INTRODUCTION TO

AGRICULTURE
PREPARED BY:
MS. BEVERLY R. DOMINGO

CHAPTER 1
 DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF
AGRICULTURE

Nominal Definition (explains what a name is)

 Agriculture comes from the Latin words ager, agri meaning field and cultura meaning growing,
cultivation. Therefore it means “growing and
cultivating of the field.”

Real Definition (explains what a thing is)

 Agriculture is the science or practice of farming which includes the cultivation of the soil for the
growing of crops and fruit-bearing trees. It also considers the raising of animals to provide food
and other raw materials which can produce another product.
 ELEMENTS IN THE DEFINITION OF AGRICULTURE

 It is a science, because of systematically organized body of knowledge which not

only based on opinions, hypothesis and theories but on factual and absolute
knowledge. Also, it is a practice because of the actual applications of the ideas.
 The act or process of working the ground, planting seeds, and growing edible plants. It can also
include raising animals for milk, meat and wool.
 VALUE OF AGRICULTURE

Agriculture has a vital role in the life and progress of an

economy. It does provide food which is the basic needs of
mankind, not only to sustain food and raw material but also
employment opportunities to a vast number of the population of
a country.
 It can be a source of livelihood which can contribute to micro
and macro community, supplying and sustaining food and fodder
that are the basic necessities of human to live.
Without agriculture, the economy will be at high risk to food
security
that may result into serious national problems. The effect may be
adverse or
even worse.
 BRIEF HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE

Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has

undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation.

 Ancient Origins
 Middle Ages
 Modern Era
 ANCIENT ORIGINS

 The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East was the site of the earliest
planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been
gathered in the wild. Independent development of agriculture
occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New
Guinea and several regions of the Americas. Barley has been found
in archeological sites in Levant, and East of the Zagros Mountains
in Iran.
 The eight so-called Neolithic founder crops of agriculture includes
emmer wheat einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter
vetch, chick peas and flax. Bitter vetch and lentils along with
almonds and pistachios appear in Franchthi Cave Greece
simultaneously, about 9,000 BC. This suggests that the cultivation
of legumes and nuts preceded that of grain in some Neolithic
cultures.
 ANCIENT ORIGINS
 By 7,000 BC, small-scale agriculture reached Egypt. From at least
7,000 BC the Indian subcontinent saw farming of wheat and barley,
as attested by archaeological excavation at Mehrgarh in
Balochistan.
 By 6,000 BC, mid-scale farming was entrenched on the banks of
the Nile. About this time, agriculture was developed independently
in the Far East, with rice, rather than wheat, as the primary crop.
Chinese and Indonesian farmers went on to domesticate taro and
beans including mung, soy and azuki. To complement these new
sources of carbohydrates, highly organized net fishing of rivers,
lakes and ocean shores in these areas brought in great volumes of
essential protein.
 Collectively, these new methods of farming and fishing inaugurated
human population boom dwarfing all previous expansions, and it
continues today.
 ANCIENT ORIGINS

 By 5,000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large scale
intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and use of a specialized labor force,
particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the
confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. Domestication of wild aurochs and mouflon into cattle and
sheep, respectively, ushered in the large-scale use of animals for food/fiber and as beasts of burden.
The shepherd joined the farmer as an essential provider for sedentary and semi-nomadic societies.
Maize, manioc, and arrowroot were first domesticated in the Americas as far back as 5,200 BC.

 The potato, tomato, pepper, squash, several varieties of bean, tobacco, and several other plants were
also developed in the New World, as was extensive terracing of steep hillsides in much of Andean
South America. The Greeks and Romans built on techniques pioneered by the Sumerians but made
few fundamentally new advances. Southern Greeks struggled with very poor soils, yet managed to
become a dominant society for years. The Romans were noted for an emphasis on the cultivation of
crops for trade.
 MIDDLE AGES
 Muslim farmers in North Africa and the Near East developed and
disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based
on hydraulic and hydrostatic principles, the use of machines and the use
of water raising machines, dams, and reservoirs. They also wrote
location-specific farming manuals, and were instrumental in the wider
adoption of crops including sugar cane, rice, citrus fruit, apricots, cotton,
artichokes, aubergines, and saffron.

 Muslims also brought lemons, oranges, cotton, almonds, figs and sub-
tropical crops such as bananas to Spain. The invention of a three field
system of crop rotation during the Middle Ages, and the importation of the
Chinese-invented moldboard plow, vastly improved agricultural efficiency.
Another important development towards the end of this period was the
discovery and subsequent cultivation of fodder crops which allowed over-
wintering of livestock.
 MODERN ERA

 After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred. Key crops
involved in this exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, cocoa and tobacco going from the
New World to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, spices, coffee, and sugar cane going from the
Old World to the New.

 The most important animal exportations from the Old World to the New were those of the horse
and dog (dogs were already present in the pre-Columbian Americas but not in the numbers and
breeds suited to farm work). Although not usually food animals, the horse (including donkeys and
ponies) and dog quickly filled essential production roles on western hemisphere farms.
 MODERN ERA
 By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements,
seed stocks and cultivated plants selected and given a
unique name because of its decorative or useful
characteristics had so improved that yield per land unit was
many times seen in the Middle Ages. With the rapid rise of
mechanization in the late 19th and 20th centuries,
particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could be
done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible.
 These advances have led to efficiencies enabling certain
modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel,
Germany, and a few other nations to output volumes of
high quality produce per land unit at what may be the
practical limit.
 MODERN ERA

 The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate

represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to
overcome previous constraints. In the past century agriculture
has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the
substitution of labor for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides,
selective breeding, mechanization, water pollution, and farm
subsidies. In recent years there has been a backlash against
the external environmental effects of conventional agriculture,
resulting in the organic movement.

 Agricultural exploration expeditions, since the late nineteenth

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

There are four main branches of agriculture, namely;

I. Livestock Production or Animal Husbandry

II. Crop Production or Agronomy
III. Agricultural Economics
IV. Agricultural Engineering
I. Livestock and Animal Husbandry
Animal Husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fiber,
milk, eggs, or other products. The term "livestock" encompasses many species and numerous breeds
within animal species which can produce food and other raw materials.

Four Common Classifications:

1. Nomadic Pastoralism
2. Poultry Farming
3. Swine Farming
4. Apiculture
II. Crop Production and Agronomy

It is the science dealing with the cultivation of crops and vegetables on a field scales either under rain
fed or irrigation conditions. These crops are mainly annuals cultivated food.

 Horticulture
a. Pomology
b. Olericulture
c. Floriculture
 III. Agricultural Economics

Agricultural Economics is study of the allocation, distribution and utilization of the resources used, along
with the commodities produced, by farming. It concerns itself with the study of the production and
consumption of food in both developed and developing countries along with analysis of the policies that
shape the world’s largest country.
IV. Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural Engineering is the area of engineering concerned with the design, construction and
improvement of farming equipment and machinery. Agricultural engineers integrate technology with
farming. For example, they design new and improved farming equipment that may work more
efficiently, or perform new tasks. They design and build agricultural infrastructure such as dams, water
reservoirs, warehouses, and other structures.
TYPES OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS
AND ITS CLASSIFICATIONS
 TYPES OF CROPS

Crops are divided into six falls into categories and they’re as follows:

1. Food Crops
2. Feed Crops
3. Fiber Crops
4. Oil Crops
5. Ornamental Crops
6. Industrial Crop
I. Food Crops – A plant that is primarily raise, culture and harvest for the
human consumption. It has two sub categories, the field crops and root crops.
a) Field Crop is a crop (other than fruits or vegetables) that is grown on a large scale for
agricultural purposes. Examples are wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane and other forage crops.
These crops typically consist of a large majority of agricultural acreage and crop revenues.
b) Root Crops – are underground plant parts edible for human consumption
II. Feed Crops – A plant that is primarily raise, culture and
harvest for the livestock consumption.
III. Fiber Crops – A plant that is primarily raise, culture and harvest for
its fibers which are used as raw material
IV. Oil Crops – A plant that is primarily raise, culture and harvest as base
for biodiesel production.
V. Ornamental Crops – A plant that is primarily raise and culture for
decorative purposes especially in gardens and landscape design projects.
VI. Industrial Crops – A plant that is cultured for their biological materials
which are used in industrial processes into nonedible products.
Example: Tobacco
 Classification of Crops According to their Reproduction

1. Sexual - plants that develop from a seed or a spore after undergoing union of
male and female gametes.
 Classification of Crops According to their Reproduction

2. Asexual – plants which reproduce by any

vegetative means without the union of the sexual
gametes.
 Classification According to Mode of Pollination

I. Naturally Self Pollinated Crops – predominant mode of pollination

in this plant is self-pollination.
II. Naturally Cross Pollinated Crops – pollen transfer in these plants is
from another of one flower in a separate plant.
III. Both Self and Cross Pollination Crops – these plants are largely self-
pollinated but in varying amounts.
 Classification of Crops According to Growth Habits

I. Herb – succulent plants with self-supporting stems.

II. Vines – herbaceous climbing or twining plants without self-
supporting stem.
III. Lianas – woody climbing or twining plants which depend on other plants
for vertical support to climb up to the tree.
IV. Shrubs – a small tree or tree like plants generally less than 5 meters
in height but other authorities restricted to small, erect woody plants
V. Trees – plants having erect and continuous growth with a large develop
of woody tissue, with a single distinct stem or trunk.
VI. Evergreen – plants that maintain their leaves throughout the
year.
VII. Deciduous – plants which naturally shed off or
lose leaves annually for extended periods
 Descriptions of Crops According to their Life Span

I. Annual crop is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination
to production of seed, within one growing season, and then dies. Annual
crops examples are rice, corn and others.
II. Biennial crop is a plant that takes two years to complete its biological
lifecycle. Its examples are cabbage, parsley and others.
.
III. Perennial crop is a plant that lives more than two years. The
term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals
and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants
with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also
technically perennials.
 TYPES OF COMMERCIAL FOOD CROPS
IN THE PHILIPPINES

Food Crop

A crop primarily raised and culture for human consumption. There are 5 major
categories of common commercial crops in the Philippines they are the following:
cereal crops, root and tuber crops, sugar crops, vegetable crops, fruit
crops.
a) Cereal Crops – are one of the members of
grass family with their seed to eat.

b) Root and Tuber Crops – a crop that is root

vegetables and thick underground part of the
stem which is edible to consume by human.
c) Sugar Crops – several species of tall perennial
grass that are grown for extraction of sugar product.
d) Vegetable Crops – are edible
part/s of the plant.

e) Fruit Crops – are groups of different

types of fruits that are edible to
consume by human.
Common Commercial Food Crops in the Philippines
 PLANT PARTS AND ITS FUNCTION

A plant has different parts. The main parts are the roots, stem and the leaves. Each part has a
vital role in the life of a plant. The root absorbs water and different nutrients in the ground. The
roots also establish the plant as foundation. The stem carries the water and different nutrients
from the ground to the leaves. It also supports the foundation.
 In majority of the dicotyledonous plants, the
direct elongation of the radicle leads to the
formation of primary root which grows inside
the soil. It bears lateral roots of several orders
The main functions of the root system that are referred to as secondary, tertiary, and
are absorption of water and minerals so on. The primary roots and its branches
from the soil, providing a proper constitute the tap root system.
anchorage to the plant parts, storing
reserve food material and synthesis of
plant growth regulators.
 In some plants, roots arise from
parts of the plant other than the
In monocotyledonous plants, the primary radicle and are called adventitious
root is short lived and is replaced by a large roots.
number of roots. These roots originate from
the base of the stem and constitute the
fibrous root system.
The root is covered at the apex by a thimble-like structure called the
root cap. It protects the tender apex of the root as it makes its way
through the soil. Tap roots of carrot, turnip and adventitious roots of
sweet potato, get swollen and store food.
Hanging structures that support a
banyan tree are called prop roots.

The stems of maize and sugarcane have

supporting roots coming out of the lower
nodes of the stem. These are called stilt
roots.
In some plants such as Rhizophora growing in
swampy areas, many roots come out of the
ground and grow vertically upwards. Such
roots, called pneumatophores, help to get
oxygen for respiration.
The stem of a plant is one of two structural parts of a vascular
plant (a plant that has tissues for moving water and nutrients), the
other being the root. The stem is the part above ground which
provides support for leaves and buds. It's like the major highway
of a plant, and it's vital for plant life.
 Underground stems of potato, ginger,
turmeric, zaminkand, colocasia are
modified to store food in them.

The region of the stem where leaves are born are

called nodes while internodes are the portions
between two nodes. Some stems perform the function
of storage of food, support, protection and of
vegetative propagation.
 Stem tendrils which develop from axillary buds, are
slender and spirally coiled and help plants to climb
such as in gourds (cucumber, pumpkins,
watermelon) and grapevines.

Axillary buds of stems may also get

modified into woody, straight and
pointed thorns. They protect plants from
browsing animals.
Some plants of arid regions modify their stems
into flattened (Opuntia), or fleshy cylindrical
(Euphorbia) structures. They contain chlorophyll
and carry out photosynthesis.

Underground stems of some plants such as

grass and strawberry, etc., spread to new
niches and when older parts die new plants are
formed.
Leaf is a flattened structure of a higher plant, typically green and
bladelike, that is attached to a stem directly or via a stalk. Leaves are
the main organs of photosynthesis and transpiration.
Leaves originate from shoot apical meristems. Leaf
develops at the node and bears a bud in its axil. The
axillary bud later develops into a branch.
A typical leaf consists of three main parts: leaf base, petiole and lamina. The
petiole help hold the blade to light. Long thin flexible petioles allow leaf blades to
flutter in wind, thereby cooling the leaf and bringing fresh air to leaf surface. The
lamina or the leaf blade is the green expanded part of the leaf with veins and
veinlets. There is, usually, a middle prominent vein, which is known as the midrib.
Veins provide rigidity to the leaf blade and act as channels of transport for water,
minerals and food materials.
The arrangement of veins and the veinlets in the lamina of leaf is termed as
venation. When the veinlets form a network, the venation is termed as
reticulate. When the veins run parallel to each other within a lamina, the
venation is termed as parallel. Leaves of dicotyledonous plants generally
possess reticulate venation, while parallel venation is the characteristic of most
monocotyledons.
Leaves of certain insectivorous plants such as pitcher plant, venus-fly trap
are also modified leaves for their food.
 Water absorption through roots can be
increased by keeping the plants
a. in the shade
b. in dim light
c. under the fan
d. covered with a polythene bag

Plants absorb mineral nutrients and water from the soil. Not all the water absorbed is
utilized by the plant. The water evaporates through the stomata present on the
surface of the leaves by the process of transpiration. The evaporation of water from
leaves generates a suction pull (the same that you produce when you suck water
through a straw) which can pull water to great heights in the tall trees. Transpiration
also cools the plant.
Plants carry out photosynthesis only during the day and respiration both
during the day time as well as night.
The flower is the reproductive unit in the angiosperms. Androecium and gynoecium are
reproductive organs. When a flower has both androecium and gynoecium, it is bisexual. A
flower having either only stamens or only carpels is unisexual. The mode of arrangement of
sepals or petals in floral bud with respect to the other members of the same whorl is known as
aestivation.
 Androecium is composed of stamens. Each stamen
which represents the male reproductive organ
consists of a stalk or a filament and an anther. Each
anther is usually bilobed and each lobe has two
chambers, the pollen-sacs. The pollen grains are
produced in pollen-sacs. A sterile stamen is called
staminode.

Gynoecium is the female reproductive part of the

flower and is made up of one or more carpels. A
carpel consists of three parts namely stigma, style
and ovary. After fertilization, the ovules develop into
seeds and the ovary matures into a fruit. The
arrangement of ovules within the ovary is known as
placentation.
The fruit is a characteristic feature of the flowering
plants. It is a mature or ripened ovary, developed
after fertilisation. If a fruit is formed without fertilisation
of the ovary, it is called a parthenocarpic fruit. The
ovules after fertilization, develop into seeds.
Plants absorb water and minerals by
the roots. The roots have root hair. The
root hair increase the surface area of
the root for the absorption of water and
mineral nutrients dissolved in water.
The root hair is in contact with the
water present between the soil
particles.

Plants have pipe-like vessels to transport water and nutrients from the soil. The vessels are made
of special cells, forming the vascular tissue. The vascular tissue for the transport of water and
nutrients in the plant is called the xylem. The xylem forms a continuous network of channels that
connects roots to the leaves through the stem and branches and thus transport water to the entire
plant leaves synthesize food. The food has to be transported to all parts of the plant. This is done
by the vascular tissue called the phloem. Thus, xylem and phloem transport substances in plants.