Relevance of Biology to Agriculture
Biology SSS 1 Third Term
WEEK 2
Relevance of Biology to Agriculture
Performance Objectives
Student should be able to:
- Give the botanical classification of plants
- Give the agricultural classification of plants
- Classify plants based on life cycle
Content
Biology and Agriculture are closely related subjects as both deal with plants and animals. Agriculture involves the growing of crops and rearing of animals for man's uses. Biology, on the other hand, involves the study of plants and animals. Biology in so many ways has relevance to Agriculture.
Classification of plants
Plants are generally classified based on three major criteria. These are:
- Botanical classification
- Agricultural classification
- Classification based on life cycle
Botanical Classification of Plants
Plants are generally classified through the botanical method and the use of the binomial system. The plant kingdom is divided into: Schizophyta, Thallophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta.
Agricultural Classification of Plants
Agricultural classification of plants is the type of classification based on the uses of plants. In this classification, crops or plants are grouped into the following categories based on their uses. Some of these crops are given below:
(1) Cereal plants: These plants belong to the grass family and they provide carbohydrate, e.g. maize, rice, millet, guinea com, wheat, barley, oats, etc.
(2) Pulses (grain legumes): Pulses are crops which provide proteins for man and animals when eaten. E.g. cowpea, soya beans, groundnut, lima bean, pigeon pea.
(3) Roots and tuber crops: These crops produce tubers under the ground and they provide carbohydrate to human and animals when eaten, e.g. cassava, yam, cocoyam, sweet potato, Irish potato, beets, carrot, etc.
(4) Vegetable crops: Vegetable crops provide vitamins and minerals to human and animals when consumed, e.g. tomatoes, amaranthus onion, okra, cauliflower, spinach, bitter leaf water leaves, etc.
(5) Fruit plants: Fruit plants also provide vitamins and minerals to human and animals when consumed, e.g. orange, banana, pineapple, mango, pawpaw, cashew, etc.
(6) Beverage plants: These crop plants provide food drinks when processed into finished products like bournvita, Ovaltine, pronto etc. Examples of beverage crops are cocoa, coffee, tea, kola, etc.
(7) Spices: These crop plants provide vitamins and minerals to man and animals when consumed, e.g. ginger, pepper, onion, etc.
(8) Oil plants: Oil plants can provide oil when processed both for domestic and industrial uses, e.g. oil palm, groundnut, melon, coconut, soya bean, cotton, etc.
(9) Fibre crops: These are crop plants used for making clothing materials, ropes and bags, e.g. cotton, sisal, hemp, kenaf, Hibiscus, etc.
10) Latex crops: These are crops which provide some white, sticky liquid (latex) used in plastic industries, e.g. rubber.
Classification of Plants Based on Life Cycle
In the classification based on life cycle, plants are grouped into three categories based on their life cycle or the life span of the crop plants, or the number of years a plant can grow, mature and produce fruit. The groups are:
(1) Annuals: Annuals are plants which complete their life cycles in one season. In other words, the plants grow, mature, produce fruits and die within one year. Examples of annual plants are maize, rice, cowpea, millet, vegetable, cotton, groundnut etc.
(2) Biennials: These are plants which complete their life cycles within two years. These plants develop their vegetative parts during the first year and produce fruits and die during the second year. Examples of biennial plants are pepper, carrot, onion and ginger.
(3) Perennials: Perennial plants grow, mature and produce fruits for more than two years. In this case, some plants can live for three, five, ten or even over 20 years. Examples of perennial plants are cocoa, banana, orange, oil palm, rubber, mango, etc.