AGRICULTURAL CROP PRODUCTION NC III

445 Hours
MODULE 1
COMMON COMPETENCIES
1. APPLY SAFETY MEASURES IN FARM OPERATIONS
2. USE FARM TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
3. PERFORM ESTIMATION AND CALCULATION
CORE COMPETENCIES:
1. Prepare Land for Agricultural Crop Production
2. Implement Post-Harvest Program
3. Implement a Plant Nutrition Program
4. Control Weeds
5. Prepare and Apply Chemicals
6. Establish Agronomic Crops
7. Undertake Agronomic Crops Maintenance Activities
8. Undertake Agronomic Crop Harvesting Activities
9. Save, Prepare and Store Agricultural Seed
10. Implement Vertebrate Pest Control Program
Definition of Terms

 Equipment - powered tool machine used in farming


Farm implements - accessories pulled by animals or mounted to machineries to make the work easier
Hand tools - objects that are usually light and are used without the help of animals and machines such as
shovel, spade, sprinkler etc.
Preventive maintenance - an activity or operation done to prevent malfunction of tools and equipment and
it is done to prolong the useful life of tools and equipment

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 Repair - to restore to good condition something broken or damaged
Farm Tools in Agricultural Crop Operation
 Farm tools, implements, and equipment play very important role in agricultural crop operations. Their
availability makes the work much easier and faster. In order to do crop production operations successfully,
one must have a good working knowledge of the tools, implements and equipment before using them.
 Hand Tools are usually light and are used without the help of animals or machines. They are being used in
performing farm activities which involve small areas like school garden and home garden.
Bolo is used for cutting tall grasses and weeds and chopping branches of trees.

Crowbar is used for digging big holes and for digging out big stones and stumps.

Pick-mattock is used for digging canals, breaking hard topsoil and for digging up stones and tree stumps.

Grab-hoe is used for breaking hard topsoil and pulverizing soil.

Spade is used for removing trash or soil, digging canals or ditches and mixing soil media.

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Shovel is used in removing trash, digging loose soil, moving soil from one place to another and for mixing
soil media.

Rake is used for cleaning the ground and leveling the topsoil.

Spading fork is used for loosening the soil, digging out root crops and turning over the materials in a
compost heap.

Light hoe is used for loosening and leveling soil and digging out furrows for planting.

Hand trowel is used for loosening the soil around the growing plants and putting small amount of manure
fertilizer in the soil.

Hand cultivator is used for cultivating the garden plot by loosening the soil and removing weeds around the
plant.

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Hand fork is used for inter row cultivation.

Pruning shears is for cutting branches of planting materials and unnecessary branches of plants.

Axe is for cutting bigger size post.

Knife is for cutting planting materials and for performing other operations in horticulture.

Sprinklers – for watering seedlings and young plants.

Water pails – for hauling water, manure and fertilizers

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 Sprayers are for spraying insecticides, foliar fertilizers, fungicides and other liquid chemicals.

Knapsack Sprayer
Wheel barrow is used for hauling trash, manures, fertilizers, planting materials and other equipment

Sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for cutting weeds.

 Farm Implements
These are accessories which are being pulled by working animals or mounted to machineries (hand tractor,
tractor) which are usually used in the preparation of land.
Plows. These are farm implements used in horticultural/agronomical operations either pulled by a working
animal or a tractor. The plow is specifically used for tilling large areas, making furrows and inter row
cultivation. They are used to till areas with a shallower depth than that of the disc plows which are pulled
by tractors.
Native Plow Disc Plow

Harrow. The native wooden harrow is made of wood with a metal teeth and pulled by a carabao while the
disc harrow is made of metal mounted to a tractor. Harrows are used for tilling and pulverizing the soil.

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 Native wooden harrow Disc harrow

Rotavator it is an implement mounted to a tractor used for tilling and pulverizing the soil.

Tractor Machine

Parts of Tractor machine as type of Massey Ferguson

Walking Hand Tractor

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Parts of Hand Tractor

How do you maintain your vehicles and equipment?

By following what is stated and suggested in the manual for its operation, maintenance and proper
handling.
FARM TOOL SAFETY
1. Keeping tools in good working condition is half the formula for being safe. The other half is the ability
and awareness of the person using the tools
2. Safety = Good Working Tools + Able and Aware Worker
3. Tool failure causes some farm accidents; however, most farm accidents are caused by tired, stressed,
rushed, distracted, or incompetent workers.
4. In addition to the specific safe handling rules for each type of farm tools, there are ten basic guidelines
for tools safety:
5. Read and comply with the operator's safety manual for each piece of farm tool.
6. Prepare for safety by wearing appropriate clothing, having enough rest, not drinking alcohol, and
ensuring that all workers have been trained and are capable of safely using the farm tool.
7. Be aware of what you are doing and where you are going.
8. Adjust tool to fit working conditions.
9. Keep children and other people away from the working area. Take breaks from work, as necessary.
1. Prepare Land for Agricultural Crop Production
Crop Calendar
- Is a picture of your crop growing season: crop production from the fallow, land preparation, crop
establishment and maintenance through harvest and storage.
- By using a crop calendar, farm activities are better planned, and performed at the right time. It is easier to
organized labor and obtain inputs such as seed and fertilizers.
- Better planning will decrease input costs and increase yields.
How to create a Crop Calendar
1. Determine the best date to plant.
2. Determine the time the variety takes from planting to harvest.
3. Mark on the calendar the date of planting and when each other operation needs to be plowing,
weeding, fertilizing and harvesting.
4. Pin the calendar in a prominent place to remind you when things need to be done.
a) Land preparation
b) Land Clearing- is the process of removing trees, stones and other obstacles in the area.
c) Objectives in Land Preparation that involves Land leveling
1. Decrease clod size to give seed soil contact for plant establishment
2. Remove, incorporate plant residue
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 3. Manage soil water
4. Control weeds
5. Destroy insects, their eggs, larvae and breeding places
6. Reduce wind erosion
7. Make canal/canalita
Key Check for Land Preparation
1. Know the soil type
2. The type of crop to be planted
3. Availability of resources and tools machineries and equipment.
Tillage- the activity or process of preparing land for growing crops/crops establishment.
Two Types of Tillage
1. Primary tillage- is the first working after harvest and the most expensive tillage operation. Equipment
used are Disc plow, Moldboard plow, Tine plow.
2. Secondary tillage- is any working completed after primary tillage Equipment used are Peg tooth
harrows, and Rotavators.
Types of Plowing Pattern
1. Continuous/Circuitous Pattern- plowing begins at the edge of the field and works toward the center of the
field always throwing the soil towards outside of the field.

2. Headland pattern/One way pattern- plowing begins at the end of the field and works up and back until
reaches the other end of the field.

3. Gathering pattern- this system starts plowing in the centerline of the field and works out towards the field
edge.

How does plow cultivation whether by machine or animal address environmental issue?
-Machine can cause additional environmental damage.

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 Key Check/Good for Land Preparation
1. Clod size and seed size are similar
2. No weeds
3. Good land levelling and smooth surface
4. Well-constructed bunds for low land rice

To prepare the field

When possible, plow immediately after the previous harvest — especially if the soil is still moist.
1. First or primary plowing. Use a disc or moldboard plow to kill weeds and incorporate crop residue,
preferably 6–8 weeks before planting with maximum depth of 10 cm.
2. Second plowing. Plow across the field with the disc or tine harrow at least twice to make small clod
sizes. Second plowing should be 2–3 weeks before planting and the last harrowing 1 week before
planting with maximum depth of 5–7.5 cm.
How to determine cultivating soil of certain type?
- By feel method or rubbing with your fingers, you can already determine the texture and type of the soil
you are dealing with
Steps in Agricultural Crop Production
 Choosing the variety to plant
 Selecting the site and Land preparation
 Raising of Seedlings
 Planting
 Fertilizer Application
 Crop protection
 Harvesting
Computation of Population Density
1. Rectangle and Square Pattern PPD= Area ÷ DBH × DBR and x NPH
2. Triangular Pattern PPD= Area ÷ DBH × DBR x 1.15 and x NPH

Hazards involved in Cultivation

Hazards- anything that may likely cause personal injury or damage.
Risks- the degree of exposure or chances to hazards.
Types of Hazards in Land Cultivation
o Physical- will cause injury in our body.
o Mechanical- due to moving/unmoving machinery when the time you performed.
o Chemical- accidentally contacted by the chemicals used.
o Biological- any microorganism might contacted or crawling animals etc.
Personal Protective Equipment in Agriculture
 Rubber boots
 Cover-all
 Respirator/Dust Masks
 Hand gloves
 Google
 Face masks
 Hat

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 Native Plow
Parts of a Native Plow
1. Beam
2. Standard
3. Chisel
4. Single tray
5. Landside
6. Shoulder adjustment belt
7. Yoke
8. Draw rope
9. Guide rope
10. Moldboard
11. Cleavage
Land Clearing- is the process of removing trees, stones and other obstacles in the area.
Types of Climate in the Philippines
Type I- Dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.
Type II- No dry season and maximum rainfall from November to January.
Type III- Dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.
Type IV- Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
Climate- is the statistics of weather over long periods of time. It is measured by assessing the patterns of
variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count
and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time. The weather conditions
prevailing in an area in general or over a long period : cold , wet climate; A region with particular prevailing
weather conditions- vacationing in a warm climate.
Weather- refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity. It is the state of the atmosphere,
describing for example the degree to which it is hot, cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy.
Season- each of the four dic=visions of the year (spring, summer, autumn and winter) marked by particular
weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth’s changing position with regard to the sun.
Environmental Issues to be considered in cultivating soil which are sacrificed because of sour
activities in the farm:
1. Climate Change- is the catch- all term for the shift in worldwide weather phenomena associated with an
increase in global average temperatures. It’s real and temperatures have been going up around the
world for many decades. It is a temperature increase referred to as global warming . It is explicitly
includes not only Earth’s increasing global average temperature, but also the climate effects caused by
this increase.
2. Clean, Air and Water Act- this acts apply to air and water quality management; primarily apply to the
abatement and control of pollution from land and air sources.

Planting Layout- is the arrangement of crops in the farm area.

1. Square method

2. Triangle method

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 3. Rectangular method

Environmental Issues to be Considered in Cultivating the Soil

1. Contour farming should be established.
2. Avoid excessive used of herbicides.
3. Disposal of hazardous chemicals in appropriate designated area not on the canal and river.
4. Avoid burning of land debris.
Contour Farming

Trellis- is an architectural structure, usually made from open framework or intersecting pieces of wood or
metal. Its main purpose is to support the climbing plants and prevent from lodging. Trellis practices
improves quality, less diseases, clean and easier to pick.
Kinds of Trellis
Staked Row- at least 5 foot pole and 2 foot deep in the ground, should 3 ft-5 ft apart. Best for heavy type of
vines like gourd etc.

A-Frame – ideal for small gardens.

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Tepee- “ shape like a cone” at least three 8-foot-tall-pole together at an angle.

Cage- good for tomatoes and other climbing plants or ornamental plants.

As Farm Supervisor:
Effectively Communicate with Supervisor and co-worker in the Farm- A farm worker should always be
polite , courteous and obedient to their boss and co- workers, everyone in the workplace should be treated
with high respect. Communicating supervisors mostly is done through black and white or proper
communication letter.
The Key Check for Irrigated Rice:
1. Use high quality of seeds of a recommended variety.
2. No high and low soil spots after final leveling.
3. Practice synchronous planting after a fallow period.
4. 4. Sufficient nutrients from tillering to early panicle initiation and flowering stages.
5. Avoid excessive water or drought stress that could affect the growth and yield of the crop.
6. No significant yield loss due to pest.
7. Cut and threshed the crop at the right time.

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