CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS AND THEIR USES

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At the end of this article on Crop classification, students should be able to classify crops based on.

  • USES
  • LIFE CIRCLE
  • MORPHOLOGY

Before we go into the Classifications of crops, let’s look at the meaning of Crop:

MEANING OF CROP

Meaning; A crop is a cultivated plant or produce that is grown and harvested on a large scale for various purposes. Common crops include grains (like wheat, rice), vegetables, fruits, either for food or for industrial uses like crops such as cotton. The cultivation of crops is a fundamental aspect of agriculture and plays a crucial role in providing food, materials, and resources for human consumption and various industries.

CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS

Crops are classified into three groups: These are;

  1. Classification of crops based on Thier life circle.
  1. Classifications of crops based on their uses.
  2. Classification of crops based on morphology

Classification of crops based on their life cycle

In this classification the crops are further subdivided into three groups:

1. Annual Crops: These are crops which grow and mature within one year, e.g. maize, rice, cowpea, millet, vegetables cotton, groundnut etc.

2. Biennial crops: These are crops which grow and mature within two years. examples are: pepper, ginger and cassava.

3. Perennial Crops: These are crops which grow and mature in more than two years. examples are: cocoa, banana, orange, mango, oil Palm and rubber trees.

CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS BASED ON THEIR USES

In this classification of crops, crops are divided into the following categories:

1. Cereal crops: These Crops belongs to the grass family and they provide carbohydrates, example: Maize, Rice, Millet, Guinea corn, wheat, barley, oats. Etc.

2. Pulses ( green legumes): These crops are rich source of protein, example: soya beans, groundnut, lima bean, pigeon pea. Etc.

3. Roots and tuber crops: These crops produced tubers under the ground and they provide carbohydrates examples: cassava, yam, cocoyam, sweet potato, beets, carrots.

4. Vegetable Crops: These crops provide vitamins and minerals, examples; amaranthus, onion, okra, cauliflower spinach, bitter leaf and Talinum. Etc.

5. Fruit Crops: These also provide vitamins and minerals, examples: Orange, banana, pineapple, mango, pawpaw, cashew, etc.

6. Beverage crops: These provide food drinks when processed, examples are: cocoa, coffee and tea, kolanut.

7. Spices: These also provide vitamins and minerals, they also add flavour to our stew or soup, examples are: Ginger, pepper and onion.

8. Oil Crops: These are crops which can provide oil when process both for domestic and industrial uses, examples are; oil palm, groundnut, melon, Coconut, soyabean, Cotton.

9. Fibre crops: These are crops used for making clothing materials, ropes and bags, examples are; cotting, sisal, Hemp, Kenaf, hibiscus, etc.

10. Latex Crops: These are crops which provides some white sticky liquid or latex used in plastic industries, e.g, rubber.

CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS BASED ON THEIR MORPHOLOGY

Morphology: Morphology of a plant refers to the form and shape of a plant. It simply shows how a particular plant look like. All crop plant belongs to the group called angiosperm.

Characteristics of Angiosperm

  • They are the most complex green flowering plants.
  • They are vascular plants.
  • The are seed plants with seeds enclosed in the fruit house.
  • They are mainly terrestrial plants
  • They show more specialized reproductive mechanism involving pollination and fertilization.
  • They have well developed and complete flowers.

READ ALSO – Crop production cultural practices in agriculture

Revision Questions

  1. Name three major classification of crops.
  2. Discuss the classification of crops based on the uses of the crops
  3. Write short notes on (a) pulse crops (b) fruits crops (c) oil crops (d) beverage crops (e) fibre crops.
  4. Discuss classification of crops based on their life cycle
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