Classification of crops

Professor A. B. Mashingaidze
Crop Science and Post Harvest
Department
 Classification of crops
• A number of criteria are used to classify crops
into groups
• Classification allows general characterisation
of the crops according to classes e.g. plants
belonging to the same biological family
(curcurbits) exhibit common characteristics
e.g. disease and pest susceptibility and hence
may no be planted following one another in a
rotation
 Classification of crops
• Classification of crops enables generalizations
to be made across the various classes and
saves time and money as opposed to studying
individual crops

• Botanical classification allows for the specific

identification of all known species
 Classification according to use
Crops are classified according to use into some
of the following groups
Cereals: grasses that are grown for edible seed
(grain) e.g. maize, wheat, barley, sorghum,
millet, barley, rye, oats
Pulses: Leguminous crops that are grown to
supply carbohydrates and proteins e.g. beans,
broad beans, cowpeas, pigeon peas, lentils,
chick peas, peas, lupins
 Cover crops
• Oilseeds: Crops that are grown to produce vegetable
oils e.g. groundnuts, soybean, sunflower, canola, castor
bean, safflower, linseed, sesame, coconut, oil palm
• Horticultural crops: Fruit and vegetable crops that are
perishable and normally consumed fresh or processed
fresh. Vegetable crops e.g. cabbage, onions, leafy
rape, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, egg plants,
water melons
• Fruits e.g. oranges, apricots, grapes, mangoes,
bananas, strawberries, dates, apples, plums, pears
 Classification according to use
• Forage and pasture crops: Crops that are grown
for animal feed, hay and silage e.g. pasture
grasses (Rhodes grass, Silverleaf desmodium,
Siratro, maize)

• Green manure crops: Crops that are ploughed

under during the green stage to decompose and
add organic matter and mineral nutrients to the
soil e.g. velvet bean, clover, vetch, cowpeas, sun
hemp, lupin.
 Classification of crops
• Cover crops: A cover crop is a crop planted primarily to
manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds,
pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an
agroecosystem (Lu et al. 2000), an ecological system
managed and largely shaped by humans across a range of
intensities to produce food, feed, or fiber
• Grasses have fine, fibrous root systems that are well suited
to holding soil in place and improving soil structure.
Suitable grass species for cover crops are fast growing and
relatively easy to kill, either chemically, mechanically or by
winter weather. Grasses do not fix any nitrogen out of the
atmosphere, but they can accumulate large quantities from
the soil e.g. rye, oats, barley, Sudan grass, pearl millet
 Classification of crops
Legume cover crops can fix nitrogen from the air,
supplying nitrogen to the succeeding crop as well as
protecting the soil from erosion and adding organic
matter e.g. cowpeas, hairy vetch, soybeans, sweet
clover.

Non legume broadleaf crops may have a role as green

manure crops and in providing a different plant species
and root system for soil building. They cannot fix
nitrogen out of the air, but they can absorb large
quantities from the soil e.g. buckwheat, radish,
brassicas, marigold
 Classification according to use
• Catch crops: crops grown between two crops in
ordinary sequence, between the rows of a main
crop, or as a substitute for a staple crop that has
failed. Catch crops are short season crops that
either planted within the main crop to utilize
radiation and other soil resources before the
main crop achieves full ground cover or to
replace a main crop that has failed e.g. beans,
cowpeas, radishes that mature from seed in 25–
30 days can be grown between rows of most
vegetables, and harvested long before the main
crop matures
 Classification according to use
• Root and tuber crops: The principal root and
tuber crops of the tropics are cassava (Manihot
esculenta Crantz), yam (Dioscorea spp.), sweet
potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), potato (Solanum
spp.) and edible aroids (Colocasia spp. and
Xanthosoma sagittifolium). They are widely
grown and consumed as subsistence staples in
many parts of Africa, Latin America, the Pacific
Islands and Asia, particularly in the humid tropics
 Root and tuber crops
• Root and tuber crops are second only in
importance to cereals as a global source of
carbohydrate. The quantity and quality of the
protein in starchy staples are variable and
relatively low on a fresh weight basis and
supplementation is required with high protein
foods (meat, milk, pulses) for a balanced diet.
 Classification according to use
• Beverage and spice crops: crops grown to be
processed into beverages or to provide spices
and condiments
• Beverage crops: e.g tea, coffee, Roi bos, cocoa
that provide stimulants (caffeine) and anti-
oxidants
• Spice crops: eg peppers, chillies, coriander,
fennel, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla,
cloves – used in food flavouring
Classification of crops according to use
• Drug crops: Crops that contain drugs and
narcotics e.g. tobacco, coca, opium poppy,
cannabis. Tobacco is
 Classification according to length of
growing period
• Annual plants: plants that normally complete their life
cycle during a single growing season e.g. cowpeas,
maize, soybeans, groundnuts
• Biennials: plant that normally completes its life cycle
during a period of two growing seasons e.g. cassava
• Perennials: plants that take many years before they
reach maturity and flowering. After reaching maturity
they may flower and reproduce every year after that
e.g. Macadamia nuts, citrus trees, mango trees.
• Ephemerals: Plants with a highly plastic life cycle like
desert plants that grow rapidly within a short period
and flower when moisture starts to disappear from
the soil
 Classification of crops
• Botanical classification: Early classification
started by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus
who classified all plants into annuals, biennials,
and perennials according to life spans, and into
herbs, shrubs, and trees according to their
growth habits. The modern taxonomy for plant
classification is based on Linnaeus (a 18th century
Swedish physician, now considered "father of
taxonomy") who revolutionized the fields of plant
and animal classification.
Botanical classification
 Botanical classification of plants
• It identifies more than 350 thousand plants
species on earth.

• It was started by Carl Von Linnaeus, a Swedish

physician in the 18th century and used the Latin
language, that was commonly used for
communication then.

• It divides the plant kingdom (Plantae) into four

divisions viz. Thallophytes, Bryophytes and
Pteridophytes (ancient non vascular plants) and
Spermatophytes (seed bearing vascular plants)
 Botanical classification of plants
• The spermatophytes are further subdivided into
gymnosperms ( seed bearing plants but the
seeds do not develop within an ovary-naked
seeds) and angiosperms also called flowering
plants, have seeds that are enclosed within an
ovary (usually a fruit). The angiosperms are
further divided into two classes of plants
(monocotyledons-seeds possessing one
cotyledon) and (dicotyledons- seed possessing
two cotyledons)
 Botanical classification of plants
• All grasses belong to monocotyledons (maize,
wheat, barley, oats, rye, sorghum, millet, rice)
while most broadleaf legume crops are
dicotyledons (beans, soybean, groundnuts,
clover). Castor bean, although is a broadleaf
plant, is a monocotyledon.
• Each of the classes (monocot or dicot) is
further divided into orders, then families,
genera, species and varieties (cultivars)
Botanical or binomial classification of
plants
Botanical or binomial classification of plants ( Maca- a medicinal
biennial plant found in the Andes mountains of South America
Botanical classification of plants
 Authority
• The L. is the the "authority" – a way of
designating the scientist(s) who first published
the name of the species.
• Amaranthus retroflexus L. – "L." is the standard
abbreviation for "Linnaeus"; the absence of
parentheses shows that this is his original name.
• Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm. – Linnaeus first
named the Italian bluebell Scilla italica;
Rothmaler transferred it to the genus
Hyacinthoides.
 Polynomial system
• Prior to the adoption of the modern binomial
system of naming species, a scientific name
consisted of a generic name combined with a
specific name that was from one to several words
long.
• Together they formed a system of polynomial
nomenclature
• These names had two separate functions. First, to
designate or label the species, and second, to be
a diagnosis or description; however these two
goals were eventually found to be incompatible
 Polynomial system
• In a simple genus, containing only two species,
it was easy to tell them apart with a one-word
genus and a one-word specific name; but as
more species were discovered the names
necessarily became longer and unwieldy, for
instance Plantago foliis ovato-lanceolatus
pubescentibus, spica cylindrica, scapo tereti
("Plantain with pubescent ovate-lanceolate
leaves, a cylindric spike and a terete scape"),
which we know today as Plantago media.
Advantages of the binomial system
• Economy. Compared to the polynomial system
which it replaced, a binomial name is shorter and
easier to remember.[1] It corresponds to the
widespread system of family name plus given
name(s) used to name people in many cultures
• Widespread use. The binomial system of
nomenclature is governed by international codes
and is used by biologists worldwide.[9] A few
binomials have also entered common speech,
such as Homo sapiens, E. coli, and Tyrannosaurus
rex.
Advantages of the binomial system
• Clarity. Binomial names avoid the confusion that
can be created when attempting to use common
names to refer to a species.[10] Common names
often differ from one country to another, or even
from one part of a country to another
• Uniqueness. Provided that taxonomists agree as
to the limits of a species, it can have only one
name that is correct under the appropriate
nomenclature code, generally the earliest
published if two or more names are accidentally
assigned to a species.
Advantages of the binomial system
• Stability. Although stability is far from
absolute, the procedures associated with
establishing binomial names, such as the
principle of priority, tend to favor stability.[10]
For example, when species are transferred
between genera (as not uncommonly happens
as a result of new knowledge), if possible the
second part of the binomial is kept the same.
Problems with binomial nomenclature
• Binomial nomenclature for species has the
effect that when a species is moved from one
genus to another, not only is its genus name
changed but sometimes its species name must
be changed as well (e.g. because the name is
already used in the new genus, or to agree in
gender with the new genus)
 Season
• Crops are classified according to when they
are planted as rain-fed summer crops that are
planted from at the beginning of the rainy
season in November and grow during the
rainy season and are harvested when the rainy
season is ending or has ended e.g. maize,
groundnuts, soybean, cotton and as irrigated
winter crops such as wheat, barley, oats in
Zimbabwe
 Winter wheat/spring wheat
• However the wheat that is grown in Zimbabwe is
spring wheat rather than winter wheat. Winter wheat
is grown in temperate regions and is planted in
autumn, germinates and is then covered by snow
during the winter period satisfying its vernalization
requirement, before resuming growth in the spring and
summer. The spring wheat varieties that are grown in
Zimbabwe do not have a vernalization requirement for
flowering but require the mild temperatures of the
cool dry season (so called winter) to maximize tillering,
spikelet initiation and grain yield.
 Photosynthetic system
• Crops are classified according to how their
photosynthetic system is organized into C3, C4
and CAM plants.
• C3 plants: they have Riboluse biphosphate
carboxylase ( as the only carboxylating
enzyme in stroma of the chloroplast that
incorporates CO2 into a five carbon compound
(RuBP) and produces two three carbon sugars
in the CALVIN cycle or C3 Cycle.
C3 photosynthesis
 Photosynthetic system
• The main limitation to photosynthesis is the low
concentration of CO2 around RUBISCO in the
chloroplast
• RUBISCO is also an oxygenase and when it
incorporates O2 into RuBP, it reduces C3
photosynthesis through the loss of previously
fixed carbon in the form of CO2 and competition
between O2 and CO2 for the RUBISCO binding
site during PHOTORESPIRATION
• C3 Photosynthesis is much lower than C4
photosynthesis as a result
 Photosynthetic system
• C4 developed the Krantz anatomy (bundle
sheath cells in addition to mesophyll cells) in
leaf cellular organization and added an
additional carboxylating enzyme (PEP
carboxylase) compartmentalized in the
mesophyl cells to first fix CO2 on PEP to form a
4 carbon oxaloacetate, first product of CO2
fixation. RUBISCO and the Calvin C3 cycle are
absent in mesophyll cells in C4 plants
C4 Photosynthesis pathway
 Photosynthetic system
• PEP carboxylase has a high affinity for CO2 and is
able to fix CO2 at high rates even at low ambient
atmospheric CO2 concentrations
• RUBISCO and other CALVIN cycle enzymes are
compartmentalized in the bundle cells, no PEP
carboxylase is present.
• CO2 fixed in the mesophyll cells by PEP
carboxylase is delivered to the bundle sheath
cells by the malate shunt, ensuring high
concentrations of CO2 around RUBISCO and high
rates of photosynthesis
 Photosynthetic system
• There is no apparent photorespiration in C4
plants, owing to the high concentrations of
CO2 around RUBISCO which displace O2 from
reacting with RUBISCO