LEARNING MODULE 5

Lesson 5: MAJOR AGRONOMIC/ HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN SELECTED

COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, THEIR FAMILIES AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES

OVERVIEW
The Philippines is predominantly an agricultural region. Farming, fishing,
livestock, and forestry make up the country's agriculture industry. The industry employs
39.8% of the workforce and accounts for 20% of GDP. The majority of people still live in
rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
 Familiarized the major agronomic crops in the world

DISCUSSION:
Despite plans to turn the Philippines into an urban economy by the year 2000, the
Philippines remains predominantly an agricultural region. The majority of people still live in rural
areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Farming, fishing, livestock, and forestry (the
latter two sectors are very small) are the four sub-sectors that make up the country's agriculture
industry, which employs 39.8% of the workforce and accounts for 20% of GDP.
Rice, maize, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, pineapple, coffee, mangoes, tobacco, and
abaca are some of the country's most important agricultural crops (a banana-like plant).
Peanuts, cassava, camote (a root crop), garlic, tomato, cabbage, eggplant, calamansi (a lemon
variety), rubber, and cotton are examples of secondary crops.
Philippines agriculture goods are exported to the United States, Japan, Europe, and
ASEAN countries (members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Coconut oil and
other coconut products, fruits and vegetables, bananas, and prawns are among the most
valuable export commodities (a type of shrimp). Cavendish bananas, Cayenne pineapples,
salmon, seaweed, and carrageenan are some of the other products exported. In 1995, the
volume of coconut-product exports was $989 million, but by 2000, it had dropped to $569
million. Unmilled wheat and meslin, oilcake and other soybean residues, barley and malt rice,
urea, flour, fish meals and pellets, soybeans, and whey are among the agricultural items
imported from the United States.
The widespread development of agricultural land into golf courses, suburban
subdivisions, retail parks, and resorts is one of the agricultural sector's most pressing concerns.
In 1993, the country was losing 2,300 hectares of irrigated rice field last year. Small landowners
find it more lucrative to sell their property to developers in exchange for cash, particularly
because they lack the financial resources to purchase seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and salaries
to hire staff to plant and harvest the crops. Farmers' continuing dependence on chemical-based
fertilizers or pesticides, which have depleted soil fertility over time, is also a source of concern.
Farmers have been increasingly moving to organic fertilizer, or at least a mix of chemical and
organic inputs, in recent years.
Reference:
National Encyclopedia, 2021 “Philippine-Agriculture”
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Philippines-
AGRICULTURE.html#:~:text=The%20country's%20main%20agricultural%20crops,a
%20banana%2Dlike%20plant).