Factors Affecting Crop Production

❑Crop productivity is measured in terms of

yield or dry matter

YIELD = Genotype (G) + Environment (E) + (G X E)

 Factors Affecting Crop Production

CROP
PRODUCTIVITY

GENETIC ENVIRONMENT

Abiotic
Biotic
Climatic elements
Beneficial organisms
Edaphic factors
Pests
Climatic stresses Anthropogenic
• Genotype or genetic factors
– internal factor
– sets the ultimate limit

• Environmental factors
– external factor
– determines developmental pattern of a plant within
the limits set by the genome
 YIELD = Genotype (G) + Environment (E) + (G X E)

✓attainment of maximum productivity of a crop

genotype is influenced by its growing
environment

✓even under the most ideal environmental

condition, crop growth cannot exceed its
genetic potential
 A. Genetic Factors

▪ internal factors
▪ sets the ultimate limit
▪ the genetic design of a plant
▪ plant characteristics are controlled by genes
e.g.
➢yield potential
➢susceptibility or resistance to pests and
diseases

✓Selection of appropriate variety is important

Variety
–In crop science, this refers to a named group
of plants within a particular cultivated species
which can be distinguished by a character or
group of characters
Crop improvement for higher yields
Selection
-deliberate selection has led to many
improvements in present-day crops
-a natural process of survival of the fittest
-desirable traits are being selected and
incorporated in an individual plants

Selection indices
– used to for selecting superior cultivars
 B. Environmental Factors

Environment

- any factor external to the plant that

influences its growth and development

- biotic or abiotic
Influence of environment to plant growth and
development
• Plants obtain the necessary resources from the
environment
-energy, water, CO2, and minerals

✓How do plants respond to variation in these

resources?

• The environment can also pose threats to plant

function and survival by direct physical or
chemical effects
 The Crop Environment
Abiotic Factors

1. Atmosphere composition

❑The atmosphere consists of several gases

important in plant growth and development
(CO2 , O2, N2)
Atmosphere composition

✓CO2 is a substrate for PS to occur

✓O2 is required during cellular respiration
✓CO2 & O2 become structural components
of plant organic compounds
✓N2 has to be converted to available forms
such as nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium
(NH4+) before it is assimilated by plants
2. Climatic Elements
Climate
-long-term averages of various observed
parameters
Weather
-short-term events and fluctuations such as daily
or weekly precipitation or maximum T°

➢ Affect crop growth and development:

germination, vegetative growth and
reproduction, or seed development
 Vary with:
▪Solar
Latitude
radiation
Altitude
▪Temperature Topography
▪Precipitation Geography
▪Wind
movement
CLIMATE
-near uniformity in the
▪Atmospheric tropics
humidity -wide seasonal
variations in high
latitudes
-plant Weather
-major determinant of
diversity
geographic
(variation in
distribution of crop
response)
species
Classification of climate in the context of crop
production:
Macroclimate
- climate on a large geographical scale e.g.
thousands of square kilometers
-varies with latitude, altitude or elevation and
topography

Microclimate
-a small-scale climate that differs from the
surrounding area
Microclimate
✓ small scale climate although has no exact
limits or boundary
✓ zone below 2 m (Geiger, 1959)
✓ vary in height with the biological object of
interest
✓ affected by disturbances near ground
Microclimate

❑can be modified with management practices

✓ Plowing, changing planting patterns or changing

crop covers
--can change the radiation properties of the surface

✓ Drainage, irrigation or shaping the surface –

change the water balance

✓ Windbreaks –change wind flow pattern

Solar
radiation

✓ only 1% of solar radiation reaching the crop

canopy is utilized for PS and other metabolic
processes in plants
Three important aspects of irradiance in crop
production:

-intensity (lux, foot candles or W/m2)

-duration or daylength (hours/day)
-wavelength (nm)
• Light denotes a range electromagnetic
radiation perceivable by the human eye
• Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) is in the
range of 400-700 nm
Effect of light in plants:

✓Photoenergetic effect
✓Photocybernetic effect
✓Photodestructive or photoinhibitory
Classification of plants based on light intensity
requirement:

Heliophytes- crops that require high light intensities

to reach their saturation points

Sciophytes- crops that do not require high light

intensity and they can grow well under shade
Temperature

-a reflection of the heat energy intensity

-influences every chemical, physiological and
biological process in plants
-absorbed energy by plant is usually utilized for
metabolic processes and plant insulation
-undissipated excess heat of plant will result to
rise in leaf and plant temperature
Three (3) cardinal temperatures

a. minimum temperature – the temperature

below which the velocity of the reaction
becomes zero, due to the deactivation of
enzymes

b. optimum temperature – temperature where

the velocity of the reaction is at maximum

c. maximum temperature – temperature above

which the velocity of the reaction becomes
zero, due to the denaturation of enzymes
Growing degree-days (GDD) as a predictive tool
in crop production

Degree-day –or heat unit, is the departure from

the daily mean temperature above the
minimum threshold (base) temperature
Precipitation
-source of almost all available
fresh water e.g.rainfall

Roles of water in plants:

1. serves as reactant in many biological
reactions
2. structural component of many biomolecules
3. serves as a medium for transport of nutrients
and other substances in the plant
4. helps regulate favorable plant temperature
Classification of plants based on moisture
requirement:

1. Xerophytes –desert plants

2. Hydrophytes –water loving plants
3. Mesophytes –land plants
Atmospheric Humidity

-affects physiological processes such as

photosynthesis and transpiration
-affects pest and disease incidence
- affects postharvest handling of agricultural
products
Wind
-influences crop
production via its
mechanical or
physiological impacts

✓transpiration
✓photosynthesis
✓thermal regulation
Atmospheric Humidity

affects:

✓physiological processes such as

photosynthesis and transpiration
✓affects pest and disease incidence
✓affects postharvest handling of agricultural
products
Table 1. Effect of wind on plants at varying wind
speed (Rimando et al., 2011)

Wind Speed Affected Part/Process

(km h-1)
>30 •Sterility due to loss of pollen
•Flower/Fruit drop
•Crop lodging and grain
shattering
45-56 Severe damage on crown
>65 Severe damage on whole
plant/uprooted
 3. Edaphic factors

Soil Components
1. Solid phase-consists of all the
organic and inorganic materials
2. Liquid phase -the soil moisture
or soil solution, comprises
about 20-30% of the total
volume
3. Gaseous phase –the remaining
Figure _. Soil composition
20-30% of the soil volume by volume
a. Soil physical properties
-affect crop production via nutrition and water
relations

• Soil texture
• Soil structure
• Soil depth
• Soil topography or slope
Soil texture
-refers to the size and relative proportion of the
various size groups in a given soil

Soil textural class (ISSS):

• sand (2-0.02mm)
• silt (0.02-0.002mm)
• clay (<0.002 mm)
Table 2. Some textural properties relevant to crop
production (adapted from Rimando et al., 2011)
Soil Property Textural Class
Sand Silt Clay
Aeration excellent good poor
CEC low medium high
Drainage excellent good poor
Erodibility by water easy moderate difficult
Permeability fast moderate slow
Tillage easy moderate difficult
Water-holding capacity low moderate high
Nutrient-holding capacity low moderate high
Soil structure
-refers to the arrangement of the soil particles
into groups or aggregates

Affects the following:

1. Water penetration and drainage
2. Water and nutrient uptake
4. Aeration
5. Emergence of germinating seeds and root growth
6. Ease of tillage operations
Different
soil structures
Soil depth and Topography

Topography
-physical configuration of the soil
-influences drainage and runoff
-also affects air and soil temperature
→T⁰ decreases by 1˚C for every 100m of elevation
for the first 10-15km altitude

Major determinant of:

1. Type of crops that will be grown
2. Cropping patterns
3. Cultural/conservation interventions
b. Soil chemical properties

Cation exchange
capacity (CEC)
-the sum of
exchangeable cations
in a given weight of
soil
-me/100g
-determines capacity
of soil to hold
nutrients
Soil pH
- a measure of the degree of acidity and
alkalinity of the soil
-pH scale of 7 is neutral
-acidity is associated with low pH while
alkalinity is associated with high pH
-affects availability of plant nutrients
Soil organic matter

✓it serves as storage of nutrients

✓improves soil structure
✓the stable organic fraction is known as
humus
 Environmental Factors
B. BIOTIC FACTORS

a. Beneficial organisms
❖Pollinators
❖Natural enemies
❖Decomposers

b. Pests
❖Insect pests
❖Pathogens
❖Weeds
❖Vertebrate and invertebrate pests

c. Anthropogenic /Human Factors

Beneficial Organisms

❖Pollinators
- beetles, bees, wasps,
butterflies, moths, flies,
birds and bats
❑Characteristics of plants pollinated by
these organisms :
✓have large brightly colored petals
✓may produce nectar and/or certain
scents or evolved structures that will
attract/allow only certain pollinators
✓ do not produce much pollen
❖Natural enemies
-organisms that are non-destructive
to crops
-helpful in keeping down the population of insect
pests and pathogens
-use of natural enemies as ‘bio-control’ agents is an
important part of IPM systems

❖Decomposers
-consists mostly of heterotrophic
bacteria and fungi that obtain
energy by breaking down organic remains
Soil biological component

❑Macroscopic organisms:
– earthworms, insects, mites millepedes, moles,
nematodes, slugs, snails etc.

❑Microscopic organisms:
– actinomycetes, algae, bacteria and fungi

➢These microorganisms could either be harmful or

beneficial to plants
✓Soil microorganisms play an active role in soil
fertility because of their involvement in
nutrient cycling
--->Nitrogen-fixing bacteria can transform
N2 gas into forms that can be utilized by
plants
e.g. Rhizobium found in the root nodules of
legumes
‘Biofertilizers’
-microorganisms that contribute to the
improvement of soil fertility
ex. mycorrhizal fungi can increase the availability
of mineral nutrients such as P for plant uptake

‘Biopesticides’
-some microorganisms produce compounds that
stimulate the natural defense mechanisms of
plants and improve their resistance to pathogens
b. Pests
Insect pests
• Defoliators -feed on plant leaves; also called
leaffeeders
• Sapfeeders -consume the photoassimilates;
may occur from seedling to grain
development
• Ovipositor
• Rootfeeders
❖Weeds
– plants that grow were they
are not wanted
– weeds compete for light,
water, and nutrients
– when they dominate the
crop-weed competition, yield
reduction due to weeds could
even exceed the destruction
caused by insect pests and
pathogens
• Classification: grasses, sedges,
broadleaves
❖Pathogens

✓disease-causing organisms
✓ bacteria, fungi, nematodes and oomycetes, virus
and viroids
✓ mode of disease transmission or dissemination:
wind, rain, splashes, irrigation, insect vectors,
animals, contaminated seeds, infected vegetative
propagules, infested planting tools
❖Vertebrate and invertebrate pests
-rodents and birds, and snails
 c. Anthropogenic/Human Factors

• implementation of various production

activities are performed by humans, with the
ability to think and make management
decisions

ex. choosing a variety

farming practices to be adapted
• Keys to farmer’s decision-making :
– farmer capability (financial resources and
technical knowledge)
– preference
– cultural and social norms
– prevailing environment
– climatic condition
– peace and order situation
– presence and level of infrastructures
– market demand
References:
• Lantican, R.M. 2001. The Science and Practice of
Crop Production. SEAMEO SEARCA and UPLB,
College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

• Rimando, T.J. 2011. Fundamentals of Plant

Physiology. University of the Philippines Los
Baños, College, Laguna.

• Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. 2005. Plant Physiology. 3rd

Edition