*Climatic Zones in the

Tropics*

 Humid tropics
 Sub-humid
 Semi-arid
 Arid and desert areas
 Tropical highlands
*Agriculture*

Subsistence-oriented
Low productivity
High production risk
Uncertainty
Kaingin system previals
*Factors that affect Crop growth*

Technical (natural)
a) Physical – climate, soil
b) Biological – pests, diseases, weeds,
cropping pattern

Human elements
a) Exogenous factors
b) Endogenous factors
Physical factor: Climate

•Temperature range
•Humidity
•Rainfall pattern
•Water system / management
•Solar radiation
•Wind
3 Cardinal Temperature
affecting plant processes:
• Minimum temperature
-below which velocity of reaction becomes
zero
• Optimum temperature
-reaction velocity is at maximum
• Maximum temperature
-above which reaction velocity becomes
zero
Classification of Crops based on
Temperature requirement

• Cool season -Cole crops (cabbage, broccoli,

cauliflower), peas, potato, Shasta daisy, carnation,
tea, etc.
• Warm season
-Rice, banana
• Tropical - Coconut, pineapple
• Sub-tropical - citrus
Plant Types: Moisture Need

•Xerophytes
-Plants in arid environments (cactus)
•Hydrophytes
-Aquatic plants
•Mesophytes
Land plants – most of the economically grown
plants
Factors affecting rainfall

• Topography
• Air circulation
• High Relative Humidity
• Sufficiently low temperature (below
condensation point)
• Condensation nuclei
• Sufficiently low pressure
Drought

• The insufficiency of rainfall/moisture

which affect plant growth
• Absolute drought – 29 consecutive
days without rainfall of at least 0.25 mm
• Partial drought – 15 consecutive days
without rainfall of at least 0.25 mm
Solar Radiation

• most important factor that affect crop yield

3 aspects of light:
• Intensity (foot candles or lux)
• Duration or daylength (hours from sunrise
to sunset)
• Wavelength (Angstrom or nanometers)
Light intensity
Classification: Light intensity
•Heliophytes
•Medium
•Sciophytes
Classification: Light intensity

• Heliophytes
-Sun-loving plants
-Light saturated at about 5,000 ft.
candles
corn, upland rice, cowpea, peanut,
sweet potato, watermelon, papaya,
banana, citrus, various vegetables
Classification: Light intensity

• Medium
-Sunny at least four hours a day
Onion, garlic, chinese chives (kutchay),
asparagus, carrot, celery, cabbage,
chinese cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
pechay, mustard, lettuce, spinach, gabi.
Classification: Light intensity

• Sciophytes
-Shade-loving
-Light saturated at about 500 ft. candles
Black pepper, cacao, coffee, lanzones,
mangosteen, durian, ginger, vanilla
Daylength

1. Photoperiodism
2. Photoblastism
 Daylength
•Photoperiodism
• Day-neutral plants
-Flowering not regulated by daylength
Kidney bean
• Short-day plants
-Plants that flower in short days (↓CDL)
Chrysanthemums, pineapple, coffee
• Long-day plants
-Plants that flower in long days (↑CDL)
Wheat, Aster
Daylength

Photoblastism
•Positively photoblastic
- Germination is influenced by light
Grasses, Lettuce, carrot, mustard
•Negatively photoblastic
- Germination is inhibited by light
Melon, pumpkin, cucumber
Wavelength

• Red and Blue

– effective in photosynthesis
• Far-red and red
– effective in photoperiodism
• Far-red (700-800 nm)
– influences morphogenesis
• Ultraviolet light
→ causes damage on plants
Effects of strong winds

• Crop lodging
• Subsequent yield reduction
• Grin shattering
• Affects transpiration
• Straight, upright, curved growth
• Sterility due to pollen loss
• Reduced CO2 levels esp. in enclosed spaces
• Disease spores dispersal
Physical Factor: Soil

• Geography as it covers boundaries,

number of cities, municipalities and
barangays
• Topography and elevation range
• Land size
• Soil properties
Soil Properties

• Soil texture – smoothness or gritness of soil

which depends on the proportion of variously
sized particles
• Soil structure – a function of the arrangement
of the soil particles and the space between
them
• These are related to the soil workability and
water holding capacity
Textural Class: Sand

• Course Texture
• 0.10 – 2.00 mm diameter particles
• Excellent aeration and drainage
• Low cation exchange
• Fast permeability by water
• Low water/nutrient-holding-capacity
• Easy tillage and erodibility by water
Textural Class: Silt loam

• Medium Texture
• 0.002 – 0.05 mm diameter particles
• Good aeration and drainage
• Medium cation exchange
• Moderate permeability by water
• Moderate water/nutrient-holding-capacity
• Moderate tillage and erodibility by water
Textural Class: Clay

• fine texture
• Less than 0.002 mm diameter particles
• poor aeration and drainage
• high cation exchange
• Slow permeability by water
• High water/nutrient-holding-capacity
• Difficult tillage and erodibility by water
Soil structure

• O-horizone - leaf litter

-organic materials
• A-horizone -plough zone
-rich in organic matter.
• B-horizone -zone of accumulation
• C-horizone -weathering soil
-little organic material or life
• R-horizon -unweathered parent material
Soils of the Tropics

•Oxisols
•Alfisols
•Ultisols
•Aridisols
Soils of the Tropics

• Oxisols
-Highly weathered soils containing
high amounts of oxides of Fe and Al
• Alfisols
-Soils formed in well-drained upland
areas of coarse to medium surface
texture with a clay B horizon of more
than 50% base saturation.
Soils of the Tropics

• Ultisols
Highly leached acid soil with less than 50%
base saturation found in humid tropical and
sub-tropical areas.
• Aridisols
Soils of arid or dry regions
with limited change in the parent material
because of low rainfall.
LAND PREPARATION
Types of Land Preparation
Wetland or Lowland (rice)
-Wet or Dry Preparation
Dryland or Upland (rice and most crops)
-Dry preperation
LAND PREPARATION
Wetland/Lowland Preparation
• Soaking
-Water is absorbed until soil is saturated
• Plowing(1-2x)
-Initial breaking and turning-over of soil & weeds
PRIMARY TILLAGE
• Harrowing or Rotovation (> 2x)
-Soil clods are broken down & puddled SECONDARY
TILLAGE
LAND PREPARATION
Wetland/Lowland Preparation
• PUDDLING
Macropores destroyed
Micropores maintained/increased
Plowpan formed
• Leveling (1x)
Final preparation sometimes synchronized with
basal fertilizer application
LAND PREPARATION
Dryland/Upland Preparation
• Plowing(1-2x)
Cut soil into furrow slices
Incorporate weeds
• Harrowing/Rotovation(2-3x)
Pulverize clods
Compact soil at certain degree
Final weed incorporation
• Leveling
Finala activity
Done after harrowing
Types of Tillage Operations

•Primary tillage
•Secondary tillage
•Seedbed preparation
•Inter tillage
Primary tillage
• the most aggressive tillage operation
• undertaken when the soil is wet enough to allow
the field to be ploughed and strong enough to give
reasonable levels of traction
• after the crop harvest or at the beginning of the
next wet season
• includes the ploughing operation which is opening
of the compacted soil with the help of different
ploughs
Primary tillage
• Open the hard soil
• Separate the top soil from lower layers
• Invert the soil whenever necessary
• Till the soil to attain a reasonable depth (10-15cm )
with varying clod sizes
• Kill weeds by burying or cutting and exposing the
roots
• Soil aeration and water accumulation
• Chop and incorporate crop residues
Primary Tillage Implements

① Moldboard plough
② one-way disc plough
③ Tine disc plough
④ Offset disc plough
Primary Tillage Implements

• Moldboard plough
causes total inversion of the soil sod and
relies on the digging point for penetration
throws the soil in one direction
least damage to soil structure
works well in very hard soil conditions
but no built stump or obstacle protection
Primary Tillage Implements
• One-way disc used with 4-wheel tractor
causes total inversion of the soil sod and
relies on the ploughs in built weight for
penetration
throws the soil in one direction
works well in hard soil and heavy trash
conditions and can ride over stumps or
obstacle in the soil
Power requirement is less than a
moldboard
Primary Tillage Implements

• Offset disc for 4-wheel tractor

capable of operating offset from the
tractor
throws the soil in different direction
very versatile and can be operated in
any ploughing pattern
widely used in upland situations
Primary Tillage Implements
• Tine plough
most versatile
used in secondary tillage
modified to be used as a seed drill
dry working situations
cut the soil rather than invert the soil
kill weeds by cutting and lifting the weeds to
the surface
lower power requirements
Secondary Tillage

any working completed after primary

tillage
shallower and less aggressive
includes the operations performed after
ploughing such as leveling, discing,
harrowing etc.
Secondary Tillage Implements

① peg tooth harrow

② disc harrow
③ tined cultivator
④ rotary tiller
⑤ inter row cultivator
Secondary Tillage Implements

•Peg tooth harrow

used in animal and 2-wheel tractor
powered systems
for second workings, soil puddling and
land leveling
Secondary Tillage Implements

•Disc cultivator
used in dry fields and upland
situations
very aggressive action of the plough
gives good weed control and cuts
and buries crop residues
Secondary Tillage Implements

•Tined cultivator
used for secondary tillage and as a
seed drill
dry working situations
cut the soil rather than invert the soil
kill weeds by cutting and lifting the
weeds to the surface
Secondary Tillage Implements

•Rotovator
for secondary workings and especially
seedbed preparation
Upland and flooded fields
very aggressive action, which
pulverizes the soil and buries weeds
and crop residues
Secondary Tillage Implements

• Upland Tillage
aerobic soil conditions
non-puddled soils
no freestanding water in the fields
too dry soils will not till easily, in clay soils large clods may
be formed
very wet, near soil saturation, smearing and soil sealing can
become problems
water erosion can be a problem and ploughing on the
contour is recommended
Seedbed Preparation
for germination of seeds
 & growth of crops, called as SEEDBED
includes harrowing, leveling, compacting the soil,
preparing irrigation layouts such as basins,
borders, rides & furrows etc.
carried out by using hand tools or implements
like harrow, rollers plank, rider etc.
Inter tillage

carried out in the standing crop

after sowing or planting and prior to the
harvesting of crop plants
includes gap filling , thinning , weeding ,
mulching, top dressing of fertilizers,
hoeing, earthling up etc.
Tillage Patterns

• reduces the time spent in non-productive

work
• minimize the number of turns and
maximize the length of the tillage runs
• circuitous, up and back or headland and
working in lands
Tillage Patterns

① Circuitous pattern

② Up and back or headland pattern

③ Land system
Tillage Patterns

• Circuitous pattern
used with moldboards, discs and offset discs

most animals are accustomed to working

ends up with a large cut out furrow in the center –

difficult to drain and get an even depth of
cultivation
Tillage Patterns

• Up and back or headland pattern

runs parallel to each other
used for tined implements, rotovators, harrows
and reversible ploughs
most field efficient system and if equipment is
correctly set up and operated should not leave
furrows in the field.
Tillage Patterns

• Land system
runs parallel to each other
used for tined implements, rotovators, harrows
and reversible ploughs
most field efficient system and if equipment is
correctly set up and operated should not leave
furrows in the field.