Classification of the Major

Philippine Crops
The Philippines has:
 Approximately 250 kinds of vegetables, 41 of
which are commercially important;
 318 species of fruit-bearing plants with
approximately 56 species now grown by
farmers;
 Close to 10,000 species of flowering plants;
and
 More than 2,000 plantation crops, 21 of which
are economically important
 Two Systems of Classification:
1. Botanical System
2. Horticultural System/Agronomic System
 1. BOTANICAL SYSTEM
 belongs to the science that deals with classification
of plants which is called Systematic Botany or Plant
Systematics
 Modern method of classification in which plants are
identified and grouped based on many characters as
possible such as size, shape, flower characteristics,
kinds of food reserves, and known genetic
relationships
 Based on the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature (ICBN)
FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE PLANT KINGDOM
1. Thallophyta = algae, bacteria and fungi
2. Bryophyta = small green plants without true roots or flowers such
as the mosses, liverworths and hornworths
3. Pteridophyta = green plants with vascular tissue, true roots, and
usually distinct leaves and stems. (horsetails and ferns)
4. Spermatophyta = all seed-bearing plants that bear true flowers.
Majority of the economically important plants are included in this
division.
A) Gymnosperms = include all plants with naked seeds like pine
trees
B) Angiosperms = seeds enclosed in a vessel and are in turn divided
into two classses:
i. Monocotyledons
ii. Dicotyledons
 Taxa – sequence of plant categories from
greatest to least magnitude
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Anthophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Mangifera
Species: indica
Variety:
‘Carabao’
 Dent Corn
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Spermatophyta
Subdivision: Angiospermae
Class: Monocotyledonae
Order: Graminales
Family: Gramineae
Genus: Zea
Species: mays
Variety: ‘Indetata’
 2. HORTICULTURAL SYSTEM
 Also called Functional System
 Based on some characteristics that would
make the grouping indicate usefulness for a
specific purpose
 Plants are classified according to their uses
Classification is based on the four
branches of Horticulture
Vegetables
Fruits
Ornamentals
Plantation Crops
 3. Agronomic System

• Agronomically, crop plants are most often

grouped according to the way or ways which
they are used.
 Cereals
• Examples:
– Corn
– Rice
– Barley
– Oats
– Rye
– Grain Sorghum
– Wheat
 sorghum

corn
Wheat
Oats
 Seed Legumes
• Examples:
– Soybeans soybeans
– Mungbeans
– Peas
Legumes
 Forage
• Examples:
– Feeds for animals whether in the form of hay,
silage or pasture such as corn and sorghum
Sorghum
 Fiber

• Examples:
– Cotton
– Abaca
– Ramie
– Kenaf
– Jute

Abaca
 Pineapple

Maguey
Kenaf
Ramie
Cotton
Jute
Jute bags
 Drug and Beverage
• Examples:
– Cinchona
– Tobacco
– Tea
– Coffee
Cinchona

Tobacco
tea
Coffee
 Sugar
• Examples:
– Sugarcane
– Sweet Sorghum
– Sugar beets
Sugarcane
Sugarbeet

Sorghum
 Oil
• Examples:
– Flax
– Soybeans
– Sunflower
– Coconut
Flax
Soybean
Sunflower
Coconut
 SPECIAL PURPOSE CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS
1. Green Manure
2. Silage
3. Green Crop
4. Catch/Emergency Crop
5. Cover Crop
6. Supplement Crop
 Green Manure
• Legumes, especially soybeans, cowpeas and
other crops which are grown then plowed
under to improve soil fertility.
 Silage
• Crops most extensively grown to be cut and
preserved in a succulent condition for silage
(corn and sorghum)
 Green Crop
• Corn, sundagrass, soybeans and many other
crops which are cut when green and succulent
and are fed to livestock without curing
 Catch/Emergency Crop
• Sundagrass, Buckwheat, Millet and other
short-season crops used to fill-in when regular
crops have failed or when planting is for some
reason delayed
Buckwheat
Millet
 Cover Crop
• Crops seeded on land needing protection
against wind and water erosion and nutrient
loss through leaching (rye and tropical Kudzu).
Kudzu
 Supplement Crop
• Crop grown as secondary, such as sundagrass
when used to provide grazing at a time when
other pastures cannot be used or are not
sufficiently productive.