation ← H O
(in cytosol) 2
stroma) ← ATP ← (in chloroplast- <== LIGHT!!
thylakoid)
• Site of Light Reaction: Thylakoid lamellae with stacked lamella known as grana. It is here where light
energy is transformed into chemical energy during which water is oxidized and reduced nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) are produced. NADPH is a
strong reductant (electron acceptor and H+ donor). ATP is a high-energy compound that provides
energy for various reactions like the reduction of CO2 to form organic compounds.
• Site of Reduction of CO2: Stroma which is a less dense fluid inside the chloroplast.
• Reaction Centers: Photosystem II (P680) and Photosystem I (P700). Photosystem II catalyzes the removal
of electrons from water molecules (oxidation of water, the process is called photolysis). Each electron
released by a molecule of water is accepted by PQ (plastoquinone). The reaction is as follows:
2H20 + 4 photons + 2 PQ + 4H+ → O2 + 4H+ + 2PQH2
• Two molecules of H20 (four electrons are needed) to reduce each molecule of CO2; two light photons
are required to oxidize a molecule of H20.
• Photosystem I absorbs light energy independently of PS II but its core complex receives electrons from
H20 taken by PS II. It functions as a light-dependent system to oxidize reduced plastocyanin and
transfer the electrons to soluble form of Fe-S protein known as ferredoxin.
• Light-dependent ATP Formation: The ATP Synthase or Coupling Factor is responsible for
photophophosphorylation. The light-driven reactions by which electrons from water are transferred
across thylakoid membranes to NADP+ accompanied by H+ transport is called noncyclic
photophosphorylation. The light-driven reactions by which electrons from PS I cycle back through
ferredoxin to certain components of the electron transport system leading to the formation of ATP by
ATP synthase called cyclic photophosphorylation.
• CO2 Fixation: Two pathways of CO2 fixation are known (Calvin Cycle or C3 Pathway and Hatch-Slack
Cycle or C4 Dicarbixylic Acid Pathway).
• The C3 Pathway is called as such because the first stable product is a 3-carbon compound known as 3-
phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA).
• The first step is carboxylation, which involves the addition of CO2 and H2O to ribulose-1, 5 biphosphate
(RuBP) to from two molecules of 3-PGA.

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• The second step is reduction of 3-PGA to 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde in which 2 ATP and 2 NADPH are
involved. The third step is the regeneration of RuBP, which involves phosphorylated sugars with four,
five, six and seven carbons and a third molecule of ATP making three molecules of ATP per molecule of
CO2 fixed. 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde is used for starch formation in the chloroplast when
photosynthesis is rapid; some goes to the cytosol in exchange for Pi and 3-PGA. Carboxylating enzyme;
RuBisCO.
• The C4 Pathway: First produced is a 4-carbon compound (oxaloacetic acid). First step: carboxylation of
phosphoenolpyrovate (PEP) to form oxaloacetate (OAA); second step: reduction; third step:
decarboxylation of malate in the bundle sheath cell to form pyruvic acid and the release of CO2; fourth
step: transfer of the pyruvic acid to the mesophyll cell and conversion to PEP for carboxylation; fifth
step: fixation of CO2 released from the decarboxylation of malate in the bundle sheath cell to form 3-
PGA. Carboxylating enzyme: PEP carboxylase.
• Kranz Anatomy: a special type of cell organization in the leaves of C4 plants. This special leaf anatomy is
like a wreath where mesophyll cells surround the bundle sheath cells and the bundle sheath cells
surrounding the vascular tissues (xylem and phloem). Importance of this anatomy lies on the rate of
downloading of photosynthetic products particularly sucrose. Presence of Kranz anatomy prevents
feedback inhibition of photosynthesis.
• Oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle or C2 cycle: When the O2/CO2 ratio in the chloroplast (mainly in
C3 plants) is relatively high; O2 is fixed because RuBisCO can also act as an oxygenase. This means that
RuBP is oxidized rather than carboxylated. The product is phosphoglycolate (2-carbon compound) and
3-PGA (not directly formed).
• Phosphoglycolate is hydrolyzed in the chloroplast to from glycolic acid and release Pi. Glycolic acid
moves out of the chloroplast into adjacent peroxisomes (an organelle adjacent to chloroplasts). In the
peroxisome, glycolic acid is oxidized into glycoxylic acid then converted into glycine (2-carbon amino
acid).
• Glycine moves into the mitochondria in which two molecules of glycine is converted into serine (3-
carbon amino acid), one CO2 molecule and one NH4+ ion. Serine is then converted into 3-PGA. This
series of reactions occurring in the peroxisome and mitochondria is called photorespiration.
• Crassulacean acid metabolism (CO2 fixation in succulent plants): CAM plants usually grow in areas
where water is scarce or difficult to get (deserts, semi-arid regions, salt marshes and epiphytic sites).
These plants close their stomata during the day and open them during the night. They fix atmospheric
CO2 during the night with malic acid as the product. Malic acid is stored in the vacuole during the night
and diffuse out of the vacuole to the cytosol where it is decarboxylated and the CO2 is refixed via the
C3 pathway during the day.

Factor Affecting Photosynthesis:

• Light: Without light, dark respiration takes place; as light gradually increases, photosynthesis increases
to the light compensation level (carbon exchange rate or CER is equal to 0). As light continues to
increase, CER increases at a decreasing rate until light saturation level is reached. Most C4 plants
increase their photosynthetic rate even at full sunlight while C3 plants reach saturation point before
full sunlight. C4 plants also use dimmer light more efficiently than the C3 plants.
• CO2 concentration in the atmosphere: Under high light conditions, photosynthesis increases as
atmospheric CO2 is increased up to a level where air temperature exceeds the optimum for
photosynthesis. Accumulation of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere results in global warming.
• Leaf diffusive resistance: The total resistance to the diffusion of CO2 has three components: air
resistance, stomatal resistance, and mesophyll resistance.
• Temperature: Photosynthesis is enzymatically controlled and it increases until temperature reaches a
level that may result in deactivation of the enzymes.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 26

 • Water: Water is a substrate for photosynthesis. However, only about 0.1% of the total water is used by
plants for photosynthesis. Under water stress, stomatal resistance is high thus lowering photosynthetic
activity.
• Leaf age: Very young leaves have low photosynthetic activity. As they expand, their photosynthetic
activity increases until maximum level is reached and maintained. Then photosynthesis decreases sue
to senescence.
• Mineral status: Nutrient deficiency results in low photosysnthetic activity.

B. Respiration
• Importance: a) generates reducing compound (NADH) and high-energy compound (ATP), b) produces
carbon skeleton used for synthesis of other necessary compounds.
• Site: occurs basically in all parts of the plant.
• Component reactions: Glycolysis – breakdown of glucose, glucose-1, phosphate or fructose to pyruvic
acid in the cytosol (also in the chloroplast and other plastids). Oxygen is not involved. No carbon
dioxide is released.
Glucose + 2NAD+ +2ADP2- +2H2PO4- → 2pyruvate + 2NADH + 2H+ + 2ATP + 2H2
• Processes, products and sites:
ETS + Oxidative ← O
Krebs cycle → CO2 2
glycolysis Phosphory-lation
sugar → → pyruvate → (in mitochondria- → NADH → →H O
(in cytosol) (in mitochondria- 2
matrix) → ATP ==> ATP!!
cristae)
• Kreb’s cycle – also called citric acid cycle because citric acid is an important imtemediate product; also
known as tricarboxylic acid (TCA) because citric and isocitric acids have three carboxyl groups.
• The cycle starts with the oxidation of pyruvic acid and release of CO2 followed by the combination of
the remaining 2-carbon acetate with sulfur containing coenzyme A (CoA) to form acetyl CoA.
2pyruvate + 2ubiquinone + 2ADP2- + 2H2PO4- + 4H2O →6CO2 + 2ATP + 8NADH + 8H+ + 2ubiquinol
• Electron Transport System (ETS) and Oxidative Phosphorylation – in the ETS, the oxidation of NADH is
accomplished through electron transfer rather than direct oxidation with oxygen. For every molecule
of glycolysis-derived NADH oxidized, two molecules are formed while three molecules of each Krebs
cycle-generated NADH. Two molecules of ATP are likewise formed for each molecule of ubiquinol
oxidized. The formation of ATP from ADP2- in the presence of Pi and oxygen is called oxidative
phosphorylation which is uncoupled from the ETS.

Factors Affecting Respiration:

• Substrate availability: respiration depends on the presence of available substrate. This explains why
starved plants with low starch, fructan or sugar reserves have low respiration rate. Leaves respire
much faster just after sundown (when sugar level is high) than just before sunrise. Shaded lower
leaves respire much slower than the sunlit upper leaves.
• Oxygen availability: magnitude of influence of oxygen on respiration rate varies among plants and
among organs. Changes in partial pressure of oxygen in the air have little influence on shoot
respiration because of the relative ease of oxygen diffusion into the leaves, branches and stems
(except large trunks). The influence of oxygen availability is far greater on root respiration. Presence of
aerenchyma, which facilitates the diffusion of oxygen from the shoot to the root, is an advantage.
• Temperature: respiratory enzymatic activity is influenced by temperature. For most species, the Q10
between 5 and 25 °C is usually between 2.0 to 2.5. When the temperature is increased up to 30-35 °C,
respiration remains increasing but less rapidly. Respiration rate decreases when plants are exposed to
temperatures 40 °C and higher.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 27

 • Type and Age of Plant: Land plants are very diverse and expectedly, their respiratory rates vary widely.
Root tips and other regions with meristematic cells with high percentage of protoplasm and protein
have high respiration rate per unit dry weight. Fruit respiration varies depending on stage of
development. Respiration is usually high when fruits are still young, that is, when the cells are still
actively dividing. Respiration then decreases as they approach maturity. Exception are some fruits (e.g.
apple) in which the decline in respiration is reversed by sharp increase in respiration known as
climacteric, which usually coincides with full ripeness.

• Comparison between photosynthesis and respiration

Photosynthesis Respiration
Produces sugars from light energy Burns sugars for energy
Stores energy Releases energy
Occurs only in cells with chloroplasts Occurs in most cells
Releases oxygen Uses oxygen
Uses water Produces water
Uses carbon dioxide Produces carbon dioxide
Requires light Occurs in dark and light

C. Transpiration
• Importance: 1) aids mineral absorption and transport; 2) helps regulate leaf temperature
• Path of water from root surface to xylem tissue:
1. apoplastic path (movement of water between cells; Casparian strip is a serious barrier)
2. symplastic path (water moves from one cell to another through the plasmodesmata)
3. transcellular path (water moves across cell membranes)
• Ascent of water from roots to the leaves: most acceptable theory is the Cohesion-Tension theory;
water has high surface tension and cohesive force that prevents cavitation in the transpiration stream.
• Driving force: gradient in water potential; water tension gradient; these gradients are caused by
evaporation of water from the leaves (transpiration)

Factors affecting transpiration:

• Efficiency of water absorption: this is the function of total root absorbing surface. If efficiency of
absorption is low then transpiration rate even under well-watered conditions is also low.
• Efficiency of evaporating surface: this is function of leaf area and stomatal density.
• Wind speed: transpiration rate increases as wind speed increases up to a certain speed when
transpiration declines due to stomatal closure.
• Solar radiation: transpiration increases as solar radiation flux increases until it reaches a maximum
beyond which transpiration declines due to closure of the stomates.
• Temperature: effect on transpiration is similar to that of wind speed and solar radiation.
• Humidity: low humidity promotes transpiration while high humidity suppresses transpiration.

D. Translocation and partitioning of assimilates

• Transport tissues: phloem (largely for assimilates, many growth regulators, nucleotides, some
inorganic minerals and systemic pesticides are also transported); xylem (essentially for water and
minerals)
• Direction of movement: In the xylem, direction of flow is unidirectional, that is, acropetal (upward,
from base to top) via the transpiration stream. In the phloem, movement of substances (mostly
sucrose) is bi-directional, that is, it may be acropetal or basipetal (downward). In both transport
tissues, lateral movement is also possible due to the presence of plasmodesmata.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 28

 • Rules of movement of assimilates:
1. no movement from younger leaves into mature leaves
2. upper leaves supply the needs of the stem apex while lower leaves supply the roots
3. removal of apical leaves induces the lower leaves to send more to the upper leaves
4. very minimal sideward flow of solutes being transported
5. active sink is fed by the nearest source

Factors affecting translocation:

• Temperature: translocation is irreversibly inactivated by temperature above 50 °C. Since sieve
elements or sieve cells are living, this effect is expected. Low temperatures below 15°C reversibly
inactivate translocation.
• Inhibitors: exogenous substances such as cyanide, dinitrophenol, antimycin, etc. inhibit translocation
in the phloem. The effect, however, is reversible.
• Water stress: the capacity of the transport system is not directly affected by water stress. The decline
in transport stress in the phloem is largely associated with the effect of water stress on
photosynthesis, which determines the amount of available solutes for transport.
• Potassium: transport of solutes in the phloem is relatively high when the concentration of potassium in
the sieve cells is also high. The specific role of potassium in the transport of solutes in the phloem,
however, is not clear.
• Hormones: effect might be on translocation per se or on the metabolism of the sink tissue to become
stronger. There is no evidence that endogenous hormones, given their levels in plants, influence the
capacity of the sink to attract assimilates.

• Remobilization or retranslocation: Movement of compounds from an area where they are once
deposited to an area where they can be reutilized is referred to as remobilization or retranslocation.
Compounds that are remobilized are storage compounds (mostly carbohydrates, some are lipids and
proteins). These remobilizable storage compounds are important in maintaining growth and
development despite photosynthetic fluctuations.
E. Mineral Nutrition
Element Maize Shoot (%DW) Maize Leaf (%DW) Cherry Leaves (%DW)
Oxygen 44.4 - -
Carbon 43.6 - -
Hydrogen 6.2 - -
Nitrogen 1.5 3.2 2.4
Potassium 0.92 2.1 0.73
Calcium 0.23 0.52 1.7
Phosphorus 0.20 0.31 0.15
Magnesium 0.18 0.32 0.61
Sulfur 0.17 0.17 0.15
Chlorine 0.14 - -
Iron 0.08 0.012 0.0058
Manganese 0.04 0.009 0.0044
Copper - 0.0009 0.0006
Boron - 0.0016 0.003
Zinc - 0.003 0.001
Silicon 1.2 - -
Aluminum 0.89 - -
Undetermined 7.8 - -

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 29

• Concept of essentiality:
1. Required by plants to complete its life cycle (vegetative and reproductive)
2. Directly involve in plant nutrition and life processes (performs specific functions) , e.g. sulfur in
methionine
3. Cannot be substituted with other elements
• General functions of the essential elements:
1. Structural component – carbohydrates constitute the structure of plants; also a source of
metabolic energy. Approximately 45. 6 and 43 % of a plant biomass is composed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, respectively.
2. Regulation of osmotic potential – all elements in soluble form (free or bound structurally to
essential compounds) aid buildup of turgor pressure necessary to maintain form, speed of growth,
and allow certain pressure-dependent movements (e.g. stomatal opening), and sleep movements
of leaves.
• The essential elements: 16 elements are essential for all crops although, Na, Si and Co are also
essential to some plants. These are:
N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cl, B and Mo (Mnemonic to remember: "C. Hopkins Cafe closing;
mob coming with machine guns" or in symbolic form - C HOPKNS CaFe ClZn; MoB CuMn Mg”.
• Sources of elements: air (i.e., C and O via CO2), water (lots of O and H) and soil solids; from fertilizers
• Symptoms of nutrient deficiencies: Deficiency symptoms for any element depend largely on:
1. Function(s) of the element
2. Whether or not the element is readily translocated from old to younger leaves
• Nitrogen: plant is light green, lower leaves are yellow, drying to light brown color; stalks are short and
slender (if deficiency occurs at late stage of growth)
• Phosphorus: plant is dark green with red and purple colors; stalks are short and slender (later stage of
growth)
• Potassium: mottled or chlorotic leaves with large or small spots of dead tissue usually at tips and
between veins, more marked at leaf margins; slender stalk
• Magnesium: localized mottling or chlorosis with or without spots of dead tissues on lower leaves;
chlorotic leaves may redden as in cotton; tips and margins of leaves cup upward; stalks are slender
• Zinc: generalized spots, enlarging between veins and eventually involving secondary and primary veins;
leaves are thick; stalks have short internodes
• Calcium: tips of young leaves typically hook, then the tip and margins die, finally terminal bud dies
• Boron: base of young leaves of terminal bud is light green; the leaves become twisted at later growth,
and then stem at terminal bud dies
• Copper: permanent wilting of young leaves without spots or chlorosis; if deficiency is severe, twigs
could not stand erect
• Manganese: spots of dead tissues are scattered over the leaf; small veins tend to remain green and
produce checkered effect
• Sulfur: tissues between veins of young leaves are light green; dead spots are not common
• Iron: young leaves are chlorotic but the primary veins are typically green; stalks are short and slender

• Nutrient uptake mechanisms:

1. Passive – ions move with water without metabolic involvement; the characteristics of the apoplast
(non-living) path determines the rate of passive uptake of nutrients; transpiration creates the force
necessary for the ascent of sap

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 30

 2. Active – ions cross the plasmalemma with the involvement of metabolic energy from the ATP and
ions move from one cell to another through the palsmodesmata; this type of uptake moves ions
from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration.
Factors affecting nutrient uptake:
• Availability of nutrients – this is partly determined by the pH of the solution; some nutrients are
chemically bound at low or high pH forming insoluble compounds
• Stage of growth and development – uptake varies depending on the demand which is determined by
growth rate; at late stage of development, the uptake of nutrient declines due to the declining
demand and also due to remobilization of certain elements, e.g. nitrogen, potassium, etc.

F. Plant movements
• Plants appear to be motionless but they actually move continuously. Most of their movements result
from growth, internally controlled or brought about by external stimuli.
1. Geotropism: the response to gravity. Geotropism occurs in two forms: positive tropism to which
the root responds by growing downward; and negative tropism, which causes the stem to grow
upward.
2. Phototropism: the bending or directional response to light. Stems and leaves grow and turn
toward the light; roots either do not respond to light at all or shy away from it. Phototropism is
positive if the response is growth toward the light, negative if it is growth away from the light. Like
geotropism, phototropism is induced by the hormone auxin. The bending of the organ is caused by
greater concentration of auxin resulting to faster growth and multiplication of cells on the shaded
side.
3. Thigmotropism: growth in response to contact with a solid object, with the direction of the
response being determined by the stimulus. An example is the strangler fig which on contct with
the trunk of its victim encircles it tightly, as the result of an increase in the rate of cell growth on
the side opposite the stimulating contact. Other examples are the tight coiling of tendrils of vines
around their supports.
4. Thigmonasty: movement in response to touch, but then direction of the movement is independent
of that of the stimulus. Examples are the folding or curling of the leaves of the mimosa plant and
the closing of the leaf trap Venus’-flytrap. In both cases, changes in water pressure-turgor-set off
sensitive trigger mechanisms at the point of attachment of the leaflet with the twig, resulting to
movement.
5. Nyctinasty: leaf movement caused by daily rhythms of light and dark resulting from changes in the
turgor motor cell in the pulvinus located at the base of each leaf.
6. Epinasty: the bending or curvature of a plant organ caused by a differential growth when the
upper (adaxial) side of an organ grows more rapidly than the lower (abaxial) side of the organ and
is always associated with high ethylene concentration; where there are layers of soil particularly
rich in water, minerals or both, plant roots will tend to concentrate their spreading and growing in
these layers.
7. Heliotropism: movement of plant organ following the sun in a diurnal cycle.

G. Plant growth regulators (PGRs)

• Plant growth regulators are organic compounds that are not nutrients, which in small amounts
promote, inhibit, or otherwise modify any physiological process in plants.
• They are grouped either as:
1. natural or endogenous regulators: if they are naturally produced within the plant. The natural
regulators are called plant hormones, also called phytohormones. Plant hormones are organic
compounds produced in specific sites of the plant which, in low concentration after having been
transported to another part of the plant, they regulate plant physiological processes.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 31

 2. synthetic or exogenous: if they are man
man-made.
• Characteristics of PGRs:
1. small
2. organic compounds
3. synthesized by the plant (naturally produced within plants)
4. active in low concentration (<10-6 or <0.000001 mol L-1)
5. often show a separation of the site of production and the site of action
• Four types of movements utilized by plants to transport hormones:
1. For localized movement,

Cytoplasmic streaming within cells

Slow diffusion of ions and molecules between cells
2. Vascular tissues:

Sieve tubes or phloem
phloem: moves sugars from the leaves
aves to the roots and flowers

Xylem: moves water and mineral solutes from the roots to the foliage

• Comparison between plant hormones and animal hormones:

Detail Plants Animals
Number of hormones Fewer Many
Specificity of action Non-specific Specific
Work together Yes No
Site action-production
production separation Often Yes

• There are five (5) main classifications of plant hormones:

1. Auxins (AUX)
2. Gibberellins or Gibberellic acids (GA)
3. Cytokinin (CK)
4. Abscisic acid (ABA)
5. Ethylene (ET)

These five phytohormones work

together to regulate plant processes
processes, as
if there’s a “crosstalk” among these
compounds as shown in the diagram
diagram.

• Phytohormones:
1. Auxin: a generic term for compounds characterized by their capacity to induce elongation in shoot
shoo
cells. Auxins may, or generally do, affect processes besides elongation, but elongation is
considered critical.

The effect of auxin (unidentified yet) on phototropism and geo geo- or gravitropism was first
demonstrated by Charles Darwin on canary grass ((Phalaris canariensis)) whose observations he
published in The Power in Movement in Plants (1881).

The active substance, now known as indole indole-3-acetic
acetic acid (IAA) was isolated by Kogl, Haagen-
Haagen
Smit, and Erxleben (1933). This was not a new compound, but have been discovered and
isolated from fermentations by E. and H. Salkowski in 1885.

The highest concentrations of auxin are found in the growing tips of the plant, that is, in the tip
of coleoptile, in buds, and in the growing tips of leaves and roots. However, auxin
aux is also found

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 32

 widely distributed throughout the plant, undoubtedly transported from the meristematic
regions, principally through basipetal movement (from tip to base).

The regulatory effects of auxin are varied. In some cases auxin is stimulatory, in others
inhibitory, and in still other cases a necessary participant in the growth activity of another
plant hormone (e.g., cytokinins and gibberellins). The involvement of auxin has been well
established in the following growth and development processes of the plants:
- cell elongation - geotropism - abscission
- phototropism - apical dominance - parthenocarpy
- respiration - root initiation - callus formation

The isolation and characterization of the auxin molecule resulted to an extensive search for
synthetic compounds chemically similar to IAA and with similar activity.
o Other indole derivatives: indole-3-propionic acid, indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and
indolepyruvic acid.
o Other compounds with similar activity but not in chemical structure to IAA: alpha- and
beta-naphthylacetic acids, phenylacetic acid, naphthoxyacetic acid, and phenoxyacetic.
The synthetic α –naphthalene acetic acid has found commercial use as rooting hormone
while 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) and 2, 4, 5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid have
been used as chemical herbicides.

Functions of auxin in plants:
o Cell enlargement, elongation (by altering cell wall plasticity) and division in the cambium
o Bud formation and apical dominance (apical bud suppresses growth of lateral buds)
o Root initiation (lateral and adventitious root)
o Promote production of other hormones such as cytokinin (A/C, constant correlation) and
ethylene (at high concentrations)
o Abscission (ceased production of auxin)
o In seeds, regulate protein synthesis.
o Differentiation of phloem and xylem
o Tropistic response by bending in response to gravity and light
o Delays leaf senescence
o Fruit setting and delay fruit ripening
o Flowering
o Promote (with ethylene) femaleness in dioecious flowers
o Toxicity at high concentrations (revisit 2,4-D or 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine and MCPA or 2-
methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid)
2. Gibberellins or Gibberellic acid (GA): compounds which, like auxins, are a factor in stem growth,
but unlike auxins can cause excessive elongation in a number of plant stems. They were first
discovered and finally isolated in 1938 from the fungus Gibberella fujikoroi, the causal organism of
bakanae disease which had devastated the rice economy of Japan in the early part of the 20th
century. Disease plants were taller, thinner, and paler then normal ones and sometimes devoid of
fruits.

GAs are chemically related to a large group of naturally occurring compound called terpenoids,
a great number of which (e.g., sterols, carotenoids) occur in plants. The immediate precursor
of gibberellin is the diterpene called Kaurene.

GAs are widely distributed in plants. They act similarly to IAA in that they promote cell
elongation, induce parthenocarpy, promote cambial activity, and induce new RNA and protein
synthesis.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 33


As distinct plant hormones, GAs have several pronounced influence in plant growth and
development:
o Overcoming genetic dwarfism in certain plants. Dwarf corn can be made to grow to the
same height as normal corn by giving it repeated doses of gibberellin. Growth if normal
corn, however, is not increased by gibberellin, nor does auxin, artificially applied, increase
growth in dwarf plants.
o Bolting and flowering-bolting results from internode elongation.
o Light-inhibited stem growth
o Parthenocarpy: gibberellins are more effective than auxins.
o Mobilization of storage compounds during seed germination: gibberellins were shown to
release the enzyme amylase.

Functions of GA in plants:
o Stem elongation (cell division and elongation)
o Increase cell wall plasticity
o Bolting/flowering in response to long days
o Break dormancy
o Stimulate enzyme production (a-amylase) for seed germination
o Stimulate transition between juvenile and adult form (very distinct in some plants, e.g.
Lancewood)
o Induce maleness in dioecious flowers
o Cause parthenocarpic (seedless) fruit development
o Delay senescence in leaves and citrus fruits
3. Cytokinins: A number of naturally occurring compounds including zeatin (Zea, CK first discovered
in immature corn kernels); Also called kinins (from yeast cells); All related to the nucleotide
adenine; Can occur as free base or a riboside; and Synthetic: benzyladenine and kinetin.

Functions of CK in plants:
o Cell division
o Morphogenesis (Shoot initiation/bud formation)
o Delay senescence or aging of tissues
o Mediates auxin transport throughout the plant
o Leaf expansion (cell enlargement)
o Affect internodal length and leaf growth
o Stomatal opening (some plants)
o Highly synergistic effect in concert with auxin
o Counter apical dominance (by auxin)
o Work in conjunction with ethylene for promotion of abscission
o Conversion of etioplasts into chloroplasts (chlorophyll synthesis)
4. Abscisic acid (ABA): a single structure, not a family of related structures like the gibberellins;
sesquiterpene (i.e. terpenoid), C15 - made from 3 isoprene units, isoprenoid group related to
carotenoids; found in all green plants, also in some mosses, algae, and fungi; Accentuated by
stresses such as water loss and freezing; and no synthetic analogs

Functions of ABA in plants:
o Growth Inhibitor: widespread growth inhibitor; often antagonistic of GA actions (inhibits
the effect of GA on stimulating de novo synthesis of a-amylase); Inhibits shoot growth but
will not have as much affect on roots or may even promote growth of roots.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 34

 o Maintains or "seals in" bud and seed dormancy (i.e., prevents germination): ABA is made
during the terminal stages of embryo development.
o Pathogen defense: induces gene transcription especially proteinase inhibitors in response
to wounding.
o Prevents vivipary or development of the embryo without a dormant period: some
evidences include viviparous mutants have reduced [ABA]; Fluridone treatment stimulates
vivipary (fluridone is an inhibitor of carotenoid biosynthesis that blocks ABA production);
and ABA has some effect on induction and maintenance of dormancy (induces seeds to
synthesize storage proteins)
o Inhibits auxin induced growth (seems to block the H+ pump)
o Stomatal closure under water stress: stimulates the closure of stomata (water stress brings
about an increase in ABA synthesis)
o Abscission & senescence: ABA has minor role
5. Ethylene: single compound (like ABA) and is not a family of related ones (i.e. gibberellins); formula
CH2=CH2; ethylene (MW 28) is similar in size/shape as water; a gaseous plant hormone made by
most plants including angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns, mosses, liverworts and also synthesized
by fungi and bacteria; made by all parts of the plant especially meristematic regions (shoot apex)
and senescing tissues; nodes make more ethylene than internodes; ethylene production
stimulated by physiological stresses including wounding, anaerobic conditions, flooding, chilling,
disease and drought; during the climacteric (the sudden surge of respiratory activity that occurs at
the peak of ripening in many fruits) lots of ethylene is made.

Inhibitors of Ethylene:
o silver ions (Ag+), CO2 and KMnO4 - bind to ethylene receptors or otherwise interfere with
the mechanism of ethylene action.
o Aminovinylglycine (AVG) and aminooxyacetic acid (AOA) block the action of ACC synthase
and pyridoxal enzymes

Functions of ethylene in plants:
o Fruit ripening and flower opening
o Abscission: shedding of plant parts (leaf and fruits); Occurs at a specialized layer of cells –
the abscission layers; Auxin apparently prevents leaf abscission by maintaining cells in the
abscission zone, insensitive to ethylene. When auxin levels in the leaf decline, the tissues
become sensitive to ethylene that promotes abscission by producing and secreting
cellulases and other enzymes.
o Epinasty: downward bending of leaves (common response to flooding or waterlogged
soils)
o Triple Response: shoot and root growth and differentiation (triple response); Pea seedlings
treated with ethylene are short (inhibits internode elongation), fat (increase stem
thickness) and no tropism (horizontal growth, no positive gravitropism). Further, they
show little leaf expansion and possess an apical hook.
o Thigmomorphogenesis: the change in growth form in response to a mechanical
stimulation such as touch.
o Release of dormancy, or stimulation of germination in cereals and peanuts, and sprouting
in potato tubers and other bulbs.
o Flower senescence: since ethylene enhances senescence, adding Aminovinylglycine (AVG)
to carnation can keep them fresh for weeks.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 35

IV. CROP IMPROVEMENT AND SEED SELECTION

A. Propagation of crops

Methods of plant propagation:

1. Sexual: with the use of seeds or spores
2. Asexual or vegetative: with the use of natural vegetative propagules (e.g. bulbs and bublets, corm
and cormels, runners, rhizomes, tubers, crowns, plantlets), cuttings, layering or marcotting, budding
and grafting.
3. Tissue culture: propagation under aseptic conditions using artificial growth media.

I. Sexual Propagation
• Seed propagation
- most common method by which plants reproduce in nature
- most efficient and widely-used method for cultivated crops, e.g. rice, coconut, papaya, tomato, and
orchid
- seeds arise from the fusion of male and female gametes to from a single cell (zygote) within the
ovule of the flower
• Seed classification according to sensitivity to drying and temperature:
1. Orthodox: “dying-tolerant” seeds commonly exemplified by most annual and biennial crops and
agroforestry species which are relatively small-seeded. They can tolerate drying to as low as 5%
seed moisture under common conditions and low storage temperatures.
2. Recalcitrant: “drying-sensitive seeds” common to trees and shrubs of the tropics and temperate
areas which are moist, and some plants which grow in aquatic environments. They are readily
killed by drying, most especially if their moisture content falls below the critical value ranging
from 12-30%. Generally, they cannot withstand temperatures lower than 20°C.
3. Intermediate: those which can be dried to seed moisture levels safe for orthodox seeds without
their viability being affected but are easily injured when exposed to low temperatures, especially
when seed moisture levels are lower than 10%. Examples: African oil palm, royal palm, papaya
and coffee.
• Embryo culture: done by aseptically removing the embryo from the seed and placing it in a sterilized
culture medium to germinate

II. Asexual Propagation: involves reproduction from vegetative parts of plants and is possible because
the vegetative organs of many plants have the capacity for regeneration

1. Propagation by apomictic embryos

• Apomixis: production of embryo without meiosis and fertilization; Embryos arise from the
vegetative cells within the ovule
2. Separation and Division
• Separation: involves separating naturally-detachable organs from the mother plant
• Division: procedure wherein specialized vegetative structures are cut into sections

 Modified organs which may be separated and/or divided:

• Bulb: a specialized underground consisting of a short, fleshy, usually vertical stem axis (basal
plate) bearing at its apex a growing point or a flower primordium enclosed by thick, fleshy scales;
e.g. tulips, lilies
• Bulbil: aerial plantlet formed on the axil of the leaves or flower stalk; e.g. agave

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 36

 • Corm: a swollen base of a stem axis enclosed by the dry-scale leaves; e.g. banana, gladiolus, gabi
• Cormel: miniature corm which develops between the old and new corms
• Crown: part of the plant at the surface of the ground from which new shoots are produced; e.g.
aster, Shasta daisy
• Offset (syn. Offshoot): a characteristic type of lateral shoot or branch which develops from the
base of the main stem in certain plants (a shortened, thickened stem of rosette-like
appearance); e.g. Pistia sp.
• Pseudobulb: a specialized storage structure consisting of enlarged, fleshy section of the stem
made up of one to several nodes; e.g. Cattleya sp.
• Rhizome: a specialized structure in which the main axis of the plant grows horizontally at or just
below the ground surface; e.g. banana, bamboo, sugarcane
• Runner: a specialized stem which develops from the axil of the leaf at the crown of a plan, grows
horizontally along the ground, and forms a new plant at one of the nodes; e.g. strawberry, black
pepper
• Slip: leafy shoot originating from axillary buds borne at the base of the plant or peduncle of the
fruit; e.g. pineapple, cabbage
• Stolon: special modified stem, produced by some plants that grow horizontal to the ground; e.g.
Bermuda grass
• Sucker: adventitious shoot that arise from underground stems below the ground; e.g. banana,
pineapple
• Tuber: a modified stem structure which develops below ground as a consequence of the
swelling of the subapical portion of the stolon and subsequent accumulation of reserve
materials; e.g. potato
• Tuberous root: thickened root which contains large amount of stored foods; e.g. cassava, sweet
potato
3. Cutting: a portion of a stem, root, or leaf is cut from the parent plant, after which this plant part is
placed under certain favorable environmental conditions and induced to form roots and shoots, thus
producing a new, independent plant
Types:
• Root cutting – e.g. breadfruit, apple
• Stem cutting – types: hardwood, semi-hardwood, softwood, herbaceous cuttings
- e.g. cassava, malunggay, coffee, rose
• Leaf cutting – e.g. snakeplant, begonia, African violet
• Leaf-bud cutting – e.g. black pepper, vanilla
4. Layering: a propagation by which adventitious roots are induced to form on a stem while it is still
attached to the parent plant
Types:
• Simple or single layering
• Air layering or marcotting
• Compound or serpentine layering
• Mound or stool layering
• Trench layering
• Tip layering
5. Grafting: connecting parts of plants together in such a manner that they will unite and continue their
growth as one plant
- Scion – short piece of detached shoot with one to several buds and which is to become the
upper portion of graft combination
- Rootstock – lower portion of graft which develops into the root system of the grafted plant

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 37

 - Interstock – a piece of stem inserted between scion and rootstock (to avoid any
incompatibility between scion and rootstock and/or to take advantage of its growth-
controlling properties)
Types of grafting:
• Whip-and-tongue grafting
• Splice grafting
• Side grafting
• Tip grafting
• Hypocotyl grafting
• Cleft or whip grafting
• Wedge grafting
• Bark grafting
• Saddle grafting
• Inarching (Approach Grafting): an asexual propagation technique in which plants are made to
unite while growing on their roots
6. Budding: an asexual propagation, that like grafting, which involves grafting which involves joining two
plant parts such that the size of the scion is reduced to only one bud and a small section of bark, with
or without wood
Types:
• Shield budding (T budding)
• Modified forkert budding
• T or Inverted T budding
• Chip budding
• Patch budding
• I budding
• Flute budding
• Ring or annular budding
• Plate budding

III. Tissue culture techniques other than embryo culture: can be started from a variety of plant parts
which have cells capable of dividing; e.g. shoot-tip culture, meristem culture, and endosperm culture

Some plant tissue culture media:

MS (Murashige and Skoog) ER (Eriksson)
White’s B5 (Gamborg et al.)
Heller’s Nitsch’s
NT (Nagata and Takebe) Knudson C

B. Rooting media for propagating crops:

1. Soil
2. Soil-mixed media: media with soil and other mixture
3. Soilless media: media other than soil, e.g. water, rice hull, moss, gravel, charcoal, coir dust
4. Nutrient solution: solution other than soil containing vitamins and elements needed by plant for
growth and development

C. Goals and basic concepts in crop improvement

Plant breeding: science, art and business of crop improvement for human benefit.

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 38


Goals and objectives of plant breeding: higher yields, improved quality, disease and insect resistance,
change in maturity duration, agronomic characteristics, photoinsensitivity, synchronous maturity, non-
non
shattering characterisitics, determinate growth, dor
dormancy,y, abiotic stress tolerance and others

Genetics: the primary basis of crop improv
improvement
ement that may follow Mendel’s Principles or non-
Mendelian inheritance
a. Mendelian Principles:
i. Mendel’s Principle of Uniformity in F1: F1 offspring of a monohybrid cross of true-breeding
true
strains resemble only one of the parents
parents, showing the dominant trait. e.g. Smooth seeds (allele
S) are completely dominant to wrinkled seeds (allele s).
ii. Mendel’s Principle of Segregation
Segregation: Recessive characters masked in the F1 progeny of two true-
breeding strains, reappear in a specific proportion of the F2 progeny. Two members of a gene
pair segregate (separate) from each other during the formation of gametes.
iii. Mendel’s Principle of Independent AssortmentAssortment: Alleles
leles for different traits assort
independently of one another. Genes on different chromosomes behave independently in
gamete production.
b. Overview of gene expression
expression:
DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid;
Polynucleotide formed from
covalently linked
Deoxyribonucleotide
Deoxyribonucle units.
It serves as the store of hereditary
information within a cell and the
carrier of this information from
generation to generation.
RNA: ribonucleic acid; transcribed
DNA which will serve as template for
synthesis of protein
POLYPEPTIDE: a chain of proteins
that make up a gene
GENE: encodes proteins that
produce a diverse range of traits or
phenotype (observable
characteristic);
characteristic) located within the
CHROMOSOMES.
CHROMOSOMES

D. General methods of crop improvement

Activities in plant breeding
1. Creation of variation

naturally-existing
existing variability
a. domestication – process of bringing wild species under human management
b. germplasm collection – collection of a large number of genotypes of a crop species and its
wild relatives
c. introduction – taking a genotype or a group of genotypes of plants into new environments
where they were not being grown before
• primary introduction – introduced variety is released for commercial cultivation
without any alteration in the original genotype
• secondary introduction – introduced variety subjected to selection or hybridized with
local varieties to transfer one or few characters from this variety to the local varieties

CROP SCI 1 LECTURE MANUAL, MSU-GS page 39


creation of new variability

Four most common mating systems used in crop improvement:

C.1. Topcross
Only A pollinates BCD (half Sib)

C.2. Polycross
Random crossing of several selected
individuals

C.3. Backcross Parents:

Recurrent Donor
The recurrent parent is involved in
succeeding crosses.

C.4. Hybrid cross

F1 single cross hybrid

F1 3-way cross hybrid

F1 double cross hybrid

Process in creating new variability in crops:

a. Hybridization: crossing genetically dissimilar individuals
• inbreeding – mating of individuals related by ancestry; leads to production of
homozygous individuals
Inbred – product of inbreeding. Hence, consequently, a homozygous individual
o selfing – mating with oneself; most intense form of inbreeding hence approach to
homozygosity is fastest

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 o full sibbing – crossing between members of selected pairs of plants; full sibs have
both parents in common
o half sibbing – crossing one individual with several identified ones; half sibs have
one common parent or pollen source
• topcross – cross between an inbred and an open-pollinated variety
• testcross – cross between a plant or line and a tester (tester may be an inbred, hybrid,
synthetic, or open-pollinated variety)
• backcross – a cross between a hybrid and one of its parents; also a breeding method
based on repeated backcrossing of the F1 (first generation offspring of a cross) and the
subsequent generations to the recurrent parent usually to transfer a major trait
controlled by one or a few genes from the donor (as the non-recurrent parent) and the
recipient (as the recurrent parent).
• polycross – open pollination in isolation among a number of selected genotypes
arranged in a manner that promotes random mating
• reciprocal cross – mating of two individuals in which each is used as the male parent in
one cross and the female parent on the other
• intraspecific cross – crossing individuals belonging to the same species, ex. variety x
variety cross
• wide or distant cross – crossing distantly-related individuals
o interspecific – crossing individuals belonging to different species
o intergeneric – crossing individuals belonging to different genera

• Introgressive hybridization – repeatedly backcrossing interspecific hybrids to one of

the parental species leading to the transfer of some genes from one species to another
o Barriers to production of distant hybrids:
 failure of zygote formation
 failure of zygote development
 failure of hybrid seeding development
o Techniques to overcome barriers to production of distant hybrids
 use of bridge species – species that can successfully cross with both parents
 protoplast fusion – combining protoplasts of the two parents to produce
somatic hybrids
 embryo rescue – in vitro culture of young hybrid embryos before their
breakdown
 grafting
 manipulation of ploidy level of either of the two parents in case they differ in
ploidy or doubling chromosome number of the hybrid
• Terms related to hybridization:
o Alien addition line – carries one chromosome pair from a different species in
addition to the normal diploid chromosome complement of the parent species;
alien addition chromosome or monosomic alien addition line has only one
chromosome (not a pair) from another species.
o Alien substitution line – has one chromosome pair from a different species in place
of one chromosome pair of the recipient species; alien substitution monosome or
monosomic alien substitution line has a single chromosome (not a pair) from a
different species in place of a single chromosome of the recipient species.

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 o Heterosis – or hybrid vigor; superiority of the F1 hybrid over its parents; may be
positive or negative; ex. positive heterosis for yield and negative heterosis for days
to maturity; types are:
 mid-parent heterosis – increase or decrease in the performance of the hybrid
in comparison with the mid-parent value or average performance of the two
parents
 heterobeltiosis – the increase or decrease in the performance of the hybrid in
comparison the better parent of the cross combinations
 standard heterosis – the increase or decrease in the performance of a hybrid
in comparison with the standard check variety of the region: type of heterosis
practically important to breeders
o Heterosis is expected to be high when inbreds used in producing the hybrids have
high combining abilities
 combining ability – the ability of a genotype (inbred, pureline or synthetic) to
transfer its desirable traits to its progeny:

general combining ability (GCA) – average performance of a strain in a
series of crosses; estimated using testers of broad genetic base and
identifies mainly additive genetic effects.

Specific combining ability (SCA) – deviation from performance predicted
on the basis of general combining ability of parental lines; estimated by
using testers of narrow genetic base and identifies both additive and non-
additive gene action
• Theories to support heterosis:
o dominance hypothesis – that heterosis is due to the accumulation of favorable
dominant genes from the two parents of the hybrid
o overdominance hypothesis – that heterozygotes are more vigorous and productive
than either homozygotes.
• Inbreeding depression – loss in vigor due to inbreeding
o Mechanisms promoting self-pollination
 cleistogamy – flowers do not open at all ensuring complete self-pollination
 chasmogany – flowers open but only after pollination has taken place
 stigmas closely surrounded by anthers
 flowers open but stamen and stigma are hidden by other floral organs
 stigma when receptive elongate through stamina columns
o Mechanisms promoting cross pollination
 dicliny or unisexuality – flowers are either staminate (male) or pistillate
(female)

monoecy – staminate and pistillate flowers occur in the same plant either
in the same or in different influorescences.

dioecy – male and female flowers are present on different plants, the
plants in such species are either male or female.
 dichogamy – stamens and pistils of hermaphrodite (perfect bisexual) flowers
may mature at different times facilitating cross pollination

protogyny – pistils mature before stamens

protandry – stamnes mature before pistils
 stigmas are covered with waxy film
 self-incompatibility – failure of pollen from a flower to fertilize the same
flower or other flowers on the same plant

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  male sterility – absence of functional pollen grains in otherwise hermaphrodite
flowers
o Systems of pollen control in controlled pollinations/crosses or hybridization
 emasculation – removal of immature anthers (or androecium) from a
hermaphrodite flower using clip, hot water or suction/vacuum methods.
 male sterility systems – male gametes not functional but females gametes are
fertile

cytoplasmic male sterility – genes for male sterility in the cytoplasm
particularly in the mitochondrion

genetic male sterility – sterility controlled by a nuclear gene, usually
recessive

cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility – controlled by interaction between
genetic factors present in the cytoplasm and nucleus; presence of a male
sterility gene in the cytoplasm and a restorer gene in the nucleus results in
the latter overcoming the effect of the former to restore fertility

environment-sensitive genetic male sterility (EGMS) – genetic male
sterility system conditioned by environmental factors
 photoperiod sensitive genetic male sterility (PGMS) – responds to
photoperiod or duration of day length for expression of pollen sterility
and fertility, ex. sterile under long day (>13.75h) conditions and fertile
under short day(<13.75h) conditions; rPGMS if responses are reverse
or opposite.
 thermosensitive genic male sterility (TGMS) – male sterility/fertility
alteration conditioned by different temperature regimes, ex. sterile at
high temperature (>30°C), fertile at lower temperature (<30°C); rTGMS
if responses are reversed or opposite
 photothermosensitive genic male sterility (PTGMS) – conditioned by
both photoperiod and temperature
 chemically-induced male sterility – use of chemical hybridizing agents
or gametocides like ethrel, monosodium methyl arsenate and sodium
methyl arsenate
 self-incompatibility systems – failure to pollen from a flower to fertilize the
same flower or other flowers on the same plant

heteromorphic system – flowers of different incompatibility groups are
different in morphology, ex. pin and thrum flowers in Primula

homomorphic system – incompatibility is not associated with
morphological differences among flowers; incompatibility reaction of
pollen may be controlled by the genotype of the plant on which it is
produced (sporophytic control; haplo-diplo system) or by its own
genotype (gametophytic control; haplo-haplo system)
b. Mutation: heritable change in an organism
• spontaneous – mutations occurring in natural populations without any treatment; low
rate of about 10-6
• induced – mutations artificially produced by treatment with certain physical or
chemical agents or mutagens
o physical mutagens – β rays, α rays, fast and thermal neutrons, x-rays, γ rays, UV
radiation
o chemical mutagens – alkylating agents, acridine dyes, base analogues, etc.

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 • Chimera – an individual with one genotype in some of its parts and another genotype
in the others
o periclinal chimera – when the entire outer (outer periclinal) or inner (inner
periclinal) layer of shoot apical meristem is affected. Outer layer gives the rise to
the dermal system and part of mesophyll while the inner layer produces the rest
of the plant
o sectorial chimera – only a part of the outer (outer sectorial) or inner (inner
sectorial) layer is affected
c. Polyploidization: increasing ploidy level to more than two identical or distinct genomes;
types of polyploids
• euploidy – change in chromosome number involving one or more complete genomes;
chromosome number is an exact basic or genomic number, ex. triploids, tetraploids,
pentaploids, etc.
o autopolyploid – when all the genomes present in a polyploidy species are identical
o allopolyploid – two or more distinct genomes are present
o amphidiploid – an allopolyploid that has two copies each genome present in it;
have regular meiosis
o segment allopolyploid – contains two or more genomes which identical with each
other except for some minor differences
• aneuploidy – change in chromosome number involving one or a few chromosomes of
a genome; nullisomics, monosomics, trisomics, etc.
o Somaclonal variation – heritable variation for both qualitative and quantitative
traits shown by plants regenerated from the tissue and cell cultures
o Gametoclonal variation – heritable variation shown by plants regenerated from
pollen or anther culture
d. Genetic transformation and production of transgenic plants: changing the genetic make-
up of plants by direct introduction of genes (transgenes) from microorganisms, animals or
other plant species; done when sexual hybridization between the recipient and the donor
is impossible.

2. Selection – identification of individuals or lines that are more desirable than others in a
heterogeneous population
• Natural selection – change in gene frequencies from one generation to another because of
differences in survival and reproductive abilities of parental genotypes in natural populations
• Artificial selection – change in gene frequencies brought about by man as is done in plant
breeding where certain individuals or genotypes are not used as parent of the next generation
Modes of selection:
• Stabilizing or normalizing selection – when adaptive individuals in the populations are selected
in a constant environment through the years; keeps the population constant and eliminates
the deviants; reduces the variability present in the population
• Directional selection – change towards a particular direction due to changing environments
resulting also in change of the genetic constitution of the population; mode observed when
breeders do artificial selection
• Diversifying or disruptive selection – opposite of stabilization selection; leads to either
formation of subpopulation differing in characteristics or polymorphism in which each
genotype is represented by a distinct phenotype
Traits selected for:

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• Qualitative traits – monogenic or oligogenic traits; show discrete or non-continuous variation,
controlled by one or few genes, less influenced by the environment
• Quantitative traits – polygenic, metric or measurable traits; show continuous variation;
controlled by many genes, highly influenced by environment
Bases of selection:
• Phenotype (P) can be accounted for the genotype (G), the environment € and the interaction
between the genotype end the environment (GxE).
Components of phenotypic variance:
 Phenotypic variance – sum of genotypic variance, environmental variance and GxE
variance
 Genotypic variance – sum of additive and non-additive types of gene action
a. additive – due to individual effects of genes
b. non-additive – due to intralocus and interlocus interactions

Intralocus interaction – dominance interactions; interaction between alleles in the same locus
a. complete dominance – heterozygote is equal to the dominant homozygote in value
b. partial dominance – value of the heterozygote is between the average of the two
homozygotes and the value of the dominant homozygote
c. overdominance – if the heterozygote has a value outside the range of the two
homozygotes

Interlocus interaction – epistasis; interaction among alleles of different loci

 Environmental variance – effect of the environment on the phenotype and estimated by
measuring variation in a genotypically uniform population grown in certain location
 GxE interaction – change in ranking and/or performance of genotypes when grown in
different environments; estimated by computing variances of genotypes when grown in
number of locations which are environmentally diverse

Heritability – potion of the phenotype variation among individuals that is due to genetic
differences among them
 broad-sense heritability is estimated from the ratio of the total genetic variance to the
phenotypic variance
 narrow-sense variance – heritability is estimated from the ratio of the genetic variance to
the phenotypic variance
Selection intensity – the percentage of individuals selected in a population
Selection differential – difference between the mean performance of genotypes selected from
a population and the overall population mean
Gain from selection – genetic gain, genetic responses from selection, genetic advance from
selection; increase in mean performance of a population that is realized with each
cycle of selection; estimated based on selection intensity, heritability of the character
and the phenotypic variance
Methods of selection
a. Self-pollinated crops
 mass selection – plants are chosen and harvested on the basis and phenotype and the
seeds composited without progeny testing; appropriate for qualitative characters with
simple genetic inheritance
 pureline selection – procedure for isolating purelines from a mixed population
Pureline – progeny from self-pollination of a single homozygous plant

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  pedigree selection – selection for plants with the desired combination of characters is
started in the F2 (product of selfing F1) generation and continued in succeeding
generations until genetic purity is reached; requires detailed record-keeping (pedigree
records); suited to individual plant selections
 bulk population – seeds harvested in the F2 and succeeding generations are bulked
and grown, with selection delayed until the F5 or F6, at which time the segregation will
have virtually ceased
 single-seed descent – progenies of the F2 plants are advanced rapidly through
succeeding generations from single seeds; selection done at F5 and later generations
 doubled haploid – haploid plants are generated from anthers of F1 plants or by other
means, and the chromosomes of the haploid plants are doubled with colchicine to
produce homozygous diploid plants; selection may start in early generation plants

b. Cross-pollinated crops
Population improvement approach – increasing the frequency of genes in the population
of the desire breeding objective
 recurrent selection – any breeding system designed to increase the frequency of the
desired alleles for particular quantitatively inherited character by repeated cycles of
selection
 mass selection – individual plants are chosen for their desirable traits and the seeds
harvested from the selected plants are bulked to grow in the following generation
without any form of progeny evaluation
 half-sib family selection – new population is constituted by compositing half-sib lines
selected from progeny performance rather than phenotypic appearance; ear-to-row
selection; without pollen control
 full-sib family selection – crosses are made between selected pairs of plants in the
source population, with the crossed seeds used for progeny tests and for
reconstituting of new population; measure the combining ability from mating specific
pairs of plants
 S1 progeny selection – utilized to evaluate selected plants from an open-pollinated
source
S1 is the progeny following self-pollination of plants in an open-pollinated population
or in the F2 following a cross
 reciprocal recurrent selection – improves two populations simultaneously; plants are
selected in each of the two populations, with the selected plants of one population
being selfed and outcrossed as the tester to the selected plants in the other
population; remnant seed from the plants with superior testcross progenies are grown
and intercrossed to reconstitute the two populations
3. Evaluation – process of assessing the performance of newly-developed lines of a crop through
appropriate multilocation trials and tests
Sequences in the conduct of yield tests:
• observational yield test – may test separate groups of experimental lines; uses incomplete
block design or triple lattice design with 2-3 replications in one location
• preliminary yield test – evaluation including a check variety using incomplete block design with
2-3 replications in at least 2 locations
• general yield test – uses randomized complete block design with 3 replications in at least 3
locations
• advanced yield test – elite lines from general yield tests evaluated using randomized complete
block design with 4 replications in 6-10 locations

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 Superior lines are approved to be released as a variety by the National Seed Industry Council
(NSIC); the variety must have passed the tests for distinctiveness (D), uniformity (U) and
stability (S) or the DUS test.

4. Multiplication - seed multiplication of an entry after it has been identified for release; the seed
produced by the breeder after a strain is identified but before it is released as a variety is termed
as the stock seed. The stock seed is known as breeder seed once the identified strain is released
and notified.

Seed – seed or any other propagating material used for raising a crop

Seed multiplication involves:

a. seed production – should observe proper isolation procedures to maintain genetic purity of
the variety
Isolation – separation of a population of plants from other genotypes with which they are
capable of mating
• temporal isolation – isolation by differences in growth stages
• spatial isolation – isolation by distance
b. seed processing – drying , cleaning and grading, testing (purity, viability and moisture content
determination), treating (disinfectants and protectants), bagging and labeling

Types of varieties:
• hybrids – first generation offspring of a cross between two individuals differing in one or more
genes
• synthetics – seed mixture of strains, clones, inbreds, or hybrids maintained by open-pollination
for a specified number of generations; the component units are propagated and the synthetic
reconstituted at regular intervals
• composites – mixture of genotypes from several sources, maintained by normal pollination
• inbreds – a pureline originating by self-pollination and selection
• multilines – or blends; composite of isolines
Isolines – lines that are genetically similar except for one gene
• open-pollinated variety – variety maintained by natural cross pollination
• landraces – farmer-selected cultivated forms

Hybrid seed production

• 3-line system – male sterile line (A), maintainer line (B) and restorer line (R)
• 2-line system – male sterile line, the expression of which is influenced by environment and any
inbred variety as pollen parent
• 1-line system – use of apomixes to produce the F1 seeds and maintain the genotype of the F1

5. Distribution: production and distribution of seeds depend upon the class of the seed; the control
or supervision may be on the breeder, certifying agency, or the government
Classes of seeds
• Breeder seeds: planting materials (seed or vegetative propagules) produced by or under direct
control or supervision of the breeder (controlled by the originating plant breeder); starting
point of all the subsequent classes of seeds; seeds obtained from uniform panicles by
breeders; 100% pure; source of foundation seeds.

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 • Foundation seeds (basic seed): seeds produced from breeder seeds and maintained according
to required standards of the government; highest form of certified seeds in the commercial
seed market, and produced in close supervision in an agricultural experimental station; source
of registered and/or certified seeds; 98% pure with at least 85% germination rate; carry a red
tag
• Registered seeds (first generation seed): produced from foundation or registered seeds and
carry a green tag; must meet the quality standards set by certifying agency before they can be
produced as source of certified seeds; sometimes omitted in the process.
• Certified seeds (second generation seed): produced from foundation, registered or certified
seeds and carry a blue tag; can be used for commercial production of crops but not for
producing more certified seeds, instead, can be used for producing uncertified seeds or good
seeds.
• Good seeds: produced from varieties not yet approved by the National Seed Industry Council
(previously Philippine Seed Board), but may meet standards set by other certifying agencies.

6. Conservation of germplasm
Germplasm: the sum total of hereditary material or genes present in a species
Plant germplasm – genetic source material used by plant breeders to develop new cultivars
(cultivated variety)
Centers of biodiversity – where extensive genetic variability of cultivated species could be found;
also believed by Vavilov to be centers of origin
• primary centers – where domestication occurred
• secondary centers – where variation continued after domestication
Germplasm storage
• as seeds in cold/refrigerated rooms
• maintained as living plants in field or through slow growth in vitro
• cryopreservation or freeze-preservation

7. Plant breeding using biotechnology (Suslow, Thomas and Bradford, 2002)

Domestication altered modern crop lines from its progenitor:
e.g. Teosinte (Zea mays ssp. mexicana) inflorescence has no cob allowing the seed to separate and
dispersed easily when they mature, compared with modern corn (Zea mays ssp. mays L.) with
types that retain seed on the ear leading to development of the cob.
Biotechnology: (broad definition) refers to the use of living organisms or their components to
provide useful products. e.g. making wine, beer, or bread; composting organic materials; releasing
parasitic wasps to control insect pests; breeding plants or animals; and producing crops and
livestock.
A. Micropropagation: the production of multiple copies of a single plant using tissue culture
techniques; tissue used is the meristem.
e.g. potatoes: normally propagated by planting the buds, or “eyes,” present on the tubers, and
garlic is propagated by planting cloves from last year’s crop which may be infected already,
thus, micropropagation in the laboratory can eliminate virus diseases and ensure that each
new crop is planted with virus-free materials, greatly increasing yields.
B. Embryo culture: used to rescue hybrid plants from wide crosses, which often fail to produce
mature viable seeds. In these, cases the immature embryo tissue can be removed from the
developing seeds and cultured in the laboratory to produce the hybrid plants.
C. Anther culture: a specific application of tissue culture used in the production of F1 hybrid
varieties. Plants can then be induced to double their chromosome number by a chemical

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 treatment, quickly resulting in plants that have two identical sets of chromosomes, or are
completely inbred (homozygous). This procedure can dramatically reduce the time required to
develop inbred parents for breeding of F1 hybrid varieties and facilitates the selection of
recessive traits.
D. Cell culture (callus): can also be used to produce multiple embryos that can be grown into
plants. In this way, a virtually unlimited number of plants can be propagated from a single
superior plant.
E. Protoplast fusion: another method for producing new genetic variation in the laboratory by
fusing protoplasts
a. Protoplast: a plant cell from which the rigid outer cell wall has been removed using
enzymes (proteins that breakdown or degrade the cell wall)
b. Under certain conditions, protoplasts derived from genetically different plants can be
fused much like two soap bubbles, allowing their DNA (and other cellular contents) to be
combined. The fused cells can then be induced to regenerate into whole plants, which will
have traits derived from both parents.
F. Marker-assisted (or molecular-assisted) breeding: provides a dramatic improvement in the
efficiency with which breeders can select plants with desirable combinations of genes by
identifying and observing specific markers.
a. Marker: a “genetic tag” that identifies a particular location within a plant’s DNA
sequences. Markers can be used in transferring a single gene into a new cultivar or in
testing plants for the inheritance of many genes at once. Markers can be based upon
either DNA or proteins.
i. DNA markers: identify locations where the sequences differ among varieties or
breeding lines. These can be locations within genes or in the DNA between genes, so
long as they are unique sequences and differ between the plants of interest. Greater
numbers of DNA-based markers can be identified to cover all regions of an organism’s
DNA, and they are not based on the developmental stage of the plant, as many protein
based markers are.
ii. Protein markers: based on differences in the proteins that are synthesized from the
genes. Abundant proteins that are not enzymes, such as the seed storage proteins of
cereal grains, can also be separated and stained to reveal specific size patterns
characteristic of different genotypes.
• Enzymes: are proteins that catalyze specific biochemical reactions and can
therefore be assayed for their activity.
• Isozymes: multiple copies of the same enzyme in a plant that differ slightly in size
or charge, making it possible to separate them from each other; their sizes often
differ among different genotypes. In these cases, the genes coding for the specific
isozyme can be identified by following the inheritance of the isozyme.
b. Polymorphisms: individuals in a single species with different traits or DNA sequences;
Markers can be used as a “signpost” for the location of these polymorphisms
G. Recombinant DNA techniques: allow the specific identification, isolation and alteration of
genes and their reintroduction into living organisms to produce transgenic varieties;
supplementing and extending traditional breeding methods
• Year 1996 to 2001: global production area for transgenic crops (e.g. soybean, cotton,
corn and canola) increased from 0 to 50 million hectares
• Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato: first commercial food product derived from a transgenic
crop variety; commercialized in year 1994 (presently no longer available in the
market); Recombinant DNA and transformation techniques allow plant breeders to use
genes from essentially any source as tools for crop improvement.

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 • GoldenRice: accumulation of beta-carotene (which is converted into vitamin A when
consumed by animals) in rice grains: scientists used genes from daffodil, pea, a
bacterium, and a virus. Transgenic plant methods enable these four well characterized
genes to be inserted into a transgenic plant, producing a highly specific change in only
the trait of interest.
• Bt corn: Corn that has been inserted with BT toxin gene from Bacillus thuringiensis
bacteria in order for the corn to be poisonous to corn borer (with alkaline gut) but not
to humans (with acidic stomach).
a. DNA cloning techniques: isolating specific segments of DNA molecules, inserting them into
other DNA molecules (or vectors), and using bacteria as “biological copy machines” to
produce large quantities of these DNA molecules. These techniques rely on restriction
enzymes (such as EcoRI) that can recognize specific DNA sequences and cut the DNA
strands at those sites. The ends of the DNA are cut unevenly, leaving an overhanging
strand on each end. These are known as “sticky ends” because they are able to match up
with other DNA strands that have complementary base sequences. It is this ability to
recombine different DNA molecules in the laboratory that leads to the term recombinant
DNA technology.
b. Transformation techniques: Once genes have been cloned, they can be transferred into
the same or a different organism, producing a transgenic individual. The first applications
of recombinant DNA technology were to introduce useful genes into bacteria.
• Agrobacterium tumefaciens: a natural genetic engineer; The most commonly used
bacterium in transformation methods which can transfer the desired DNA into the
plant. When it enters a plant through a wound, this bacterium naturally transfers part
of its DNA into the plant’s chromosomes.

V. FACTORS AFFECTING CROP PRODUCTION

A. Phenotype (P)
- observable or measurable characteristics (e.g. yield, height, weight and color)

Crop production can be viewed from two perspectives:

1: at the CROP level
2: at the SYSTEMS level
Crop production at the crop level:
In the form of an equation: P = f [G + E + (G x E)]
Where: P = phenotype; e.g. yield
G = genotype
E = environment
G x E = interaction
B. Genotype (G)
- genetic design of a plant which dictates the ceiling of how much a variety/cultivar can yield
- expressed by genes controlling a character (e.g. yield, plant height, taste, and color)
- includes all factors internal to the plant
- varies among and even within species
- sets the ultimate limit for plant variation
- An ideal genotype, therefore, is one that has a wide range of environment.

Selection indices of major Philippine crops

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• Varietal choice: most critical decision in crop production.
• Characteristics of crop varieties that are bases for crop production technology
implementations:
1. growth characteristics
2. quality of the product
3. market acceptability
• Selection indices for some major Philippine crops:
1. Corn

early maturing (90 to 95 days) to medium maturing (102 to105 days)

potential yield of 5 to 7 tons per hectare

yellow or white tint

moderate or highly resistant/tolerant to major diseases such as rust and downy
mildew, and insect pests such as corn borers and root insects

drought tolerant
2. Rice

growth duration: early maturing = 100 to 110 days; medium maturing = 110 to 120
days; and late maturing = over 120 days

potential yield of 5000 to 6000 kg per hectare

plant height of 80 to 105 cm

amylose content of intermediate to high

gelatinization temperature: low, intermediate or high

grain size and appearance: medium to long slender
3. Mungbean

maturity: 60 days

potential yield: 1.2 tons per hectare

plant height: 30 to 75 cm

tolerant to Cercospora leaf spot, downy mildew and water logging

shiny with yellow or green seeds
4. Coconut

1200 to 1500 nuts per harvest

harvest time: 8 times per year or every 45 days

Tree or plant should have a rounded crown

60 to 80 nuts per tree per year

30 to 36 opened leaves

closed leaf scar

presence of inflorescence in every leaf

medium-shaped, round-shaped nuts

resistant to major pests and diseases
5. Mango

Short stand or dwarf

Large fruit with thin and small seed

Regular flowering and fruit bearing

Resistant to major pests and diseases
6. Banana

early maturing

drought tolerant

resistant to pests and diseases

good fruit quality

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C. Environmental (E)
- any factor external to the plant that influences its growth and development
- includes biotic (living) or abiotic (non-living) factors such as edaphic (soil) factors
- e.g. climate, soil, topography, and pests
- an optimum environment is one that poses a minimum of constraints to crop growth and
development

C.1. Edaphic factors: refers to soil as a factor in crop production

Soil: In layman is dirt or earth
Soil as a three-phase system, with its components
and approximate percentage:
1. Solid (~50%) = minerals + organic matter
2. Liquid (~25%) = soil solution
3. Gas (~25%) = various gases

Soil Properties:
A. Physical Properties
• Soil Texture: The relative proportion of primary soil particles including sand, silt and clay;
may be altered depending on the proportion of each soil particle
a. Soil particles and their sizes:
Particle Particle size
SAND > 0.02 μ
SILT 0.02 – 0.002 μ
CLAY < 0.002 μ
b. Soil texture and their proportion:
Soil texture Proportion of each soil particle
Sandy <10% clay; high proportion of sand
Loamy Equal portions of sand and clay
Clayey > 4.5% clay
c. Soil characteristics:
Soil Characteristics Heavy soil Light soil
Tillability Difficult Easy
Aeration Less More
Water-holding capacity High Low
Nutrient-holding capacity High low
• Soil Structure: the arrangement of soil particles into aggregates; a soil property that
cannot be altered
a. Soil formation:

Ped: natural structure

Dod: structure formed due to external forces such as environment

Organic matter (OM): binding agent; composed of dead (decomposed) plant
residues and wastes which capture elements
 most mineral soils = 5% OM
 most Philippine soils = 2 to 4% OM; due to the presence of high lignin
content in most tropical plants:
 Lignin: a complex carbohydrate polymer making up about 25% of
woody plants and is found in the cell walls of sclerenchyma tissues and

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 vessels, fibres and tracheids at maturity. It increases the strength of
such tissues and requires a long time to breakdown.

Soil fertility in relation to OM content:
 > 3.5% OM = high fertility
 2 to 3.5% OM = medium fertility
 < 2% OM = low fertility

Importance of OM:
 Prevents loss of nutrients by forming complexes with nutrient elements
 Facilitates absorption and percolation of water into and through the soil
 Increases water holding capacity
 Source of nutrients
 Improves penetration of roots
 Influences soil structure formation
 Influences soil chemical properties: may contain N, P, S, B and Zn
 Influences the biotic composition

Humus: amorphous, colloidal substance which is resistant to further
decomposition and gives the soil a dark color
Importance of humus:
 Improves soil structure
 Increases cation exchange capacity (CEC) and water holding capacity of the
soil
b. Soil structure:

blocky

granular

columnar

no structure
Importance of soil structure:

soil tillability: some soils are relatively easier to break up because of their
structure.

influences the infiltration of water through the soil

influences soil aeration which is critical during seed germination and seed
emergence
• Soil layers or horizons: distinct horizontal layers of the soil; typically 3 main horizons, but
variations occur depending on the origin and age of the soil.

A horizon or Top soil: soil layer where most of the nutrients and organic matter
accumulate.

B horizon or Sub soil: soil layer where some nutrients and water are stored or
percolated into, and is often less fertile than topsoil.

C horizon or Parent material: the geologic material from which soil horizons form.
• Other soil physical properties:
Properties related to degree of aeration and water holding capacity:
a. Bulk density: a measure of a soils mass per unit volume of soil
b. Soil porosity: refers to the amount of pore, or open space between soil particles
c. Hydraulic conductivity: a measure of the soil's ability to transmit water when
submitted to a hydraulic gradient.

B. Chemical Properties
• Soil pH: the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration which is an indication of
the acidity or alkalinity of soil and is measured in pH units;

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The pH scale = from 0 to 14 with pH 7 as the neutral point

As the amount of hydrogen ions in the soil increases the soil pH decreases thus
becoming more acidic.

From pH 7 to 0 = the soil is increasingly more acidic

From pH 7 to 14 = the soil is increasingly more alkaline or basic.

Descriptive terms commonly associated with certain ranges in soil pH are:
 Extremely acid: < than 4.5; lemon=2.5; vinegar=3.0; stomach acid=2.0; soda=2–4
 Very strongly acid: 4.5–5.0; beer=4.5–5.0; tomatoes=4.5
 Strongly acid: 5.1–5.5; carrots=5.0; asparagus=5.5; boric acid=5.2; cabbage=5.3
 Moderately acid: 5.6–6.0; potatoes=5.6
 Slightly acid: 6.1–6.5; salmon=6.2; cow's milk=6.5
 Neutral: 6.6–7.3; saliva=6.6–7.3; blood=7.3; shrimp=7.0
 Slightly alkaline: 7.4–7.8; eggs=7.6–7.8
 Moderately alkaline: 7.9–8.4; sea water=8.2; sodium bicarbonate=8.4
 Strongly alkaline: 8.5–9.0; borax=9.0
 Very strongly alkaline: > than 9.1; milk of magnesia=10.5, ammonia=11.1; lime=12

influences nutrient availability

negative logarithm of H+ activity

pH of 7.0, neutral pH (H+ = OH-)

Decrease in soil pH → acidity

Increase in soil pH → alkalinity

Effects of pH to soil and crops:
 pH below 5.0: Al, Fe, & Mn become toxic; Ca & Mo become deficient
 pH below 5.5: Mo, Zn, K, & S become deficient
 pH 6 to 7 (neutral): most nutrients are in available form
 pH above 7.5: Al becomes toxic, soil is saline, and Zn and Fe become toxic
 pH above 8.0: Ca phosphates form
 pH above 8.5: soil is saline, and Zn and Fe become deficient
• Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC): the degree to which a soil can adsorb and exchange
cations; expressed in milliequivalents per 100 grams of soil (meq -100g):
a. The larger the CEC number, the more cations the soil can hold.
b. A clay soil will have a larger CEC than a sandy soil.
c. Clay and organic particles have high CEC.
d. Cation: any element with a positive charge:
2+ 2+ + +

basic cations: calcium (Ca ), magnesium (Mg ), potassium (K ) and sodium (Na )
+ 3+

acidic cations: hydrogen (H ) and aluminum (Al )
e. CEC of different types of soil:
Soil type CEC in meq -100g
 Humus 600
 Good clay (Montmorillonite) 80 to 150
 Not good clay 3 to 15
 Sand 0
 Good soil 20 above
 Bad soil 5 and below
• Anion Exchange Capacity (AEC): the ability of soil particles to absorb (adsorb) and store
anions (also measured in meq -100g soil); Anion = negatively charged ion (NO3-, SO42-, Cl-);
Most soils have little or no AEC.

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 C. Biological Properties: include plants (flora), animals (fauna) and microorganisms that made up
the rhizosphere (root and soil environment)
• Macroscopic organisms: organisms that are visible to the naked eye;
e.g. small mammals; insects such as springtails, ants, beetles, and grubs; other arthropods
such as millipedes, centipedes, spiders and mites; invertebrates such as slugs and
snails; and earthworms.
Importance of macroscopic organisms in the soil (e.g. earthworm):
 Burrowing produces channels for aeration, entry of other animals, and entry of
water and dissolved ion
 Mix the soil: “plows” the soil
 Incorporate crop residues
 Contribute to OM
 Humus enrichment
 Improve soil structure
 Control pests (e.g. insects and pathogens)
 Nutrient recycling
• Microscopic organisms: organisms that are visible with the aid of a microscope
a. Fungi: heterotrophic organisms capable of reproduction sexually and asexually;
decomposers in soil
e.g. mushroom and yeast
mycorrhizal fungi (fungi in symbiosis with the root system): convert
phosphorus to forms available to plants
b. Actinomycetes, nematodes (unsegmented worms) and protozoa: aerobic (requiring
oxygen) decomposers
c. Bacteria (number of cells = more than a billion in a gram of topsoil):
e.g. Thiobacillus: oxidizes S to form sulfate (SO42-)
Autotrophic bacteria: oxidizes Mn & Fe to less available form
Nitrifying or N-fixing bacteria such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrosococcus,
Nitrobacter and Nitrococcus: convert ammonia (NH3) or ammonium (NH4+)
to nitrite (NO2-) and nitrite to nitrate (NO3-), a form available for
absorption by plant roots.
Rhizobium: bacterium that inhabits the roots of legumes in nodules and
capable of fixing N to make N available to plants
Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria): nitrogen-fixing and photosynthetic bacteria

C.2. Topography
- whether the land is flat or sloping
- a major parameter in delineating lowlands and uplands
- In the Philippines, the slope of the land is used as the major determinant; i.e. uplands > 18%
slope
- In crop production, topography is critical in: (1) Irrigation and drainage; (2) soil conservation:
o In flat lands, the problem can be drainage.
o In sloping lands, the problem can be in how to bring water up for irrigation.
o Poor drainage can result into soil fertility problems.
o In sloping lands, soil erosion can be a major problem especially if crop production practices
do not consider soil and water conservation strategies.

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 o To a great extent, CEC is an indicator of soil fertility because most nutrients are taken up
by plants in cation form.
o The soil can also exchange anions.
o Roots of plants also have their own CEC – the exchange therefore depends on the
interaction of soil and root CEC.

C.3. Biotic Factors

- all living elements in the environment that can affect crop production: a) beneficial organisms,
and b) harmful organisms or pests
- Beneficial organisms: provide beneficial effects on crop production; includes:
o Pollinators

important role in the preservation of species and in biodiversity conservation
o Decomposers

an important part in the food chain which is related to energy flow in a crop
production system

at trophic level, usually consisting microorganism (soil biotic factors)

specifically important in the maintenance of soil organic matter
o Natural enemies of pests and pathogens

provide balance in a crop production system particularly in the control of pests

acts as bio-control agents against pests

include predators, parasitoids/ parasites, competitors, and antagonists
- Pests:
o a collective term that includes insect pests, pathogens, weeds, invertebrates and
vertebrates
o has always been a major limiting factor in crop production: damage can go as high as 100%

C.4. Agrometeorological Factors

- Concerned about the relationship of the environment and crop production
- important in forecasting systems
- Important terms:

Climate: the seasonal pattern of a particular place occurring from year to year; composite of
day-to-day weather conditions described in both averages and variability
Weather: a momentary state of atmosphere brought about by the combination of elements;
day-to-day changes of the state or condition of the atmosphere; e.g temperature,
pressure, moisture content, air movements, and radiation.
Macroclimate: the climatic environment one meter above the plant canopy
Microclimate: generally refers to the climatic environment one meter below the canopy in case
of tall plants, or the climate within the leaf canopy for short plants

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- Classifications of Philippine Climate (Source: PAGASA)

Type 1. Two pronounced seasons of wet and dry

season:
Dry (November to April); Maximum rain period (June to
September)
e.g. Ilocos, Occ. Mindoro, Antique, Negros Occidental

Type 2. No dry season with pronounced maximum rain

period
Maximum rain period (December to February); no single
dry month; minimum rainfall period (March to May)
e.g. most of Bohol, Samar, Leyte, Surigao, Agusan, Davao

Type 3. No very pronounced maximum rain period with

short dry season of one to three months
Dry period (either December to February or March to
May); resembles Type 1 climate
e.g. Cagayan, N. Vizcaya,
ya, Capiz, Cebu, Negros Oriental,
Masbate, Mt. Province

Type 4. No pronounced maximum rain period and no

dry season with rainfall evenly distributed throughout
the year
e.g. Isabela, some part of Bohol, Cotabato, Lanao,
Zamboanga, Bukidnon

- The Climatic Elements:

1. Precipitation: is any form of water particle falling on the ground in liquid

liqui or solid form (e.g.
rainfall, hail and snow))
Average rainfall in the Philippines = 2553 mm
• Luzon = 2724 mm
• Visayas = 2391.7 mm
• Mindanao = 2349.8 mm

Role of water in plants

plants:
a. As a reactant in many biological reactions
b. Enters into the structure of biological molecules
c. Serve as medium of transport of nutrient and their substances
d. Helps regulate plant temperature

Categories of plants based on need for moisture

moisture:
a. Xerophytes: require less amount of water; e.g. desert plants
b. Hydrophytes:: requires large amount of water; e.g. aquatic plants
c. Mesophytes:: requires sufficient amount of water (not less, not too much); e.g. land plants;
most economically important plants

Factors affecting rainfall volume and distribution

distribution:
a. Topography:: conformation of land including slopes; greatly influences the amount and
distribution of rainfall.

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 o Mountain ranges present barriers to clouds, causing them to rise to higher elevations
and generally colder temperatures causing vapor to condense and water to fall on the
windward side as the clouds pass over, leaving the leeward side relatively dry.
o e.g. Los Baños in Laguna and Sto. Tomas in Batangas. Sto. Tomas is drier than Los
Baños due to the presence of Mt. Makiling.
b. Air circulation patterns affect the seasonal distribution of precipitation
c. High relative humidity (RH)
d. Sufficiently low temperature (below condensation point)
e. Condensation nuclei
f. Sufficiently low pressure

Drought: insufficiency of rainfall/moisture which seriously affect plant growth

a. Absolute Drought: 29 consecutive days without rainfall of at least 0.25 mm
b. Partial drought: 15 consecutive days without rainfall of at least 0.25 mm

2. Temperature: the degree of hotness or coldness of a body

- Every chemical, physiological and biological process in plants is influenced by temperature.

Three (3) cardinal temperatures

a. Minimum temperature: that temperature below which the velocity of the reaction
becomes zero, due to the deactivation of the enzymes.
b. Optimum temperature: temperature when the velocity of the reaction is at maximum.
c. Maximum temperature: that temperature above which the velocity of the reaction
becomes zero, due to the desaturation of enzymes.

Temperature of the environment depends upon

a. Solar radiation: vertical rays are more energy efficient per unit area that oblique rays (in
polar regions)
b. Surrounding land mass or bodies of water
c. Altitude: for every 100 meter rise in elevation, there is a 0.6 °C decrease in temperature.

In the Philippines: High elevation = 13.2 – 24.6 °C; Low elevation = 23.3 – 31.5 °C
Classification of crops according to temperature requirement
a. Cool season crops – e.g. cole crops like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower
b. Warm season crops – e.g. rice and banana
c. Tropical – e.g. coconut
d. Sub-tropical – e.g. citrus

Effect of temperature on crops

- Generally, crop growth and development are affected by temperature; Some crops have
specific responses to temperature such as celery which requires vernalization.
- Vernalization: some crops have specific temperature requirement before they can flower
(e.g. celery seeds need to be exposed to 4.4 - 10°C for 10 days under imbibed condition to
germinate).

3. Wind or air in horizontal motion

- Normal wind speed in the Philippines = 7.2 km/hr
- At 30 km/hr = leaf tearing may already occur especially in banana and abaca

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 Effects of wind on plants
a. Increase transpiration
b. Destructive effects of strong winds and typhoons (e.g., crop lodging, grain shortening)
c. Sterility due to loss of pollen
d. Disease spore dispersal
e. Reduced CO2 levels especially in enclosed areas
f. Affects plant form
- Air circulation in the atmosphere results from the sun’s radiation falling more directly
on the tropical regions than on the polar regions, the warmer air rises and flow
forward the poles, cools and sinks as cold polar air and then returns toward the
equator as ground flow.
- The interactions cause the establishment of regions, large and small, each with a
different climate.

4. Solar radiation or light: energy or radiation given out by the sun

Effect of light on plants:

a. Photoenergetic effect: direct effect on photosynthesis (intercepted radiation important)
b. Photocybernetic effect: effect on plant development (light quality is rather important than
quantity of light)
c. Photoperiodic effect (or response): plant response as conditioned by daylength

Three aspects important to plants:

a. Light intensity: expressed in foot candle or lux.
- Plants are generally spaced so that maximum area is exposed to sunlight
- Some plants do not require high light intensity (shade-loving) because they have low
light saturation point.
- Some plants require subdued light to survive. e.g. some ornamentals
b. Duration or daylength: expressed in hours per day
c. Wavelength: expressed in Angstrom or nanometers or identified by color.
- Not all wavelength of light are equally effective
- Effects of wavelength:

In Photosynthesis: red and blue wavelength

In Photoperiodism: far red and red wavelength

Classification of plants according to light intensity requirements:

a. Heliophytes: sun loving
- Light saturated at about 5000 foot candles; e.g. banana, chrysanthemum, corn
cotton, cowpea, cucurbits, eggplant, papaya, peanut, sugarcane.
b. Sciophytes: shade loving
- Light saturated at about 500 foot candles; e.g. ginger, African violet, ferns,
philodendron, coffee, begonia and black pepper.
- Plants belonging to the intermediate group may be converted through
acclimatization into either heliophytes or sciophytes.

Classification of plants according to photoperiodic response:

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 a. Day neutral: will flower over a wide range of daylength; e.g. banana, citrus, coconut, corn
and tomato
b. Short-day plant: requires a dark period exceeding some critical length to induce flowering;
e.g. coffee, kenaf, lima bean, rice, sesame, soybean, and winged bean; For cassava, sweet
potato, taro and yambean, short-day condition is required for tuber formation.
c. Long-day plant – inhibited from flowering when the dark period exceeds some critical
length; e.g. aster, castor oil, onion and radish

5. Relative humidity: proportion or amount of moisture in the air

- Average RH in the Philippines = 82%
- Importance in Crop Production:
a. Pest and disease incidences e.g., powdery wildew
b. Postharvest behavior of commodities:
Very dry atmosphere→wilbng
High humidity→not conducive to gain drying enhance mold, and aflatoxin buildup
c. Supplying water requirement during crop production
Low RH, high temperature→high evapotranspirabon
High RH, high temperature→low evapotranspirabon

6. Gaseous environment
Carbon dioxide
- hardly limiting in crop production except at high intensities with no or little air circulation
in dense plant population
- critical in enclosed environment like greenhouses
Air pollution
- becomes crucial as the world becomes more industrialized
- toxic substances: lead, sulfur dioxide, smog, carbon monoxide, hydrofluoric acid (HF)

7. Cloudiness
- Cloud, including smog and fog affect the amount of radiation received by plants. Most of
the solar radiation is reflected by clouds.
- Clouds are also believed to be responsible for the greenhouse effect:
o Clouds, acting similarly as glass covering of a greenhouse, stop the transfer of thermal
radiant energy from the earth to the cold sky thereby slowing down the cooling
process of the earth.
o On the global scale, air and water molecules present on clouds trap long-wave
radiation and reduce their outward flow to the space because the shorter wavelengths
reaching the earth’s surface when re-radiated as longer waves cannot pass through
the clouds as readily as the shorter wavelengths.

8. Climatic Stresses
a. Typhoon: strong winds with speed greater than 121 kph;
- Tropical depression → Storm → Typhoon
- Usually originate from the Pacific Ocean; circulation (800 km diameter) with a low
central pressure (-72 cm Hg) with air spirals toward the calm eye (30 km diameter).
b. Ozone destruction
Ozone: protective shield against the harmful UV rays; 6-30 miles above the earth
- Ozone destruction: reported to be 50% of ozone layer
- Harmful effects:

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 a. depressed photosynthesis
b. reduced levels of seed protein, lipids and carbohydrates
c. Deleterious effects on human (e.g. skin cancer)
c. Global Warming
- Increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- Carbon dioxide concentration might double to around 60 ppm in 30-75 years
- Methane gas contributes to global warming
- Results to high atmospheric temperature which affect he ocean level by a few mm per
year
- Ingress of saline water to a 15km distance inland
- Ocean levels will rise by as much as 30 cm in year 2010 and up to 150 cm by 2050.
d. El Niño
- a periodic ocean-warming and atmospheric disturbance characterized by deficient
rainfall or prolonged drought in some areas, while heavy rains, storms or hurricanes
occur in other areas of the globe
- For the past 30 years, the Philippines has been hit by (7) seven El Niño episodes.
- triggered when the strong westward-blowing trade winds weaken and reverse
direction.
- The 1982-83 episode is rated as the most intense in the past century.
- The 1997-98 episode has comparable intensity – bringing immense damage to
Philippine crops, water/electric supply aside from contributing to poisoning of sea
foods (red tide).
Origin of El Niño
- From the Spanish word meaning “Boy child or Little child”
- Used to be considered as a local event along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador –
describing the appearance of warm ocean currents flowing to the South and Central
American coasts around Christmas time – believing that the temporary heavy harvest
of fish was a gift from the Christ child.
El Niño Watch
- El Niño occurs in the Pacific basin every 2 to 9 years. It usually starts during the
Northern winter (December to February). Once established, it lasts until the first half
of the following year, although at times, it stays longer. It exhibits phase-locking in
annual cycles.
Climatic indicators of El Niño in the Philippines include
- delayed onset of the rainy season
- early termination of the rainy season
- weak monsoon activity
- weak tropical cyclones activity
Effects of El Niño
- fish kill especially cold water fish
- tuna and milkfish catch declines
- decrease in yield for most crops
- human death
e. Climate Change: “refers to shifts in the mean state of the climate or in its variability,
persisting for an extended period (decades or longer). Climate change may be due to
natural changes or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the
atmosphere or in land use” (USAID Definitions are based on IPCC Climate Change 2001 and
2007 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability reports as well as OECD’s report, “Bridge Over
Troubled Waters” and an article prepared by OECD staff, Levina and Tirpak).

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 f. Acid Rain
- Sulfur dioxide produces S which is released from natural sources and human activities
- Oxides of S and water will produce acid rain.
g. Lahar
- Unproductive soil as a result of a recent volcanic eruption
- Lead to decrease in agricultural lands resulting to low production
- Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the early 1990’s

D. G x E interaction
- some particular elements of the environment may draw varying responses from different genotypes
- a high-yielding variety grown in poor environment will have low yield
- a low-yielding variety grown in optimum (good) environment will still have low yield

E. Human Factors
- Human is merely one of the biological components of the environment, however, his impact to
crop production is huge.
- often overlooked but probably the most critical of all factors
- from a system perspective, it is not only a factor, rather it is the core of the system itself (it is the
reason for crop production, for farming)
- Impact of humans to crop production:
1. Farmer’s preference
- crop, type, and variety
- ideally based on farmer’s objectives and aspirations
- however, in the Philippines, this is often dictated by external factors, i.e. market and
government policies
2. Farmer’s capability
- depends on resources, knowledge
- most Filipino farmers are resource-poor
- our culture is very rich with indigenous knowledge particularly about farming
- e.g. economic and social knowledge
3. Management
- Based on preference and capability
- goes along with eco-social-political realities
- e.g. eco-social and political observations

Practical implications of knowing the factors affecting crop production:

1. Need for continuous development of improved varieties/cultivars.
2. Develop management practices that can remove or avoid environmental constraints.
3. Continuously assess G x E interactions.

Development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)

- In crops, GMOs are called transgenic crops.
- in countries like the USA, Argentina, Canada and China, transgenic crops have been commercialized
- Year 1996 to 2001: global production area for transgenic crops (e.g. soybean, cotton, corn and
canola) increased from 0 to 50 million hectares
- transgenic crops: corn, tomato, soybean, cotton and potato
- e.g. transgenic crops:
1. Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato: first commercial food product derived from a transgenic crop variety;
commercialized in year 1994 (presently no longer available in the market); Recombinant DNA and

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 transformation techniques allow plant breeders to use genes from essentially any source as tools for
crop improvement.
2. GoldenRice: accumulation of beta-carotene (which is converted into vitamin A when consumed by
animals) in rice grains: scientists used genes from daffodil, pea, a bacterium, and a virus. Transgenic
plant methods enable these four well characterized genes to be inserted into a transgenic plant,
producing a highly specific change in only the trait of interest.
3. Bt corn: Corn that has been inserted with BT toxin gene from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria in order
for the corn to be poisonous to corn borer (with alkaline gut) but not to humans (with acidic
stomach).

Concerns about GMOs:

- possible transfer of transgene to other microorganisms like soil microorganisms
- possible effects of product on non-target organisms
- possible faster pest adaptation
- possible production of allergenic and/or toxic substances
- possible effects of transgenic products themselves

V. SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION

A. Man and crops in an ecosystem
Crop production is affected by humans and their interaction with their environment for (1) energy,
(2) supply of materials, and (3) removal of wastes.

Ecology: the science that investigates organisms in relation to their environment; Origin of the word:
oikos (meaning “house”) and –ology (meaning to “study”).

1. Definition of Ecosystems/Agroecosystem
• Ecosystem: a community of living organisms and the abiotic framework that supports them;
basic functional unit of nature including living and non-living components and their interactions.

Fundamental steps in ecosystem functioning:

Reception of energy
↓
Production of organic materials by producers
↓
Consumption of these materials by consumers and further elaboration
↓
Decomposition of organic compounds
↓
Transformation to forms suitable for nutrition of the producers

Fundamental concepts of productivity of an ecosystem:

1.1. Standing crop: abundance of organism in the area; expressed as biomass or energy content
2.1. Material removal: organisms removed from the ecosystem by migration or withdrawal; yield
(human perspective)
3.1. Production rate: speed at which the processes of growth are progressing

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Important terms in Ecology:
Habitat: location of existence or residence of an organism; e.g. under a rock
Niche: total role or profession of an organism in the community; e.g. photosynthesizing
organisms such as plants
Community: a group of populations occurring in the same geographical area
Species: groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations, that are
reproductively isolated from other such groups
Population: a collection of individuals of one species that exists in some defined geographical
area
Guild: a group of species that exploit the same resource in a similar manner

Two most important aspects in ecosystem functioning:

a. Energy flow: sunlight powers all activities of life on earth; energy from sunlight is captured
by photosynthesizing organisms, i.e. plants, and transferred unto succeeding organisms, i.e.
consumers; every transfer of energy results to loss as heat.
b. Chemical cycling: chemicals cycle around and do not leave the ecosystem, instead, they are
transformed (changed in form) and recycled continuously.

Flow of Energy
a. Primary productivity: amount of energy stored by autotrophs in organic form over a given
time period; high in estuaries and tropical rain forests while low in deserts and oceans
b. Trophic levels: describe the feeding relationships among components of the ecosystem;
related to food chain and food web; about 10% of the energy captured by or transferred to
an organism is converted into biomass or bodies of the organism but the higher the trophic
level, the less energy is available to sustain an organism.
Primary producers: autotrophs, e.g. plants, capture energy from sunlight
Consumers:
 Herbivores: primary consumers, only feed on the producers
 Carnivores: secondary consumers or higher, feed on herbivores
 Omnivores: primary consumers or higher, feed on both producers and consumers

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Cycling of Nutrients: depicts the movement of a particular nutrient (e.g. abiotic component)
from its reservoir through the food web and back to its reservoir for use by the producers

Atmosphere is one of the reservoirs of chemicals or elements. Below is the composition of

Earth's Dry Atmosphere (Year 2009; Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, US-NOAA at www.esrl.noaa.gov)

Nitrogen = 78.1% Carbon dioxide = 0.039% Sulfur Hexafluoride =

Oxygen = 20.9% Methane = 0.00018% 0.00000000067%
Argon = 0.9% Nitrous oxide = 0.000032%

a. Carbon Cycle: CO2 (carbondioxide) is the form present in the reservoir such as in the
atmosphere, ocean and ice, and enters the producers through photosynthesis.

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 Source: US-NOAA at www.esrl.noaa.gov

b. Nitrogen Cycle: Eventhough, 78.1% of atmospheric gases is nitrogen, it is not in available

form, thus must be converted into forms available to plants such as ammonia (NH4+) and
nitrate (NO3-). Thoroughly study the N cycle below to better understand the importance of
this cycle to nutrient availability for plants:

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Source: Joanne LaRuffa, Wade Thomason, Shannon Taylor, Heather Lees. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State
University, at www.nue.okstate.edu

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 Physical and Biological laws and principles that govern energy transformation in the ecosystem:
a. Energy conservation: In the universe, the amount of energy is constant, thus, may be
transformed from one form to another but never destroyed.
b. Energy transformation and dissipation: In the process of transformation, energy is dissipated
from a state of order to disorder, from usable to non-usable, increasing disorder and unusability
(called entropy).
Pollution: occurs when human activities resulted to higher nutrient concentration than the natural
cycle can absorb; also when chemicals release caused injury to living things.
a. Eutrophication: overproduction of natural substances causing disruption of normal ecosystem
functioning due to the release of large quantities of wastes from animal sources; e.g. humans,
livestocks and cattle
b. Greenhouse effect: dramatic change in climate towards extreme heating of the atmosphere due
to excessive release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases such as methane, from
combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation
c. Poisoning: death or health consequences to humans and disruption of natural ecosystem
functioning due to exposure to toxic levels of chemicals such as lead, asbestos, pesticides and
dioxins from mining and industrial processing and agricultural production

• Agroecosystem: an ecosystem that resulted from human intervention in the environment and its
components
Systems approach in crop production:

Environment

Inputs → Systems → Output

(resources) (yield)

System: consists of components such as crops, processes, and activities

Inputs: controllable, manageable resources such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides
Output: response of the system to inputs; e.g. yield
Environment: uncontrollable factors external to the crop but part of the system

B. Production systems and crop management

1. Lowland: land or area free of dissolved oxygen for few days due to accumulation of ground
water or water from other sources; waterlogged or paddy soil) e.g. rice production area
Characteristics:
• Physical:
 May be at or near a water-table
 May have deep water-table but with impermeable surface due to puddling when wet or
compacting (hard pan) of the subsurface
 Puddled flooded soil has two zones:
 Upper zone: absorbs oxygen from water; brown in color (oxidized state); reacts to
nitrogen like an unflooded upland soil
 Lower zone: dark or blue gray in color; iron compounds lose their oxygen forming
the reduced state

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 • Chemical:

Increases availability of native soil phosphorus and added phosphorus from fertilizers
due to increased solubility of iron, aluminum, manganese and calcium which releases P

At very low pH and high iron levels, iron becomes toxic to plants. This can be
counteracted by:
 Liming: ground limestone (calcium carbonate), lime (calcium oxide), hydrated lime
(calcium hydroxide) and dolomite (calcium-magnesium carbonate)
 Irrigating and draining the soil intermittently
 Adding sulfur-bearing materials
• Biological:

Slower organic decomposition due to lower oxygen level than the upland
2. Upland: land or area with high elevation or unsaturated with water; e.g. maize production area
• Physical: brown in color (Oxidized state)
• Chemical: aerated condition causing chemical binding of P with other elements such as Fe,
Al, Mn, and Ca
C. Features of sustainable crop production
1. Sustainable Agriculture Concept
• Sustainable: from Latin sustinere, meaning to keep in existence; implying permanence or
long-term support
• Sustainable Agriculture:
 encompasses many different crop production methods, systems, and approaches that
aim to meet the goals of profitability, stewardship, and quality of life
 long term maintenance of productivity and usefulness to society
 environmentally-sound, resource-conserving, economically viable and socially
supportive and commercially competitive
 seeks to provide more profitable farm income, promote environmental stewardship,
and enhance quality of life for farm families and communities
 Approaches under the umbrella of sustainable agriculture:
 integrated pest management,
 integrated crop management,
 low input agriculture (sustainable and external),
 agroecology,
 permaculture,
 biodynamic farming
 organic farming
• “It is a mistake to equate sustainable agricultural systems with organic ones. A restriction on
the use of inorganic chemicals is not a sufficient condition for sustainability, but it may not
even be a necessary condition” (Hodge 1993)
• Main challenge: ”increased productivity of agriculture in a sustainable manner”
From focus on increased productivity → To holistic integration of Natural Ressource
alone Management with food and nutritional
security
Soil degradation → Food security
• Erosion • Yield reduction
• Compaction • Efficiency of input use reduced
• Crusting and salinization • Micro nutrient deficiency
• Nutrient mining
• Loss of soil organic matter

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2. Diversification

Diversity: the level of variation in a given component of ecosystem organization (i.e. species
diversity, genetic diversity)

3. Resource conservation and regeneration

Cropping system: refers to the crop or its sequence, its spatial and temporal arrangement or
pattern, and the practices or processes involved in growing it.

Different cropping systems:

a. Monocropping: growing a single type of crop in a land
b. Multiple cropping: growing 2 or more types of crop in the same land; includes three types:
 Succession planting: growing two or more crops one after another
 Relay planting: planting a crop in the same area as another crop is about to be harvested
 Intercropping or companion or mixed or multi-storey cropping: growing different crops in
alternate rows (inter/ companion cropping), in no definite arrangement (mixed cropping), or
with different heights (multi-storey).

Traditional practices:

Tillage: mechanical manipulation of the soil, e.g. stirring of the soil manually or with the use of
machines, to provide favorable environment for crop growth
Purpose of tillage:
a. Weed control
b. To incorporate organic materials and/or fertilizers into the soil
c. To turn soil into “soft puddle” for easy transplanting
d. To prevent formation of hard layer (plow pan)
Plowing: inverts the soil and pulverizes lumps; two types of plow: (1) moldboard and (2) disk plow.
Harrowing: done to further reduce size of soil clods, to smooth and level soil surface, and control
weeds; Six types of harrows: (1) disk, (2) spike-tooth, (3) spring-tooth, (4) rotary, (5) cross harrow,
and (6) soil surgeon.
Cultivation or intertillage: tillage between seedling emergence and crop harvest; with the following
benefits:
a. Weed control
b. Improved water infiltration and soil aeration
c. Moisture conservation
d. Loosened compacted soil
Types of cultivators:
a. Row-crop cultivators
b. Field cultivators
c. Rotary hoes
d. Rototillers

Drainage: removal of excess ground or surface water by artificial means such as by (1) surface
drainage using surface ditches, and (2) sub-surface drainage using perforated tubings underground

Irrigation: applying water into the field to increase water content of the soil for plant growth using
methods such as (1) gravity system, (2) sprinkler system, and (3) drip system.

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 Practices/ concepts under sustainable agriculture (Conservation Agriculture):

Minimum tillage: soil management concept in which residues from previous season remains in the
field and the next crop is planted by drilling into the soil with little or no-tillage (No-till system)
Mulching: soil moisture conservation by covering soil surface using a mulch (protective soil cover)
Run-off control in slopes:
a. Terracing: cutting land into wide flat steps where water can accumulate in the furrows to
encourage infiltration
b. Contour ploughing: ploughing in such a way that furrows are orientated around the slope which
will allow accumulation of water for infiltration
c. Strip cropping: different crops are planted in strips across the general slope to slow down run-
off
d. Tillage and weed control: cultivation to maintain fine tilth and good infiltration, while
discouraging growth of weeds
e. Fallow: leaving a land free of any plant to allow it to accumulate moisture

4. Productivity and stability of production systems

Productivity: related to yield and other aspects of crop production

Stability: the ability of an ecosystem to return to equilibrium following a perturbation

D. Other aspects of Agricultural Production

1. Biotechnology and other recent advances in crop production system
As mentioned in previous section of this manual:

Biotechnology: (broad definition) refers to the use of living organisms or their components to
provide useful products. e.g. making wine, beer, or bread; composting organic materials; releasing
parasitic wasps to control insect pests; breeding plants or animals; and producing crops and
livestock.

2. Government programs on agriculture and conservation

• R.A. 8749 (Clean Air Act of 1999)
• R.A. 8435 (Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997)
• R.A. 9003 (Solid Waste Management Act of 2000)
• R.A. 9275 (Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004):
• Administrative Order 171, Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC)
• R.A. 9729 (Climate Change Act of 2009)

VI. SCIENTIFIC NAMES

A. Cereal or Grain Crops

Common Name Local Name Scientific Name
1. Rice Palay Oryza sativa
2. Corn Mais Zea mays
3. Millet Dawa Eleusine coracana,
Penisetum typhoides
4. Sorghum --- Sorghum vulgare
5. Wheat Trigo Triticum aestivum

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B. Grain Legumes or Pulses
Common Name Local Name Scientific Name

1. Common pea Chicharo Pisum sativum

2. Cowpea Paayap, Kibal Vigna sinensis
3.Hyacinth bean Bataw Lablab purpureus
syn. Dolichos lablab
4. Kidney Bean, Snap Bean Red Bean, Habichuelas Phaseolus vulgaris
5. Lima bean Patani Phaseolus lanatus
6. Mungbean Munggo Vigna radiata
7. . Peanut Mani Arachis hypogaea
8. Pigeon pea Kadios Cajanus cajan
9. Soybean Utaw Glycine max
C. Root and Tuber Crops
Common Name Local Name Scientific Name
1. Arrow root --- Maranta arundinacea
2. Cassava, Tapioca Kamoteng kahoy, Balanghoy Manihot esculenta
3. Elephant’s ear Biga, Badiang Alocasia macorrhiza
4. Gabi, Taro Gabi Colocasia esculentum
5. Sweet potato Kamote Ipomoea batatas
6. White potato, Irish potato Patatas Solanum tuberosum
7. Yam Ubi Dioscorea alata
8. Yam bean Sinkamas Pacchirhizus erosus
9. Yacon Yakon Polymnia sanchifolia
10. - - - Tugue, Tam-is, Apali Dioscorea fasciculate
D. Fiber Crops
Common Name Local Name Scientific Name
1. Abaca, Manila hemp Abaca Musa textiles
2. Cotton Bulak, Algodon Gossypium hirsutum
3. Cotton tree Kapok, Doldol Ceiba pentandra
4. Jute --- Corchorus olitorius
5. Kenaf --- Hibiscus sabdariffa
6. Maguey, Sisal hemp --- Agave cantala
7. Ramie --- Boehmeria nivea
8. Screw pine Pandan Pandanus sp.
E. Pasture and Forage Crops
Common Name Scientific Name
1. Carabao grass Paspalum conjugatum
2. Guinea grass Panicum maximum
3. Kennedy ruzi Brachiaria ruziziensis
4. Napier grass Pennisetum purpureum
5. Pangola grass Digitaria decumbens
6. Para grass Brachiaria mutica
7. Signal grass Brachiaria decumbens
8. Stargrass Cynodon plectostachyus
Improved Legume Pasture Crops
Common Name Local name Scientific Name
1. Calopo Munggu-munggo Calopogonium muconoides
2. Centro --- Centrosema pubescens

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3. Ipil-ipil --- Leucaena leucocephala
4. Kudzu --- Pueraria phaseoloides
5. Siratro --- Macroptilium atropurpureum
6. Stylo --- Stylosanthes guyanensis
7. Townsville stylo --- Stylosanthes humilis
F. Industrial Crops
Common Name Local name Scientific Name
1. Castor bean Tangan-tangan Ricinus communis
2. Physic nut Tubang bakod, Tuba-tuba, Jatropha curcas
Kasla
3. Sugarcane Tubo Saccharum officinarum
4. Tobacco Tabako Nicotiana tabacum

II. HORTICULTURAL CROPS

A. Olericultural or Vegetable Crops

Common Name Local Name Scientific Name

1. Asparagus Asparagus Asparagus officinalis
2. Bell pepper, sweet pepper Atsal Capsicum annum
3. Bitter gourd Ampalaya, Paliya Momordica charantia
4. Bottle gourd Upo Lagenaria siceraria
5. Bush sitao --- Vigna sinensis x V. sesquipedales
6. Cabbage Repolyo Brassica oleracea
7. Carrot Karot Daucos carota
8. Chile pepper, Hot pepper Sili Capsicum frutescens
9. Cucumber Pipino Cucumis sativus
10. Eggplant Talong Solanum melongena
11. Garlic Bawang, Ahos Allium sativum
12. Ginger Luya Zingiber officinale
13. Horse raddish Malunggay, Kamunggay Moringa oleifera
14. Lettuce Letsugas Lactuca sativa
15. Luffa, Sponge gourd Patola Luffa acutangula,
Luffa cylindrica
16. Malabar nightshade Alugbate, Libato Basella rubra
17. Muskmelon Melon Cucumis melo
18. Mustard Mustasa Brassica juncea
19. Okra, Gumbo, Lady finger Okra Abelmoschus esculentus
20. Onion Sibuyas Allium cepa
21. Pechay Pechay Brassica napus
22. Pole sitao Sitaw, Balatong, Vigna sesquipedales
Latoy, String bean
23. Raddish Labanos Raphanus sativus
24. Squash Kalabasa Cucurbita maxima
25. Tomato Kamatis Lycopersicon esculentum
26. Turmeric plant Dilao, Duwaw, Curcuma longa
Kalawag
27. Watermelon Sandia Citrullus lanatus
28. Water cabbage Kangkong Ipomoea aquatica

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29. Winged bean, Asparagus bean Sequidellas, Balagay, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Calamismis
30. --- Kamote-kamote Ipomoea triloba

B. Pomological or Fruit Crops

Common Name Local Name Scientific Name

1. Acerola, Barbados cherry, Acerola Malpighia glabra

West Indian cherry
2. Alligator Pear, Guaca mole Avocado Persea americana
3. Apple Mansanas Mallus domestica
Annona spp:
4. Custard apple Anonas Annona reticulata
5. Soursop Guyabano, Ubana Annona muricata
6. Sugar apple Atis Annona squamosa
Artocarpus spp.
7. Breadfruit Rimas, Kulo (seedless) Artocarpus altilis
8. Breadnut Kamansi (seeded) Artocarpus altilis “Seminifera”
9. Jackfruit Langka, Nangka Artocarpus heterophyllus
10. Marang Marang Artocarpus odoratissimus
11. Australian bush nut, Macadamia Macadamia integrifolia
Queensland nut
Averrhoa spp.
12. Cucumber tree. Bilimbi Kamias, Iba Averrhoa bilimbi
13. Starfruit, Carambola Balimbing Averrhoa carambola
14. Bangkiling --- Cicca acida
15. Canistel, Egg-fruit, Yellow Tiesa Pouteria campechiana
sapote
16. Cashew Kasoy Anacardium occidentale
17. Chinese laurel, Salamander Bignay Antidesma bunius
tree
18. - - - Inyam Antidesma ghaesembilla
Citrus spp.
19. Lime, Sour lime, Dayap, Biasong, Suha Citrus aurantifolia
Common lime
20. Mandarin Sintones Citrus reticulata
21. Pomelo, Pummelo Kabugaw, Buongon Citrus maxima
22. Sweet orange Kahel Citrus sinensis
23. China orange, Kalamondin, Kalamansi, X Citrofortunella microcarpa
Golden lime Lemonsito Syn. Citrus microcarpa
Diospyrus spp.
24. Black sapote, Black Zapote negro Diospyrus digyna
persimmon
25. Velvet apple Mabolo, Kamagong Diospyros blancoi
26. Durian Durian, Dulian Durio zibethinus
27. Grape Ubas Vitis vinifera
28. Guava Bayabas Psidium guajava
29. Indian jujube Manzanitas,Gensan apple Ziziphus mauritania

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30. Jamaica cherry, Capulin Datiles, Manzanitas Muntingia calabura
31. Langsat Lanzones, Buahan Lansium domestichum
Litchi spp.
32. Lychee Letsias Litchi chinensis
33. - - - Alupag Litchi philippinensis
34. Longan Longan Dimocarpus longan
Mangifera spp.
35. - - - Paho, Pahutan, Mangifera altissima
Pangamangaen
36. Mango Mangga, Carabao mango, Mangifera indica
Mangga Cebu, Mangga
Guimaras,
37. Binjai Baluno, Bauno, Bayuno Mangifera caesia
38. Kuwini Huani, Uani, Juani Mangifera odorata
39. Mangosteen Manggustan, Manggis Garcinia mangostana
40. Melon tree, Pawpaw Papaya Carica papaya
Musa spp.
Autopolyploid forms (AA, AAA and AAAA) Musa acuminata
Hybrid forms (AB, AAB, ABB and ABBB) Musa x paradisiaca
(M. acuminata x M. balbisiana)
41. Lakatan Musa (AA group) “Lakatan”
42. Dwarf Cavendish Musa (AAA group) “Dwarf
Cavendish”

43. Giant Cavendish Musa (AAA group) “Giant

Cavendish”
44. Latundan Musa (AAB group) “Latundan”
45. Katali Musa (ABB group) “Katali”
46. Saba Musa (BBB group) “Saba”
47. Naseberry, Sapodilla, Chico Manilkara zapote
Chicle Tree
Passiflora spp.
48. Passion fruit, Passionara, Pasionara Passiflora edulis
Granadilla
49. Giant granadilla --- Passiflora quadrangularis
50. Pilinut Pili Canarium ovatum
51. Pineapple Piña Ananas comosus
52. Pomegranate Granada Punica granatum
53. Rambutan Rambutan, Usan Nephelium lappaceum
54. Spanish joint fir, Melinjo Bago, Banago Gnetum gnemon
55. Santol, Kechapi, Sentol Santol Sandoricum koetjapi
Spondias spp.
56. Ambarella, Great hog plum, Hevi (probably Gensan Spondias cytherea
Otaheite apple mango)
57. Red mombin, Spanish Siniguelas Spondias purpurea
plum
58. Star apple Caimito Chrysophyllum cainito
Syzygium spp.

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 59. Bell fruit, Water apple Tambis Syzygium aqueum
60. Jambolan, Black plum Duhat, Lomboy Syzygium cumini

61. Roseapple, Malabar Tampoy Syzygium jambos

plum

62. Malay apple, Pomerac Makopang-kalabaw, Yanbu, Syzygium malaccense

Tersana
63. Wax jambu, Java Macopa Syzygium samarangense
apple
64. Tamarind Sampalok, Sambag Tamarindus indica
C. Ornamental Crops

C.1 Flowering Ornamental

Common Name Scientific Name
1. African violet Saintpaullia ionantha
2. Anthurium, Flamingo flower Anthurium andraeanum
3. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium
4. Crown of Thorns Euphorbia sp.
5. Gladiolus Gladiolus spp.
6. Orchids Plalaenopsis, Vanda, Dendrobium spp. etc
7. Rose Rosa spp.
8. Rose of China Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
local name: Gumamela
9. Sampaguita Jasminum sambac
10. Santan Ixora coccinea
11. Temple flower, Graveyard flower Plumiera acutifolia
local name: Kalachuchi

C.2 Foliage Ornamental

1. Begonia Begonia spp.
2. Caladium Caladium bicolor
local name: Corazon de Maria
3. Croton Codiaeum variegatum
local name: San Fransisco
4. Coleus Coleus blumei
local name: Mayana
5. Dumbcane Dieffenbachia amoena
local name: Bakia
6. Duranta Duranta repens
local name: Duranta
7. Dracaena
Belgian evergreen Dracaena sanderana
Fortune plant Dracaena fragrams
Spotted leaf or Gold-dust dracaena Dracaena surcolosa
Tricolor Dracaena marginata “Tricolor”
8. Ferns

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 Birdsnest fern Asplenium nidus
local name: Pakpak lawin
Boston fern Nephrolepis exaltata
Fishtail fern Microsorium punctatum syn. Polypodium punctatum
Giant staghorn fern Platycerium grande
local name: Capa de Leon
9. Fig, Strangler fig, Ficus Ficus spp.
local name: Balete
Benjamin fig Ficus benjamina
local name: Balete
Indian Rubber tree Ficus elastica
local name: Niog-niogan Ficus pseudopalma
10. Gout plant Jatropha podagrica
local name: Ginseng
11. Kamuning Murraya sp.
local name: Kamuning
12. Palms
Macarthur palm Ptychosperma macarthurii
Manila palm, Christmas palm Vietchia mervilli
local name: Bungang Tsina
Royal palm Roystonea regia
Ruffled Fan palm Livistona rotundifolia
local name: Anahaw
Yellow palm Chrysalidocarpus lutescens
13. Poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima
December plant
14. Song of Jamaica Pleomele reflexa
15. Song of India Pleomele reflexa “Variegata”
16. Traveller’s tree, Traveller’s palm Ravenala madagascariensis

D. Plantation Crops
Common Name Local Name Scientific Name
1. Cacao --- Theobroma cacao
2. Coconut Niyog, Lubi Cocos nucifera
3. Coffe Kape Coffea spp. (Coffea arabica, C.
canephora etc)
4. Rubber tree --- Hevea brasiliensis

III. WEEDS (HARMFUL PLANTS)

A. Grasses
Common Name or Local Name Scientific Name
1. - - - Echinochloa glabrescens
2. Barnyard grass Echinocloa crusgali
3. Jungle rice Echinocloa colona
4. Itchgrass, Aguingay, Bungag Rottboellia exaltata

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 5. Cogon Imperata cylindrical
6. Talahib, Bugang Saccharum spontaneum
7. Bracken fern Pterydium aquilinum
8. Amorseco Chrysopogon aciculatus
9. Bagokbok Themeda triandra
10. Bermuda grass Cynodon dactylon
11. Goosegrass, Palagtiki Eleusine indica
12. Crowfoot grass Dactyloctenium aegytium
13. Kawit-kawitan, Madjong-madjong Cenchrus echinatus
14. Koros-korosan Chloris barbata
15. Crabgrass, Baludgangan, Halos Digitaria ciliaris
B. Sedges
Common Name or Local Name Scientific Name
1. Small-flower umbrella plant Cyperus difformis
2. Rice flat segde Cyperus iria
3. Balangot Cyperus malaccensis
4. Purple nutsedge, Mutha Cyperus rotundus
5. Bulrush Scirpus maritmus
C. Broadleaf
Common Name or Local Name Scientific Name
1. Gabing uwak Monochoria vaginalis
2. - - - Spenoclea zeylanica
3. Hagonoy Chromolaena odorata
4. Lantana, Kantutay, Kanding-kanding, Baho-baho Lantana camara
5. Talumpunay, Katsubong Datura metel
6. Makahiya Mimosa pudica
7. Giant makahiya Mimosa invisa
8. Tropic ageratum, Bulak-manok Ageratum conizoides
9. Common purslane, Olasiman Portulaca oleracea
10. Spiny amaranth, Uray, Colitis Amaranthus spinosus
11. Milkweed, Gatas-gatas, Tawa-tawa Euphorbia hirta
12. Three-lope morning glory, Kamote- Ipomea triloba
kamote, Uyampong

IV. PLANTS WITH SPECIAL USES

A. Medicinal
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Acapulco, Sunting* Cassia alata
2. Ampalaya* Momordica charantia
3. Bawang, Garlic, Ahos* Allium sativum
4. Bayabas, Guava* Psidium guajava
5. Lagundi* Vitex negundo
6. Niog-niogan* Quisqualis indica
7. Sambong* Blumea balsamifera
8. Tsaang gubat* Ehretia microphylla
9. Ulasimang bato, Pansit-pansitan* Peperomia pellucida
10. Yerba buena* Mentha cordiflora
11. Banaba Lagerstroemia speciosa

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12. Makabuhay, Paniauan, Manunggal Tinospora sp.
13. Takip-kuhol Centella asiatica
14. Pansit-pansitan ---
15. Ginseng Panax spp.
* have therapeutic uses approved by Department of Health
B. Aromatic or Essential Oil-Producing Plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Citronella Cymbopogon winterianus
local name: Salay
2. Ilang-ilang Cananga odorata
3. Lemon grass Cymbopogon citratus
local name: Tanglad
4. Patchouli Pogostemon cabilin
5. Vetiver grass Vetiveria zizanoides
C. Agroforest Crops
C1. Bamboo
Common or Local Name Scientific Name
1. Kawayan tinik, Kawayan totoo Bambusa blumeana
2. Kawayan kiling Bambusa vulgaris
3. Kawayan Tsina, Bambusa vulgaris “striata”
Yellow bamboo
4. Buddha’s belly Bambusa ventricosa
5. Hedge bamboo Bambusa multiplex
6. Giant bamboo Dendrocalamus asper
local name: Apos
7. Bayog Bambusa blumeana “luzoninsis”
8. Bolo, Botong Gigantochloa levis
9. Buho, Bagakay Schizostachyum lumampao
10. Machiku Dendrocalamus latiflorus
C.2 Forest trees
Common or Local Name Scientific Name
1. Bagras Eucalyptus deglupta
2. Banlag Xylopia ferruginea
3. Falcata Albizia falcataria
4. Gubas Endospermum peltatum
5. Kaatoan bangkal Antocephalus chinensis
6. Mahogany Switenia macrophylla
7. Madre de cacao, Kakawate Gliricidia sepium
8. Molave, Molauin, Tugas Vitex parviflora
9. Neem Azadirachta indica
10. Yemane, Gmelina Gmelina arborea
D. Spices and Condiments
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Black pepper Piper nigrum
2. Pandan Pandanus sp.
3. Sweet basil, Balanoy, Sangig Ocinum basilicum
4. Tabon-tabon, Bagaolan Guettarda speciosa

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5. Vanilla Vanilla planifolia
E. Vegetable Oil and Fat –Producing plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Paraguayan grass Helianthus annuus
2. Sesame, Linga, Lunga Sesamun indicum
F. Sugar-Producing Plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Paraguayan grass Stevia rebaudiana
2. Sugar beet Beta vulgaris
G. Rubber-Producing Plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Guayule Parthenium argentatum
H. Toddy and Sugar-Producing Plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. African oil palm Elaeis guineensis
2. Anahaw Livistona rotundifolia
3. Betel nut palm Areca catechu
4. Buri, Buli Corypha elata
5. Coconut Cocos nucifera
6. Kaong Arenga pinnata or A. saccharifera
7. Nipa Nypa fruticans
I. Dye and Tannin-Producing Plant
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Anatto, Achuete Bixa orellana
2. Bakawan, Bakhaw Rhizophora mucronata
3. Bancudo, Nino, Lino Morinda citrifolia
4. Binonga Macaranda tanarius
5. Indian almond, Talisay Terminalia catappa
6. Pototan, Busain, Bakawan Bruguiera gymnorrhiza

J. Biocidal Plants
Common Name or Local name Scientific Name
1. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium
Source of pyrethrum from flower heads for insect control
2. Garlic, Bawang, Ahos Allium sativum
Used as organic insecticide and fungicide by crushing the cloves by hand then infusing in water for a few
days. Garlic concentrates from garlic extract have been prepared and released commercially
3. Lonchocarpus spp. ---
A leguminous plant, source of rotenone from roots
4. Makabuhay, Paniauan, Manunggal Tinospora orispa
Used as organic molluscicide by direct application in powdered form. Also used in integrated pest
management for rice by root soaking of rice seedlings in makabuhay-water mixture prior to
transplantin; broadcasting of ground vines on dapog seedbed; and immersion of vines along water
runways.
5. Neem tree Azadirachta indica
Source of azadirachtin for insect pest control; neem cake and neem oil can be used directly
6. Tobacco Nicotiana tabacum
Source of nicotine for insect pest control

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7. Tubli Derris eliptica
Source of rotenone from roots for use as piscicide (fish poison), molluscicide against snails, and for
veterinary insect control. Concentrated extract from 1 kg macerated root mixed with ½ kg detergent
soap in 100 liters of water can be directly applied or sprayed to the field for the control of golden snail

VARIETIES OF FRUITS AND PLANTATION CROPS

1. Abaca – Maguindanao, Tangongon, Bongolanon, Tinawagang Puti, Tinawagang Pula, Lausigon, Linawaan,
Minenonga, Linlay
2. Banana – Dwarf Cavendish, Giant Cavendish, Bungulan, Latundan, Lakatan, Saba
3.Cacao – Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario, Upper Amazon x Amelonada, Upper Amazon x Trinitario Hybrid
4. Citrus
a. Mandarin – Szinkom. Ladu, King, Ponkan
b. Sweet Orange – Hamlin, Valencia, Perante
c. Pummelo – Amoy, Siamese, Sunwi – luk
5. Coconut
a. Typica – Laguna, San Ramon, Baybay, Tagnanan, Bago-Oshiro
b. Javanica – Tambolilid, Bilaka, Aromatic Dwarf, Green Dwarf, Makilala
c. Nana – Coconiño, Mangipod, Yellow Dawrf, Pilipog, Red Cameron
Dwarf
d. Spicata – Marure
e. Pag-asa – Gatusan
f. Makapuno
6. Coffee – Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa
7. Durian – Arancillo, Atabrine, Mamer, Chanee, Mon Thong, Oboza, puyat, Lacson #1
8. Grape – White Malaga, Red Cardinal, Concord Black
9. Lanzones – Paete, Duku, Duku-langsat, Longkong, Mindanao
10. Mango – Carabao, Pico, Katchamita or Indian Mango
11. Papaya – Solo (Kapoho, Sunrise, Waimanalo), Cavite Special, Sinta
12. Pineapple – Smooth Cayenne, Queen, Red Spanish
13. Rambutan – Maharlika, Simacan, Sinyonya

Types of Tobacco:
1. Burkley 4. Cigar Filler
2. Turkish 5. Cigar wrapper
3. Virginia
Banana

1. Dwarf Cavendish - First known from China. The plant is from 1.2 to 2.1 m tall, with broad leaves on short
petioles. It is hardy and wind resistant. The fruit is of medium size, of good quality, but thin skinned and
must be handled and shipped with care. This cultivar is easily recognized because the male bracts and
flowers are not shed.
2. Giant Cavendish - The plant reaches 2.7 to 4.9 m. The pseudostem is splashed with dark brown, the bunch is
long and cylindrical and the fruits are longer than those of the “Dwarf” and not as delicate. Male bracts
and flowers are shed, leaving a space between the fruits and the terminal bud.
3. Bungulan - The triploid Cavendish clone of the Philippines. The plant is tall and slender and prone to wind
injury. Its fruit bruise easily and are inclined o spoil in storage. The fruit is medium to large with light green
to greenish-yellow skin, which is thick.

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4. “Latundan” - The most popular dessert banana of the tropics. The plant is 3 to 3.6 m tall, medium in vigor,
very resistant to Sigatoka, but prone to Panama disease. Fruit small to medium, yellow. If left on the bunch
until fully developed, the thin skin splits lengthwise and breaks at the stem and causing the fruit to fall.
5. Lakatan - The most popular dessert cultivar of the Philippines. Fruit medium to large, attractive golden-
yellow when ripe; flesh fine, firm, dry, very sweet and aromatic.
6. Saba - The most important cooking cultivar in the Philippines. Fruit medium to large, stout and angular; skin
thick, yellow; commercially processed into chips and ketchup. The male bud is used as vegetable.

Cacao

1. Criollo - The plump, pale-colored seeds are of superior quality. The pods are generally elongated and
strongly ridged, red or yellow with relatively thin skin. This variety is susceptible to many pests and
diseases.
2. Forastero - The trees are more hardy, vigorous and high yielding. The pods are round, thick-walled, which
turn yellow when ripe and have flat violet seeds; resistant to pod borer. One group of the Forasteros is the
Amenolado, which is more genetically unform
3. Trinitario - Introduced from Trinidad, a cross between Criollo and other varieties which have the Amenolado
features; trees are resistant to pod borers.

Citrus

Pummelo
1. Amoy - Fruit medium to large; rind medium thick and pinkish underneath; flesh pale pink, fairly juicy and
sweet.
2. Siamese - Rind thin, flesh colorless, very juicy, sweet and subacid.
3. Sunwi-luk - Fruit small to large; rind greenish even when well matured; flesh is light
yellow, juicy, peculiarly sweet and pleasant.
Mandarin
1. Ponkan - Introduced cultivar suited to cooler climates. Belongs to the common
mandarins with small spiny trees. Rind and flesh deep yellow, juicy.
2. King - Less resistant to cold than many other mandarins. Fruit large, rind rough, thick
and greenish; flesh dark orange and juicy.
3. Szinkon - Fruit small (about 86 g); yellowish orange when ripe; has a tendency to dry
up when over-ripe
4. Ladu - Fruit medium sized (about 117 g); bright orange when ripe; remains juicy even
when thoroughly ripe.

Sweet Orange

1. Valencia - Widespread in the tropics up to 1600m elevation, A “late” cultivar, taking 8-9
months from bloom to maturity but longer in the highlands. Fruit medium large with few
seeds or none, abundant juice and good flavor.
2. Hamlin Early, high yielding, for warm and humid conditions.
3. Perante Derived from Hamlin, selected in Nueva Viscaya BPI station.

Coconut

1. Typica (Laguna, San Ramon, Baybay, Tagnanan, Bago-Oshiro) - Trees are tall with enlarged and bulbous
boles with normal inflorescence (male dehisce ahead of the female flowers).

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2. Javanica (Tambolilid, Bilaka, Aromatic Dwarf, Green Dwarf, Makilala) - Trees are dwarf to medium in height with
tapering or cylindrical stem base, inflorescence normal; Early to medium bearer with medium to large nuts.
3. Nana (Cocociño, Mangipod, Yello Dwarf, Pilipog, Red Cameron Dwarf) - Dwarf trees with cylindrical and thin
stem base, inflorescence normal; early to medium bearing
with very small nuts
4. Spicata (Marure) - Tall trees with enlarged and bulbous stem base, inflorescence
unbranched with one or two spikes; late bearing with medium-sized nuts.\
5. Pag-asa (Gatusan - Tall trees with enlarged and bulbous boles, female flowers very pronounced on the
inflorescence; late bearing with very small nuts.
6. Makapuno - Tall trees with enlarged and bulbous boles, inflorescence normal; late bearing with medium to
large nuts filled with soft endosperm and very viscous liquid.
7. Hybrids - Early bearers and highly prolific

Mawa – Y (Malayan Yellow Dwarf x West African Tall)

PCA 15 – 1(Catigan Green Dwarf x Laguna Tall)
PCA 15 – 2 (Malayan Red Dwarf x Tagnanan Tall)
PCA 15 – 3 (Malayan Red Dwarf x Baybay Tall)

Coffee

1. Arabica - Small trees and leaves, grows well at high elevation up to 2000 m; more shade loving. Fruits borne
from the same nodes, which fruited the last season. Low yielding, low caffeine content, very good aromatic
and taste quality. Susceptible to coffee rust, suitable for blending.
2. Robusta (Coffea canephora) - Medium-sized tree and leaves, lowland type, self-sterile, can be cultivated in
environments where Arabica will not thrive, tolerant to coffee rust. High yielding, fruits borne from nodes
other than those, which fruited the previous season. High caffeine content with bitter taste but can be
processed to remove undesirable taste. Used for instant soluble coffee manufacturing.3. Liberica -
Believed indigenous to Liberia. A large tree, which can thrive at low elevations. Fruits are borne from the
same nodes, which fruited the last season. High yielding, large berries. Tolerant to rust popularized
through “Kapeng barako” which has strong taste and flavor.
4. Excelsa - Tolerant to rust, higher than Liberica in flavor.

Durian

1. Arancillo - The tree reaches a height of 7-8 meters and has an intermediate to spreading growth habit. The
ovoid, brownish green fruit weighs about 1 560 g with Mimosa yellow, firm and creamy flesh. It has wild
aroma. It is prolific and consistent, has excellent eating quality and bears-off season fruit.
2. Atabrine - The tree has spreading growth habit with simple, alternate, dark green leaves. It has ellipsoidal
greenish yellow fruit with Naples yellow, smooth and firm flesh.
3. Mamer - Like other varieties, Mamer reaches about 7-8 meters in height. It has simple, alternate, dark green
oblong leaves. Its fruits is ellipsoidal green and with flesh which is smooth and firm and Mimosa yellow in
color.
4. Chanee - The tree has a spreading growth habit. Its simple, oval-oblong leaves, which are very dark green
above and cinnamon colored beneath are arranged alternately. It has ovoid, green to greenish brown fruit
and smooth, firm, thick golden yellow flesh. Introduced from Thailand.
5. Mon Thong - The tree reaches a height of 8-9 meters and has ovoid green to greenish brown fruit with
creamy yellow flesh. It has simple, alternate very dark green leaves, which are linear oblong in shape.
Introduced from Thailand.

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6. Oboza - The tree is strong with dropping branches and simple, alternate dark green, linear-oblong leaves. It
has green fruit which is ellipsoidal in shape. The flesh is yellow in color and firm, soft and buttery.
7. Puyat - Like oboza, Puyat is strong with dropping branches and has intermediate growth habit. However, it
has cylindrical greenish brown fruit with chrome yellow, firm, soft and buttery flesh.
8. Lacson #1 - The tree has spreading growth habit with simple alternate, dark green oblong leaves. It has
obovate, brownish green fruit with Areolin yellow, smooth and firm flesh.

Grape

1. White Malaga - A fairly late cultivar with small green fruits but turns light green when fully ripe. Seeded.
2. Cardinal - Very early with medium-sized fruits, which turn bright red when ripe. Seeded.
3. Concord Black - Fruits are medium-sized, turns jet black when ripe. Seeded.

Lanzones

1. Paete - Popular in Luzon. A langsat type, having slender trees with upright branches and sparse, dark-green
foliage
2. Duku - Spreading trees, often with a dense dome-shaped canopy of bright green leaves, bearing shorter
spikes, usually with few fruits. Fruits larger and more rounded than the langsat fruits with thick skin and
relatively free from latex. Sweet and aromatic. Suited to the humid tropics. “Dut” was the first selected
duku clone released by the ministry of Agriculture in Malaysia.
3. Duku-langsat - Intermediate of the duku and langsat forms. Leavers are hairy; fruit branches are very
compact with dark-yellow, quite sour fruit containing large seeds. The “Duku” of the Philippines and
Indonesia belong to this type.
4. Longkong - Introduced from southern Thailand. Anearly seedless type with brittle skin and soft aril. Either
duku or duko-langsat type.
5. Mindanao - Resembles duku but the fruit is quite sour.

Mango

1. Carabao - Polyyembronic cultivar. Also probably called Mangga Cebu, Mangga Guimaras and Manila Super
Mango. Fruit size small to medium about 240 g but some fruits from a single tree could reach more than
300 g; shape oblong, with blunt apex and rounded base, slightly flattened but with full cheeks; skin
smooth, yellow and thin; flesh yellow, very tender and juicy; flavor very delicate, aromatic and spicy, fiber
medium coarse with short and confined almost enitrly to the edge of the seed. Eating quality excellent.
Recommended for the local and foreign market.
2. Pico - Polyembronic cultivar. Fruit size small to medium, about 230 g, shape oblong, more flattened than
Carabao mango with distinct beak at the apex.; skin smooth, light orange yellow, tender, richer, and
sweeter but not melting and lacks the spicy delicate aroma that distinguishes the Carabao mango; fiber
fine and short. Eating quality good.
3. Katchamita - Also called Indian mango, common in Laguna. Fruits small and plump, preferred to be
eaten when green-mature. The name Katchamita is likely a misnomer as it does resemble the description
of Katchamita in India.

Papaya

1. Solo - Small fruited papaya which were introduced into Hawaii in 1911 from Barbados and Jamaica and
later from Hawaii into the Philippines. Solo produces no male plants, just female and bisexual in equal

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 proportions. The fruits are round and shallowly furrowed, weighing ½ - 1 kg and are of excellent quality.
When the fruit is fully ripe the thin skin is orange-yellow and the flesh golden-orange and very sweet.
• Kapoho Solo - Discovered and became popular with growers on Kauai, Hawaii befor 1950. It is pear-
shaped, 400-800 g in weight in high rainfall areas, and has yellow skin and pale-orange flesh.
• Sunrise Solo - Has reddish-orange flesh and larger fruit than Kapoho.
• Waimanalo - Has orange-yellow flesh and somewhat largerfruit than other Solo papayas. It was
selected in 1960 and released by the Hawaii Experiment station in 1968. It has long storage life and is
recommended for sale fresh and for processing. Growers in Hawaii raised only bisexual plants saying
that the fruits of female plants are too rough in appearance.
2. Cavite Special - It is a big-fruited selection in the Philippines. Fruit is oblong and cylindrical and 3-6 kg in
weight, with thick yellow-orange flesh; long storage and shelf life.
3. Sinta (F1 hybrid) - Developed at the Institute of plant Breeding. It is a Solo type and has excellent fruit
qualities.

Pineapple

1. Smooth Cayenne - Most widely grown. It is a heterozygous group; leaves reddish mottling above, silver
gray beneath, margins entire, only with some pines at base and at top. The cylindrical medium-sized fruit
(1.5 to 2.5 kg) ripens progressively, turning yellow from the base to the top. Flesh is pale yellow, soft and
juicy with lo ascorbic acid content. It is sensitive to many pests and diseases and to internal browning but
resistant to Phytophthora sp. And to fruit collapse. Mainly it is prized for canning, having sufficient fiber for
firm slices and cubes as excellent flavor.
2. Queen - Widely distributed for the fresh fruit market. The small and very spiny plant gives a small fruit (0.5
to 1 kg), with a full yellow shell and small prominent eyes. The golden-yellow pulp is crispy and sweet with
an excellent flavor and long shelf life. Queen is tolerant to stress, pests and diseases than smooth cayenne
but susceptible to Phytophthora and fruit collapse and highly susceptible to chilling and internal browning
and to fruitlet core rot and butt rot.
3. Red Spanish - Widely cultivated in Central and South America. Medium-sized fruit (0.9 to 1.8 kg), barrel-
shaped, orange. The flesh is firm, pale yellow, aromatic and sweet, with moderate sugar content but low
acidity. The medium-sized plant is spiny or half-spiny with some smooth clones. It is tolerant to high
temperature, drought, internal browning, butt rot, wilt, and Phytophthora but highly susceptible to the
South American lepidoptera Strymon basilides. The leaves are used traditionally for making cloth in the
Philippines.

Rambutan

1. Maharlika - Introduced from Indonesia. The flesh (sarcostesta), is pearly white. Thick and juicy. A
“freestone” cultivar the papery part of the seed coat easily comes off with flesh. Fruit cover turns from
yellow to red.
2. Simacan - Introduced from Indonesia. Fruit is large. A freestone cultivar.
3. Sinyonya - Introduced from Indonesia. Flesh is transluscent and thin. A “clingstone” cultivar, the papery
part of the seed coat does not separate from the seed.

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V. REFERENCES

Barrionuevo, Alexei; Bradsher, Keith (8 December 2005). "Sometimes A Bumper Crop Is Too Much Of A Good
Thing". The New York Times.
Carpena, A.L., R.R.C. Espino, T.L. Rosario, R.P. Laude. 1993. Genetics At The Population Level. Seameo Searca.
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
Chantrell, Glynnis, Ed. (2002). The Oxford Dictionary Of Word Histories. Oxford University Press. P. 14. ISBN 0-
19-863121-9.
Fehr, W.R. 1987. Principles Of Cultivar Development Vol. 1. Theory And Technique. Macmillian Publishing Co.
Ny
Hazell, Peter B.R. (2009). "The Asian Green Revolution".Ifpri Discussion Paper (Intl Food Policy Res Inst).
Ggkey:Hs2ut4ladzd.
Hillman G, Hedges R, Moore A, Colledge S, Pettitt P (2001). "New Evidence Of Lateglacial Cereal Cultivation At
Abu Hureyra On The Euphrates". Holocene 11 (4): 383 393.Doi:10.1191/095968301678302823.
Http://Education.Nationalgeographic.Com/Education/Encyclopedia/Domestication/?Ar_A=1
Http://Www.Merriam-Webster.Com/Dictionary/Agronomy
Poehlman, J.M. and D.A. Sleper. 1996. Breeding Field Crops. Iowa State University Press, Usa.
Tilman D, Cassman Kg, Matson Pa, Naylor R, Polasky S (August 2002). "Agricultural Sustainability And Intensive
Production Practices". Nature 418 (6898): 671. Doi:10.1038/Nature01014. Pmid 12167873.
Virmani, S.S., B.C. Viraktamath, C.L. Casal, R.S. Toledo, M.T. Lopez, J.O. Manalo. 1997. Hybrid Rice Breeding
Manual. Irri, Philippines.

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