Teaching the Common Competencies in Agriculture and Fisheries

St. Ignatius Academy

ST. IGNATIUS ACADEMY

Cabuyao Campus

Teaching the Common Competencies in

Agriculture and Fisheries

Jamil D. Orenciada, LPT

(First Semester Module)

What is this module about?

“Reproduction of any part of the learning module in any form such as

photographing and photocopying among others is strictly prohibited without the
 Teaching the Common Competencies in Agriculture and Fisheries
St. Ignatius Academy

In order to make this subject fun and adventurous, we developed a learning guide
for the students to achieve the holistic and lifelong learning that will be used in this very time of
pandemic.
The purpose of this module is to give knowledge for all learners about Teaching
the Common Competencies in Agriculture and Fishery subject as part of the new curriculum of
Bachelor in Technical-Vocational Teacher Education which is the Introduction to Agri-Fishery
Arts.

Chapter 1
Basic Concept of Agricultural Crop –
Lesson 1: Define and Appreciate Agriculture
Lesson 2: Brief History of Agriculture
Lesson 3: Branches of Agriculture
Lesson 4: Types of Agricultural Crops
Lesson 5: Types of Commercial Food Crops in the Philippines
Lesson 6: Parts of the Plant and Its Function.

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St. Ignatius Academy

CHAPTER 1 Basic Concept of Agricultural Crop

Lesson 1: Define and Appreciate Agriculture

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Agriculture – it is the science, art and practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops and
raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing and resulting of products
Farm Equipment - These are machineries used in crop production. They are used in land
preparation and in transporting farm inputs and products. This equipment needs a highly skilled
operator to use
Farm Implements - accessories pulled by animals or mounted to machineries to make the work
easier
Farm Tools - objects that are usually light and are used without the help of animals and
machines
Fertile Crescent – semicircle of fertile land stretching from southeast coast of Mediterranean
around Syrian Desert, North of Arabia to Persian Gulf
Neolithic – of or relating to the latest period of the Stone Age characterized by polished stone
implements
Parthenocarpy – the production of fruits without fertilization
Emmer - Definition of emmer - an ancient tetraploid wheat (Triticum dicoccum) that has
spikelets with two hard red grains which remain in the glumes after threshing and that has been
cultivated especially in southwest Asia, northeast Africa, and Europe

What is Agriculture?
Definition of agriculture
Webster’s Dictionary
: the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in
varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products

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St. Ignatius Academy

Nominal Definition (explains what a name is)

Agriculture comes from the Latin words’ ager, agri meaning field and cultura meaning
growing, cultivation. Therefore, it means “growing and cultivating of the field.”

Elements in the Definition of Agriculture

- It is a science, because of systematically organized body of knowledge which not only
based on opinions, hypothesis and theories but on factual and absolute knowledge. Also,
it is a practice because of the actual applications of the ideas.
- Of farming, because is the act or process of working the ground, planting seeds, and
growing edible plants. It can also include raising animals for milk, meat and wool.

VALUE OF AGRICULTURE
Agriculture has a vital role in the life and progress of an economy. It does provide food
which is the basic needs of mankind, not only to sustain food and raw material but also
employment opportunities to a vast number of the population of a country. It can be a source of
livelihood which can contribute to micro and macro community, supplying and sustaining food
and fodder that are
the basic necessities of human to live, promoting the diplomatic friendship facilitated by trading
system in local, national and international arena, marketable surplus products, source of saving
of the entire national budget and basis of the economic development of a country.

Without agriculture, the economy will be at high risk to food security that may result into
serious national problems. The effect may be adverse or even worse.

Lesson 2 Brief history of Agriculture

Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago, and it has undergone significant
developments since the time of the earliest cultivation.

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St. Ignatius Academy

Ancient Origins
The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East was the site of the earliest planned sowing and
harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in the wild. Independent development of
agriculture occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and several
regions of the Americas. Barley has been found in archeological sites in Levant, and East of the
Zagros Mountains in Iran.
The eight so-called Neolithic founder crops of agriculture include emmer wheat einkorn
wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax. Bitter vetch and lentils along
with almonds and pistachios appear in Franchthi Cave Greece simultaneously, about 9,000 BC.
Neither was native to Greece, and they appear 2,000 years prior to domesticated wheat in the
same location. This suggests that the cultivation of legumes and nuts preceded that of grain in
some Neolithic cultures.
By 7,000 BC, small-scale agriculture reached Egypt. From at least 7,000 BC the Indian
subcontinents saw farming of wheat and barley, as attested by archaeological excavation at
Mehrgarh in Balochistan.
By 6,000 BC, mid-scale farming was entrenched on the banks of the Nile. About this
time, agriculture was developed independently in the Far East, with rice, rather than wheat, as
the primary crop. Chinese and Indonesian farmers went on to domesticate taro and beans
including mung, soy and azuki. To complement these new sources of carbohydrates, highly
organized net fishing of rivers, lakes and ocean shores in these areas brought in great volumes of
essential protein. Collectively, these new methods of farming and fishing inaugurated human
population boom dwarfing all previous expansions, and it continues today.
By 5,000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large
scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and use of a specialized
labour force, particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian
Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. Domestication of wild aurochs and
mouflon into cattle and sheep, respectively, ushered in the large-scale use of animals for
food/fiber and as beasts of burden. The shepherd joined the farmer as an essential provider for

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St. Ignatius Academy

sedentary and semi-nomadic societies. Maize, manioc, and arrowroot were first domesticated in
the Americas as far back as 5,200 BC.
The potato, tomato, pepper, squash, several varieties of bean, tobacco, and several other
plants were also developed in the New World, as was extensive terracing of steep hillsides in
much of Andean South America. The Greeks and Romans built on techniques pioneered by the
Sumerians but made few fundamentally new advances. Southern Greeks struggled with very
poor soils, yet managed to become a dominant society for years. The Romans were noted for an
emphasis on the cultivation of crops for trade.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Muslim farmers in North Africa and the Near East developed
and disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on hydraulic and
hydrostatic principles, the use of machines and the use of water raising machines, dams, and
reservoirs. They also wrote location-specific farming manuals, and were instrumental in the
wider adoption of crops including sugar cane, rice, citrus fruit, apricots, cotton, artichokes,
aubergines, and saffron. Muslims also brought lemons, oranges, cotton, almonds, figs and sub-
tropical crops such as bananas to Spain. The invention of a three-field system of crop rotation
during the Middle Ages, and the importation of the Chinese-invented moldboard plow, vastly
improved agricultural efficiency. Another important development towards the end of this period
was the discovery and subsequent cultivation of fodder crops which allowed over-wintering of
livestock.

Modern Era

After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred.
Key crops involved in this exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, cocoa and tobacco
going from the New World to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, spices, coffee, and sugar
cane going from the Old World to the New. The most important animal exportations from the

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St. Ignatius Academy

Old World to the New were those of the horse and dog (dogs were already present in the pre-
Columbian Americas but not in the numbers and breeds suited to farm work). Although not
usually food animals, the horse (including donkeys and ponies) and dog quickly filled essential
production roles on western hemisphere farms.
By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks and cultivated plants
selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics had so
improved that yield per land unit was many times seen in the Middle Ages. With the rapid rise of
mechanization in the late 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming
tasks could be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible. These advances have led
to efficiencies enabling certain modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany,
and a few other nations to output volumes of high-quality produce per land unit at what may be
the practical limit.
The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate represented a major
breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints. In the past century
agriculture has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the substitution of labor for
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding, mechanization, water pollution, and farm
subsidies. In recent years there has been a backlash against the external environmental effects of
conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic movement.
Agricultural exploration expeditions, since the late nineteenth century, have been
mounted to find new species and new agricultural practices in different areas of the world.

Lesson 3 Branches of Agriculture

BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE

There are four main branches of agriculture, namely;

1. Livestock Production or Animal Husbandry

2. Crop Production or Agronomy

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St. Ignatius Academy

3. Agricultural Economics
4. Agricultural Engineering

1. Livestock Production or Animal Husbandry Animal Husbandry is the branch of

agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fiber, milk, eggs, or other
products. The term "livestock" encompasses many species and numerous breeds within animal
species which can produce food and other raw materials. Livestock production or Animal
Husbandry has 4 common classifications such as:

a.) Nomadic Pastoralism

b.) Poultry Farming
c.) Swine Farming
d.) Apiculture

a.) Nomadic Pastoralism is the husbandry of grazing animals is viewed as an ideal way of
making a living and the regular movement of all or part of the society is considered a normal and
natural part of life. Pastoral nomadism is commonly practice where climatic conditions produce
seasonal pastures but cannot support sustained stationary agriculture because of the animals’

food limitations.

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 Teaching the Common Competencies in Agriculture and Fisheries
St. Ignatius Academy

b.) Poultry Farming is the raising of birds domestically or commercially, primarily for meat and
eggs as well as for feathers. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese are of primary importance,
while guinea fowl and squabs (young pigeons) are chiefly of local interest.

c.) Swine Farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of
animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork, bacon, gammon) or sometimes
skinned.

d.) Apiculture is the scientific method of rearing honeybees. The word ‘apiculture’ comes from
the Latin word apis meaning bee and colere which means “to culture”. Bees are mainly reared
for their honey. So, apiculture or also known as beekeeping is the care and management of honey
bees for the production of honey and the wax. In this method of apiculture, bees are bred

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St. Ignatius Academy

commercially in apiaries, an area where a lot of beehives can be placed. Apiaries can be set up in
areas where there are sufficient bee pastures – usually areas that have flowering plants.

2. Crop Production or Agronomy It is the science dealing with the cultivation of crops and
vegetables on a field scales either under rain fed or irrigation conditions. These crops are mainly
annuals cultivated food. The requirements of each crop are studied in terms of soil and climate,
as well as planting time and techniques, different cultivars, fertilization, weed, disease, and
insect control, as well as the effect of stress factors. Crop Production or Agronomy includes:

Lesson 1 Activity

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 Teaching the Common Competencies in Agriculture and Fisheries
St. Ignatius Academy

Direction: Answer the following questions.

1. What is the definition of agriculture? Justify.
2. Cite a value of agriculture that without it can create serious national
problem.

Lesson 2 Activity
Direction: Answer the following questions. Write your answer on one whole piece of yellow pad
paper.
1. Collect pictures of agricultural technologies from the ancient origins until the contemporary
times. What are the similarities and differences of agricultural technologies comparing to each
era?
2. Why is it important to know and understand the history of agriculture?

References:
https://pdfcoffee.com/module-agri-fishery-ii-pdf-free.html
https://www.academia.edu/43347527/
LEARNING_MODULE_IN_AGRI_FISHERY_ARTS_AGRI_FISHERY_ARTS_LEARNING_
MODULE_ii_LEARNING_MODULE_IN_AGRI_FISHERY_ARTS_ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
- Batangas State University Balayan CampusCaloocan, Balayan, Batangas
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agriculture

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