Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz 3120

Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Instructional Module for the Course

Practices in Crop Production (Lecture)

Module 1. Site Selection

Overview

Good day! Welcome to the first module of our lecture class in CRSCI
1105. In this module, you will be acquainted with the first step in crop
production which is site selection. Specifically, the three factors to consider
in site selection will be discussed such as the following: physical or abiotic
factors, biological or abiotic factors and socio-economic or cultural factors.

Upon the completion of this module, you are expected to differentiate

site from location and understand the factors to consider in site selection.

I. Topics

A. Introduction

The success in crop production depends largely in identifying the proper

location and site or the proper crop for a given location or site. Location refers
to the geographical position or place where the crop enterprise is located in
relation to a city, town, highway or any point of reference while Site refers to
the actual place where any given crop is produced. There are two cases in site
selection. First, the land maybe available and the appropriate crops are decided
upon and second, the desired crops may have been decided upon and the choice
of the site follows. In either case, there is a need to evaluate the physical,
biological and socio-economic conditions existing in the area, the options that are
available in terms of crop species and distinctive varieties that would be most
adaptable, and the technological inputs that will be required in growing the
crops.

Proper selection of site greatly affects the growth and productivity of the
crops. A crop performs best and is least costly to produce if grown under the
most
CRSCI 1105 (Practices in Crop Production)

favorable environmental conditions. Furthermore, a site which is not accessible to

transportation and situated far from the market outlets and storage facilities will
result to postharvest losses, which consequently reduces income on the part of
producers.

Crops have acquired adaptive mechanisms to specific factors such as

climate, soil and biotic conditions through natural evolution and man’s
intervention. Therefore, crops with special adaptations should match a given
biophysical situation. For example, what is an ideal soil? The ideal soil for upland
crops has a deep rooting zone, and easily penetrable by air, water, and roots. It
has good water holding capacity but drains excess water freely. It has a balance
supply of nutrients that cannot be easily washed away during rains. Paddy rice,
on the other hand, prefers properly leveled, deep, fertile and poorly drained soils
that can be flooded while the crop is growing.

B. Factors to Consider in Site Selection

B1. Physical or Abiotic: Climatic and Soil Factors

a. Climatic Factors

The most important climatic factors are rainfall, temperature, and light. In
addition, the wind speed, relative humidity and frequency of typhoons and
flooding can be critical for certain plants and at certain times.

1. Rainfall or water supply. Water status and growth have a complex

relationship. It involves several physiological processes such as salt absorption
and translocation, photosynthesis and respiration. The process that is most
directly and severely affected by water status of the plant is growth by expansion
associated with the turgor of the cell. Adequate moisture should be made
available to the plant before adverse effects occur. Excessive rainfall on the other
hand favors the loss of nutrients, inhibits soil aeration and nutrient uptake, and
may lead to formation of toxic substances to the plant roots. Plant parts needed
in yield formation or the entire plant may also be damaged by excessive rainfall
such as in the case of flowers of mango and onion, respectively. Thus, both the
amount and distribution of rainfall are important. Specific amount and
distribution of rainfall as requirements of some crops are presented in Table 1 for
your guidance.

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Table 1. Rainfall requirements of some crops.

Crop Amount of Distribution of Rainfall
Rainfall

Abaca 1800-2900 mm/yr Uniformly distributed throughout

the year

Avocado 750-1000 mm/yr Alternating wet and dry seasons

Banana 100-150 mm/mo. AB, AAB, and ABB hybrids are better
adapted to monsoon areas with
marked dry season; AA and AAA
need uniformly distributed rainfall
throughout the year

Cashew 1000-2000 mm/yr Well-defined dry season of 4 months

or more

Durian 2000 mm/yr or more Long rainy season with well-

distributed rainfall; cannot tolerate
more than 3 months of intense dry
period

Mungbean 410 mm in 2 months Growing season should not coincide

with periods of heavy rainfall

Soybean 530 mm in 3 months Plenty of rain during growing season

and more or less dry weather during
ripening

Okra 300 mm in 2 to Grows well during both wet and

3 months dry season
 2. Temperature. Extremes of temperature adversely affect physiological
processes and inhibit plant growth. Different crops and even varieties of a crop
require specific temperature ranges for best performance. Temperature
requirement can also vary with growth stage. Not only the temperature but also
daily changes in temperature affect the plant response. In tomato and potato,
night temperature is important for normal growth and yield formation. Table 2
presents the temperature requirements of some crops.

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Table 2. Temperature requirements of some crops

Crop Temperature Requirement (oC)

Cacao 21-35 oC; lower temperature limiting the

successful growth is a mean monthly minimum of
15 oC and an absolute minimum of 10 oC.

Carrot 16-21 oC; temperature at 21-27 oC is too hot for

normal growth.

Cassava 25-29 oC; growth stops at a temperature of around 10

o
C and reduced at temperatures above 29 oC.

Corn 18-24 oC; temperature at 38 oC plus water stress at

tasseling and silking prevent seed set; temperatures
as low as 15.6 oC greatly retards flowering and
maturity.

Chinese cabbage 20-25 oC; during head formation, a day temperature

of 21 oC and a night temperature of 16 oC is
required.

Tomato 18-20 oC for fruit set; 24-28 oC for fruit ripening.

3. Light. All aspects of plant growth are affected by light directly or

indirectly. The aspects of light that is important in crop production are light
intensity and daylength or photoperiod. The favorable light intensity range varies
with the kind of plant. Certain plants perform better in full sun than under shade,
while other plants perform better under shade than in full sun. Daylength controls
the flowering of short-day plants and long-day plants but not that of day-neutral
plants. It also affects bulbing, tuber formation and stem elongation.

b. Soil Factors

The characteristics of the area play an important consideration in crop

production and management. These characteristics include topography or slope,
soil texture, soil depth, soil drainage, available water holding capacity, soil
erosion, flooding hazard, and inherent soil fertility as indicated by pH, organic
matter, available phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, cation exchange capacity
(CEC) and percent base saturation.

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1. Slope. It is the ratio of the vertical distance over the horizontal distance
both of the same linear unit multiplied by 100%. Slope significantly influences the
retention and movement of water, movement of soil material, soil depth and rate
and amount of run-off. Nearly level soils have little erosion hazard and can be
easily adapted to many uses. The establishment and maintenance of paddy rice
for example becomes much more difficult as the slope increases. Steep slopes are
susceptible to erosion when not terraced or when other soil conservation
measures are not applied. Accessibility is often limited and this results to an
increased transport cost for agricultural products.

2. Soil Texture. This refers to the relative proportion of clay, silt and
sand. Structure and consistency depend on the kind and amount of clay in the
soil. Clay works with organic matter to hold water and nutrients. It helps bind soil
particles together into structural aggregates. Clay holds more water and nutrients
than sandy soils due to larger surface area. Clayey soils have higher cation
exchange capacity than sandy soils. Soils with too much clay may give
inadequate aeration for plant roots. Clayey soils are sticky when wet and hard
when dry. Because of this, plowing and other tillage operations should be timed
with proper amount of soil moisture. Medium textured soils like loam and silt loam
soils are the best soils for diversified upland crops. Paddy rice prefers poorly
drained clayey soils.

The presence of significant volumes of stones, rocks and boulders in the

plow layer interferes in the cultivation of the soils with either animal drawn
implements or farm machines. The presence of the coarse materials in the soil
reduces the amount of soil from which water and nutrients can be extracted by
the plants. Table 3 shows the requirements of some crops in terms of soil texture.

Table 3. Soil texture requirements of some crops

Crop Soil Texture

Cassava Grows best on sandy or sandy loam soils; performs

satisfactorily on any type of soil provided the soil is
well drained.

Corn Almost all soils provided they are well-drained;

medium textured (sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam)
are best

Eggplant Sandy soils to heavy clays; well-drained loams best

Gabi Silty clay to clay

Mungbean Sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, clay loam

Peanut Loamy sand to clay loam; deep sandy loam best

Rice Silty clay to clay

Sugarcane Sandy clay loam to clay loam

Sweet potato Well-drained sandy loam or silt loam

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3. Soil Depth. Effective soil depth refers to the thickness of the soil to
layers coarser than loamy fine sand, sand, gravels, stones, rocks or to any
impermeable layer or to the water table. Soil depth is a measure of the soil
volume available for the development of the root system of plants.

Deep soil provides greater capacity to store water and plant nutrients. The
thicker the effective soil depth, the more the volume of soil from which plant
nutrients and water can be extracted. Generally, deeper soils are more productive
than shallow soils. Crops can endure a larger drought when they thrive on soils
having a higher water holding capacity.

4. Soil drainage. Soil drainage is the removal of water from the soil
through surface run-off and by flow through the soil to underground spaces.
Generally, a well-drained soil promotes favorable conditions for plant growth and
microbial activity. It encourages granulation and aeration. The primary factors
affecting soil drainage include slope, permeability, vegetation and land use, and
amount of rainfall.
 Soils with poor drainage have limited agricultural use because of wetness.
These soils are not suitable for upland crops unless adequately drained but they
are best for paddy rice. Soil drainage is not a fixed factor as management can
alter drainage condition. A well-drained soil can be kept wet, or a poorly drained
soil can be transformed to moderately drained to well drained if an adequate
drainage system is constructed. Thus, in paddy rice culture, dikes are
constructed to conserve water and high-water table can be lowered through
installation of open ditch or tile drainage system.

5. Available water holding capacity. Available water is the water

content of a soil held between field capacity and permanent wilting point and
expressed in percent. Field capacity represents the maximum amount of water a
soil can hold against normal drainage. The permanent wilting point is the water
held in the soil when the plants start to wilt.

6. Soil erosion. One of the principal limitations in agricultural production

in the Philippines is soil erosion. The degree and amount of soil erosion is mainly
dependent on steepness and length of slope, climate, kind of soil, nature of land
use and vegetative cover, and cultural and soil management practices. Surface
erosion occurs when the amount of rainfall exceeds that of the infiltration
capacity of the soils. Soils with longer and steeper slopes are more susceptible to
severe soil erosion than soils with lower shorter slopes, all other factors equal.
Soil erosion is more severe on areas with more frequent and more intense
alternate wet and dry periods than areas with uniform rainfall throughout the
year. Sandy soils are more susceptible to erosion than clayey soils because they
are more susceptible to detachment due to lack of binding materials.

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The nature of land use and vegetative cover greatly influences the degree
of soil erosion. Generally, areas grown to clear tilled crops are likely to be more
affected by soil erosion than similar areas planted with close growing crops. The
nature of land preparation and tillage also influences the severity of soil surface
removal. Tilling in the direction of the slope tends to hasten soil erosion to a great
degree.

7. Flooding hazard. Flooding occurs on areas occupying low

physiographic positions along rivers and streams, blackswamps, low alluvial
terraces of the coastal landscape. Deep and prolonged flooding and submergence
is more detrimental to diversified upland crops than lowland paddy rice.
Prolonged deep flooding prevents root respiration due to absence of oxygen and
deprives the plant essential soil nutrients.

8. Inherent soil fertility. Soil fertility refers to the status of the soil in
terms of its ability to provide the plants adequate amount of nutrients in balanced
proportion and on readily available form necessary for normal plant growth. It is
related to pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), available
phosphorus, extractable potassium and base saturation. Soil pH affects plant
growth on its nutritional needs. The soil pH influences the rate of plant nutrient
release by weathering, the solubility of all materials in the soil and the amount of
nutrient ions kept on the cation exchange sites. Organic matter content affects
soil fertility in terms of CEC and nutrient supply. In general, the higher the
organic matter content the higher is the CEC, supply of available nitrogen,
phosphorus and sulfur. Addition of organic matter on a sandy soil significantly
increases its water holding capacity. Regular application of organic matter also
improves soil structure and water infiltration rates. The amount of organic matter
in the soil is generally indicated by color. A dark color indicates high organic
matter content.

Table 4. Soil pH requirements of some crops

Crop pH

Cabbage 4.2-8.3; 6.0-6.5 best

Cassava 4.3-8.0; 6.0-7.5 best

Corn 4.3-8.3; 5.3-7.3 best

Cucumber 4.3-8.7; 5.5-6.5 best

Garlic 4.5-8.3; 5.5-6.5 best

Okra 4.3-8.7; 6.0-6.5 best

Potato 4.2-8.3; 5.5-6.0 best

Rice 4.3-8.3; 7.0 best

Yardlong bean 4.3-7.3; 5.5-6.8 best

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B2. Biological or Biotic Factors

a. Cropping pattern being followed. One cannot deviate much unless the
community, as a whole, changes the pattern. The risks from pest damage in the
field are greater if planting is not synchronized with that of the community.

b. Production practices in the area. There must be good reasons for adopting
existing practices in the area. Information on yields of the best farmers in the
area must be obtained and used as the standard for upgrading operations.
c. Pest and disease problems in the area. A case in point is the widespread
papaya ringspot virus disease in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and the adjoining
provinces up to Bicol. Large-scale papaya production should avoid these areas.

B3. Socio-Economic and Cultural Factors

a. Acceptability. Is that particular crop acceptable in the community?

b. Task orientation. Is a certain crop easy to follow particularly on the

technology of production?

c. Potential to increase income. Does a certain crop have a competitive

value in comparison to other existing crops in the locality?

d. Marketability. Is the crop easy to market? Is the crop acceptable to the

market consumer?

e. Labor requirement. Is the crop labor intensive? Does the crop need more
labor force?

f. Labor supply situation and level of skills. The landless group of farmers
that supply manual labor must also be considered. The use of mechanical
harvesters deprives these landless farmers of income from doing manual
harvesting.

g. Accessibility of farm to transportation facilities. This must be

considered for perishable crops, which need easy access to transportation
and road networks.

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h. Local market situation and preferences of the populace. The supply

and demand situation should be known so that operations can be adjusted
for harvesting to coincide with the slack periods of supply when prices are
high.

i. Peace and order situation in the area.

II. Assessment Tasks

Answer a short quiz in our google classroom before the set deadline.

III. References

Agustin, Mario B. 2006. Site Selection. In Crop Science 105 Lecture Compendium.
Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, CLSU, Science City of Muñoz,
Nueva Ecija.

Bautista, Ofelia O.K (ed). 1994. Introduction to Tropical Horticulture. SEAMEO

SEARCA and UPLB, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

Canare, Justo G. 2006. Site Selection. In Crop Science 105 Lecture Compendium.
Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, CLSU, Science City of Muñoz,
Nueva Ecija.

Lantican, Ricardo M. 2001. The Science and Practice of Crop Production.

SEAMEO SEARCA and UPLB, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

Peter Deuter and Jerry Lovatt. 2007. Matching crop requirements with the
production environment http//www2.dpi.qld.gov.au./horticulture/5181.html
(retrieved 26 March 2009)

The Technical Committee. 1986. Environmental Adaptation of Crops. PCARRD and

USDA. Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

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