PRACTICES

IN CROP
PRODUCTION
By: J. A. Osea
 Two Possible Cases In Starting A Crop Production
Enterprise

Case 1 – Crop Enterprise is first decided upon,

then a location is chosen
Case 2 – Farm exists, then the most suitable
crops are identified
FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN SITE
SELECTION

1. Climate

a. Amount of rainfall
b. Frequency of typhoons
c. Wind velocity and direction
 2. Physical factors

 Depth of surface soil

- for annuals: shallow depths
- for perennials: greater depths
 Drainage
- important for crops that are sensitive to
waterlogging
 Soil fertility status
1) Texture
2) Nutrient composition
3) Soil pH
4) Organic matter content
 3. Biological Factors

 Cropping pattern being followed

 Production practices in the area

 Pest and disease problems in the area

 4. Socio-economic Factors

 Labor supply situation and level of skills

 Accessibility of farm to transportation facilities

 Nearness to population centers as markets

 Local market situation preferences of the populace

 Production Practices

Land Preparation

- necessary for the germination and

subsequent growth of the crop

- accomplished by the mechanical

manipulation of the soil (tillage) and
transforming it into desired condition
Purposes of land/tillage preparation
Main reason: to provide good physical soil condition
which promotes favorable biological soil condition for
optimum growth

Specifically:
1. to develop desirable soil structure
 easy root development
 improve the infiltration of water and
internal drainage
 enhance the aeration of soil
2. to incorporate stubbles and weeds into the soil
 control weeds
Primary and secondary tillage
a. Primary tillage (plowing) – includes hoeing,
spading or plowing
Purposes:
 to cut or break the soil
 partly pulverize the soil
 incoporate weeds and stubbles
b. Secondary tillage (harrowing) – breaking the
soil into clods or granulation
(upland) or puddling (wetland)
Purposes:
 pulverize the clods
 level the field
 compact the soil to certain degree
 destroy growing weeds

Frequency: 2 to 3 times at weekly interval

The number of plowings and
harrowings is dependent on:
 Soil type
 Weed density
 Moisture content
 Crops to be grown
Practices in Land Preparation
a. The Conventional Method
 Upland soil condition: plowing  harrowing
o time of plowing
o type of soil
o type of crop to be grown
o type and density of prevailing weeds in the field
Interval: 2 to 7 days
Equipment:
 Carabao or bullock drawn moldboard plow
and spike-tooth harrow
 Hand tractor
 Four-wheeled tractor
Characteristics of an ideal upland field
 Granular and mellow
 Free of trash and vegetation
 Contains sufficient moisture
 Wetland soil condition
Preparations vary depending upon the nature of
and the availability of irrigation water.
Characteristics of a well-prepared lowland ricefield:
a) soil and water are thoroughly mixed
b) weeds, straw and stubbles are thoroughly decayed
c) land is well leveled
Improved Methods
 Use of heavy duty plow harrow
- used in preparing light soils
 Use of rotary tillers
- equipment chops and pulverizes the soil
 Minimum tillage
- method combines land preparation and
planting operations
 PLANTING MATERIAL SELECTION
2. Planting Materials Selection and preparation
AND PLANTING

• Productivity of crops depends on the variety and

quality of seeds used
• Use of F1 hybrid seeds which provides an added yield
of 20-25%
• Certified seeds in the Philippines are available but the
supply is inadequate
• Commercial production of certified seeds in the
Philippines is one area that has high business potential
• Plant breeding depends on conservation of genes
• Plant resistance to pests and diseases is temporal
• Biotechnology manipulated genes and use them
to advantage
 Factors to Consider in the
Selection of Planting Materials
1. Adaptability to soil and climate
2. Maturity
3. Yield
4. Disease resistance
5. Insect tolerance
6. Market demand

Important Characteristics
of Good Seeds
1. Damage Free
2. Good germinating ability
3. Free from mixture with other varieties
4. Free from seed-borne diseases
 Types of planting materials
1. Seeds – legumes and cereals
2. Vegetative parts – vines,
stems/stalks, tubers, modified
stems

Pre-germination Treatment
1. Seed treatment
2. Seed inoculation
Planting Methods
1. Direct seeding
- Broadcasting:
mungbean after rice
upland and lowland rice
- Drilling seeds in rows
- Hill method within rows
- Dibbling seeds of relay or intercrops

2. Transplanting
- rice, vegetables, and tobacco
- Seedlings are nursed before transplanted to the field
- Advantages
a) less wastage of valuable seed
b) seedlings are more properly cared for
c) transplanted crop stays for a shorter period of time
to allow for succession croppings
 Planting methods for lowland rice
1. Transplanting

a. Wetbed method - seedlings are transplanted

25 to 30 days after sowing

b. Dapog method - seedlings are transplanted

10 to 14 days after sowing

c. Dry-bed method - used for rainfed areas;

seedlings are transplanted 20 to 42 days old
2. Direct seeding on puddled field
Advantage: less labor in planting
Seeds are pre-emerged; Rate - is 100 to 125 kg/ha

Methods
a. Broadcasting
b. Drilling pre-germinated seeds in rows
c. Dibbling: pre-germinated seeds are dibbled at
5 to 8 seeds/hill at
15 cm x 15 cm to 25 cm x 25 cm
3. Dryland seeding of lowland rice
Sowing methods:
 Broadcasting in unfurrowed field
 Broadcasting or drilling on fields with deeper
furrows
 Broadcasting or directing in fields with shallow
furrows
 Dibbling
Raising of Seedlings for vegetables

a. Seedbed method
- Fully exposed to sunlight
- Surface is sterilized by burning rice straw over or by
chemical sterilization (40% formaldehyde)

b. Seed box method

- Dimension: 50 cm x 33 cm x 7 cm
- Seedlings "pricked“ for transplanting
- Medium: sand, compost and garden soil
- Soil mix is sterilized similar to seedbed method
- Complete Fertilizer is applied
- “Dibble" or "spotting board" is employed
Care of Seedlings
1) Blocking
- Done 7 - 10 days before transplanting
2) Hardening
- seedlings exposed gradually to full sunlight at

7 to l0 days before transplanting

Age of seedlings for transplanting

- pechay and lettuce: 3 weeks
- cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower: 4 to 5 weeks
- tomatoes, pepper, eggplants: 5 to 7 weeks

Transplanting: afternoon and during cloudy days

Starter solution: 24 gm of 12-24-12 per 10 li of water

 3. Water Supply and Management
Methods of Irrigation Water Application
1. Overhead Irrigation
a. Watering can
b. Hose pipe
c. Sprinkler Irrigation

2. Furrow irrigation
- running water through furrows
- Ideal on vegetables, sugarcane, corn, cotton,
sorghum, and other field grains

3. Flooding
- ideal for areas with uniform/gentle slopes
 4. Subirrigation
5. Drip Irrigation
- water supplied through small orifices or
emitters
- ideal to save water or where water is scarce
or has a high salt content.

Small Water Impounding Project (SWIP)

- Structure serving as reservoir to impound
rainwater irrigation as source of water for fish and
livestock production, and even for recreation
 Practices in Soil Fertility Management

Sources of nutrients: organic fertilizers, inorganic fertilizers,

legume seed inoculants

Methods of Fertilizer Application

• Broadcast application
• Sidedressing
• Band, row or localized treatment
• Foliar application
• Application with the seed

Time of application
• Early vegetative
• Maximum tillering (rice)
• Panicle initiation (rice)
• Onset of fruiting (fruit trees/plantation crops)
• Early whorl (corn)
Organic Matter Maintenance

• Crop Rotation

• Cover cropping

• Proper tillage
 Liming

Lime requirement
• refers to the quantity of lime needed to bring a soil to a
pH which is considered practical to the system of
cropping being followed.

Lime or agricultural lime

• defined as any calcium or magnesium compound which
is capable of neutralizing soil acidity.

Limestone
• main liming material used
Specialized Management Practices
1. Windbreaks or shelterbelts – rows of trees or shrubs that protect crops from strong
winds
2. Hardening – exposing young plants slowly to the outdoor environment

3. Rouging – removal of off-type or diseased plants

4. Mulching – process of placing protective layer of a material that is spread on top of
the soil
5. Pricking – transfer of seedlings from overcrowded container to another container

6. Pruning – removal of plant parts to attain a specific objective (preventive,

formative, corrective, rejuvenative)
7. Fruit thinning – removal of some fruits to minimize ‘inter-fruit’ nutrient
competition
8. Deblossoming – removal of flowers on the young woody plants to have full canopy
development
9. Ratooning – growing of a new crop out of the shoots arising from the
previous crop
 10. Desuckering – removal of unnecessary suckers from the base of
banana or abaca
11. Training – directs the growth of the plants in terms of shape, size and
direction
12. Trellising – provision of structural support to plants
13. Propping – practice of providing support to branches or stalk which
tend to bend due to heavy load of fruits
14. Fruit bagging – enclosing or wrapping of fruits with suitable materials

15. Flower induction –

a. hacking – creation of wounds around the trunk to release ethylene
b. Smudging – creation of smokey fire below the tree canopy
c. Use of potassium nitrate (mangoes), calcium carbide (pineapple)
and other chemicals
d. Timing of irrigation – irrigation of fruits trees after drought
stimulates flowering
e. Vernalization – growth and flowering are promoted by exposure to
low temperatures
 HARVESTING AND POST PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY

Harvesting – cutting or collecting of crop from the field.

The three important considerations in harvesting are:

1. Maturity
Physiological maturity
Commercial maturity
Ways of determining maturity:
Visual/Physical – color of stalk, leaf, panicle; black layer at the
seed stalk (corn); grains are clear and firm (rice);
moisture content of seeds
Computation – expected maturity date
2. Methods of harvesting
Physical/Manual – use of sickle or scyte
Mechanical/Machine – windrower and cutter binder; combine
3. Time of harvesting.- Timeliness is important since it affects field
losses, grain quality, and the time available for the next crop.
 POST PRODUCTION PRACTICES

1. Threshing – In rice, the process of detaching grain or paddy from

their parent attachment by means of rubber action, impact,
stripping and non-impulsive separation of grain and straw.
Methods of Threshing:
a. Manual Method (Traditional) – trampling, flail
threshing, impact or hampasan, stripping
b. Mechanical Thresher – hold-on and throw-in type
2. Shelling – In corn, the process of separating the kernels from the
cob through compression, bending, shear, tension or its
combination.
Methods of Shelling:
a. Manual
b. Mechanical
3. Drying – Removal of excess moisture from grains
Grains – 50-60o C
Seeds – 43o C
4. Cleaning/Upgrading (improving seed quality)
a. Rice (Blower)
b. Corn
air-screen machine (separate small from large particles
specific gravity separator (separates light from heavy
seeds)
5. Treating seeds – insecticide and fungicide
6. Bagging and sealing (grains/seeds)
 FARMING SYSTEMS

a set of farming enterprise that a household manages according to the

well-defined practices in response to the physical, biological and socio-
economic environment and in accordance with the household goals,
preferences and resources.

Types of Farming Systems

1. Monocropping system – a method of crop production in which
only one crop is grown annually in the same parcel of land.

2. Multiple cropping – growing more than one crop on the same

land in one year.
 Methodologies in Multiple Cropping

a. Intercropping – growing of two or more crops simultaneously on same field such that the
overlap period is long enough to include the vegetative stage.

b. Relay planting – second crop is planted before the harvest of the first. The overlap period is
shorter.

c. Sequential cropping – second crop is planted after the harvest of the first. There is a turn-
around-period before the next planting.

d. Sorjan cultivation – a system of crops cultivated in parallel beds and sinks wherein lowland
crops are planted in sinks and upland crops on beds.

e. Multi-storey cropping – growing a combination of perennials and/or growing annuals with

perennials of different stature in a row or mixed intercropping
 Diversified Integrated Systems

 Rice + Fish; Rice + Duck; Rice + Fish + Duck

 Sorjan Cultivation

 Agroforestry

 Bio-Intensive Gardening

 Integrated Crop-livestock-Fish farming

 Contour Farming (SALT)

LOW EXTERNAL INPUT AGRICULTURE (LEISA)

It is describe as low-resource, resource poor, undervalued-resource

agriculture wherin properties of the physical environment and/or
commercial infrastructyre do not allow widespread use of
purchased inputs.

Principles of LEISA
 optimize the use of locally available resources
 combining the different components of the farm system such as
plants, animals, soil, water, climate and people
 complementary and synergistic effects
 if external inputs are used, maximum recycling and minimum
detrimental impact on the environment is given emphasis
thank you !!!