RELEVANCE OF BIOLOGY
TO AGRICULTURE
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS
Plants are generally classified
based on 3 major criteria. These are:
1. Botanical classification
2. Agricultural classification
3. Classification based on life cycle
1. BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION
The plant kingdom is divided into four
divisions, namely;
i. Division Thallophyta
ii. Division Bryophyta
iii. Division Pteridophyta
iv. Division Spermatophyta
2. AGRICULTURAL CLASSIFICATION
1. LEGUMES (PULSE):
The seeds of legumes are rich in proteins.
They also replenish the soil because they contain
nitrogen fixing bacteria on their root nodules.
Examples are cocoa, lima bean, pigeon peas,
soya bean, groundnut, beans etc.
2. CEREALS
These plants belong to the grass
family. Their seeds are rich in
carbohydrates. Examples are maize,
barley, millet, oat, rice, sorghum,
guinea corn and wheat.
3. ROOT TUBER CROPS
These crops produce tubers under
the ground and they provide
carbohydrates for humans and animals
when eaten. Examples include cassava,
sweet potato and carrot.
4. STEM TUBER CROPS
These plants store food in
underground stem that are swollen
with food reserves. They are rich in
carbohydrates. Examples include yam,
irish potato and cocoyam.
5. VEGETABLES
Various kinds of vegetables are grown
to supply dietary vitamins and certain
minerals like calcium. Examples include
tomato, okra, onion, pepper, cabbage,
spinach and amaranthus.
6. FRUITS
The fruits of some plants are rich
source of minerals and vitamins
e.g, vitamins A, B, C . Examples
include orange, pineapple, banana,
plantain, mango, pawpaw etc.
7. BEVERAGES AND DRUGS
The crop which yield these products
include cocoa, coffee, tobacco, and quinne.
The products, cocoa and coffee, are food
drinks; tobacco is a stimulant and quinne is
used as medicine.
8. OIL CROPS
The fruits and seeds of
certain plants are rich in oil
such as oil palm, shea butter,
coconut, sunflower and
groundnut.
9. SPICES
They are usually used to add
flavours to our food to make it tasty
and delicious. Examples include
ginger, pepper, garlic, cinnamon and
cloves
10. FORAGE CROPS
These are grasses and
leguminous plants that are
cultivated basically for feeding
farm animals.
11. LATEX
These are crops which
provide some white, sticky
liquid (latex) used in plastic
industries, e.g. rubber.
12. FIBRE CROPS
These are crops plants used for
making clothing materials, ropes
and bags e.g., cotton, sisal, jute,
hemp, kenaf, hibiscus and hapok.
13. CASH CROP
These are crops grown
mainly for the purpose of
money. They include oil palm,
rubber, cotton, cocoa etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS BASED ON LIFE CYCLE
On this basis, there are generally four
types of plants;
1. EPHEMERALS
These plants complete their life cycle
and die within three or four months.
Examples are tomatoes and water leaf.
2. ANNUALS
These plants complete their entire life cycle
and die within one growing season which may
be from few months to one year. Examples
include maize, rice, cowpea, millet, vegetables,
cotton, groundnut, wheat, beans, flax, jute,
sorghum, guinea corn, sunflower etc.
3. BIENNIALS
These plants grow and store food
during the first growing seaso, use it in the
second growing season to produce flowers,
fruits and seeds before they die. Examples
include pepper, carrot, onion, ginger,
raddish, cocoyam, cabbage etc.
4. PERENNIALS
These include trees, shrubs and herbs
which continue to grow from year to year,
producing fruits and seeds for many years.
Examples include rubber, oil palm, cocoa,
mango, coconut, banana, orange,
flamboyant tree, hibiscus etc.
EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES ON ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
The following agricultural practices have adverse effects on
the ecological systems;
1. Bush burning
2. Overgrazing
3. Fertilizer application
4. Application of pesticides/herbicides
5. Tillage
6. Deforestation
ASSIGNMENT
Enumerate five (5) effects
each of the following
agricultural activities on the
ecosystems.
PEST OF AGRICULTURAL
IMPORTANCE
DEFINITION OF PESTS
A pest can be defined as
any organism capable of
causing damage to
agricultural produce.
A pest could be a plant or
an animal. Plant pests are
referred to as weeds while the
most important animal pest
are insects
CLASSIFICATION OF INSECT PESTS
There are several means
of classifying insect pests.
1. On the plant they eat
2. On their mode of feeding
CLASSIFICATION OF PESTS BASED ON THE
VARIOUS PARTS OF CROP PLANT THEY ATTACK
1. Stem borers: These are
usually larvae of certain
moths that bore into the
stems of maize and feed on
2. Root feeders: These
are insect larvae or adults
found in the soil. They
burrow into the ground
and feed on yam tubers.
3. Leaf feeders:
Snails, bettles,
grasshoppers eat up
leaves of crops.
4. Young shoot feeders:
aphids, mealy bugs and
scale insects usually
pierce and suck out juices
from young shoots.
5. Fruits and seed feeders:
these are moths, fruit flies,
cotton strainers and some
beetles eat their way into
fruits and seeds causing great
damage.
THEIR MODE OF FEEDING
a. Biting and chewing insects e.g., termites, grasshoppers,
leafworms, army worms, praying mantids, locusts and beetles
b. Piercing and sucking insects e.g., Aphids, cotton stainers,
mealy bugs, scale insects, capsids or mirids and white flies.
c. Burrowing insects e.g., Bean beetles, stem borers, maize
weevils and rice weevils.
EFFECTS OR ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF
INSECT PESTS IN CROP PRODUCTION
1. They destroy crops in the field through their biting,
chewing, boring, sucking, defoliation activities.
2. They cause reduction in the viability of stored produce
3. They increase the cost of production during the course
of controlling them.
4. They render vegetables and fruits unattractive and
unmarketable.
5. Some are carriers or vectors of diseases.
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF PESTS
1. Physical control
2. Cultural control
3. Biological control
4. Chemical control
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF PESTS
1. Physical control: This involves the
physical removal of pests by :
i. hand-picking of insects larvae
ii. setting traps to catch rodents
iii. shooting rodents with gun.
iv. fencing round the farm with wire nets
2. CULTURAL CONTROL: This methods
involves the use of farm practices to prevent or
control pets on the field. Examples include:
i. Bush fallowing
ii. Crop rotation
iii. Change in time of planting
iv. Regular weeding
v. Proper timing of planting
iv. Use of resistant varieties
3. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL:
This involves the introduction of
the natural enemies of pests to
control or keep the pests population
under control. Such enemies eat up
or feed on these pests, thereby
reducing the population of the
4. CHEMICAL CONTROL: Examples of
such chemicals are:
i. Pesticides - chemicals to control pests
ii. Insecticides - chemicals to control insects
iii. Rodenticides - chemicals to control
rodents
iv. Avicides - chemicals to control birds
v. Nematicides - chemicals to control
DISEASES OF CROPS
A plant disease may be defined
as a departure or deviation of the
plant from the normal state of
health, presenting marked
symptoms or outward visible signs.
DISEASES CAUSED BY PESTS AND AGENTS.
i.Fungal diseases: Fungi diseases in crops are
caused by Fungi which are usually microscopic
and parasitic. Maize smut, Maize rust, Rice
blight, root rot, downy mildew, leaf spot of
cowpea, cocoa black pod disease, coffee leaf
rust, Damping off disease of Okro and Onion
twister disease are all fungal diseases.
ii. Viral diseases: Common
symptoms include Mosaic motting,
lesions, chlorosis, stunting and
recrosis. Crops affected by viral
diseases are Tobacco, Cassava, and
garden egg.
iii. Bacterial diseases: These
are caused by bacteria which
tend to form spotting of leaves,
stems and fruits. Bacteria also
cause soft rots, bacterial blight,
bacterial wilt and bacteria galls.
GENERAL EFFECTS OF DISEASES ON
CROP PRODUCTION
i. They generally reduce the yield or
productivity of crops
ii. They reduce the quality of crops.
iii. They cause malformation of plants.
iv. They can kill or cause the the death of
plants.
v. They cause reduction in the income of
GENERAL CONTROL OF
PLANT DISEASES
Diseases of crop plants can
be controlled through
cultural control, biological
control, and chemical
