The grouping of crops likely evolved alongside their domestication from wild ancestors, with concurrent selection for various uses to meet the needs of humans for both food and non-food purposes.
This accounts for their initial classification based on economic importance concerning the consumable parts of the plant. The development of scientific agriculture introduced other classification methods, particularly the binomial system.
The use of botanical characteristics is of great scientific importance in crop identification. However, classifying crops based on their economic or agronomic roles in human survival, such as food production, fibre supply, and industrial conversion into useful products, remains the most popular and widely emphasized classification method in agricultural literature.
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Classification Based on Nomenclature (Binomial System)
This system was developed by Linnaeus and is universally accepted for naming plants, animals, and minerals. It classifies plants into divisions, subdivisions, classes, orders, families, genera, species, subspecies, and varieties.
Plants are categorized into seed-producing (Spermatophyta) or non-seed-producing groups (viruses, bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, ferns, and horsetails).
The Spermatophyta group includes the most structurally complex plants and is further divided into two classes: Gymnospermae and Angiospermae.
1. Class Gymnospermae: These plants produce naked seeds, usually in cones, which are the female organs. They often show structural adaptations to minimize water loss. This class includes orders such as Ginkgoales, Coniferales, Cupressaceae, and Taxaceae.
2. Class Angiospermae: These plants produce seeds protected by fruits and use flowers as a means of sexual reproduction. Many families within this class are important to horticulture, both as crops and weeds.
3. Sub-class Monocotyledonae: Contains some horticultural families like Liliaceae (tulips, onions), Amaryllidaceae (daffodil family), Iridaceae (Iris family), and Graminae (grasses).
4. Sub-class Dicotyledonae: Includes families significant to horticulture, such as Compositae (chrysanthemums), Cruciferae (cabbage), Rosaceae (apples, pears, roses), Leguminosae (peas, beans), Solanaceae (potatoes, tomatoes), and many others.
Plants are generally identified by their generic and specific names, e.g., Chrysanthemum morifolium.
Classification Based on Botanical Characteristics
This classification groups crops into monocotyledonous species (those with one seed leaf or cotyledon) and dicotyledonous species (those with two cotyledons). Examples include cereals (monocots like maize, barley) and legumes/pulse crops (dicots like cowpea, soybean).
Classification Based on Duration of Crop Growth
Crops can be classified based on their growth duration:
1. Annuals: Complete their life cycle in one year (e.g., maize, cowpea, tomato).
2. Biennials: Complete their life cycle in two years (e.g., cassava, brassicas).
3. Perennials: Live for more than two years or persist year after year (e.g., cacao, rubber, banana).
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Classification Based on Economic/Agronomic Importance
This method groups crops by their economic use, whether for food, fibre, or other essential purposes:
1. Starch Plants: Crops grown for their high calorific value and used as starch, carbohydrates, or sugar in diets. Examples include cereals (maize, rice), roots (cassava, potato), and tubers (yams, sweet potato).
20. Ancillary Plants: Cultivated to support other plants by improving soil, providing shade, or serving as windbreaks. Examples include Grevillea robusta, Gliricidia, and vetiver.
2. Sugar Plants: Cultivated for sugar production, used in sweetening food and drinks. Examples are sugarcane, sugar beet.
3. Oil Plants: Grown primarily for oil extraction, which ranks third globally in production value. Examples include oil palm, soybean.
4. Protein-Providing Plants: Grown for their protein value, although plant proteins are inferior to animal proteins. Examples include cereals and pulses like cowpea, soybean.
5. Vegetables: Include various crop species like cereals, roots, and legumes, important in human diets. Examples are tomatoes, spinach, okra, and cabbage.
6. Fruits: Consumed for their refreshing taste and nutritional value. Examples include mango, grapes, avocado.
7. Nuts: Eaten for their pleasant flavor and high nutritional value. Examples include peanuts, cashew nuts, almonds.
8. Beverages, Masticatories, and Stimulants: Contain compounds that stimulate or enhance human physical and mental capacities. Examples include coffee, tea, cacao.
9. Spices: Used to enhance food flavor and have medicinal properties. Examples are ginger, onion, pepper.
10. Medicinal Plants: Plants with active compounds important in pharmaceutical industries. Examples include Cinchona and Datura.
11. Essential Oils: Volatile substances used in perfumes, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Examples include citrus oils, grass oils, and camphor oil.
12. Fibre Plants: Cultivated for weaving materials like textiles and packaging. Examples include flax, cotton, and jute.
13. Elastomers: Natural polymers with rubber-like properties used in various products. Examples are rubber and gutta sundek.
14. Resins and Gums: Complex mixtures used for technical and cosmetic purposes. Examples include Shorea robusta, rattan palm.
15. Tannin Materials: Used in leather tanning and pharmaceutical preparations. Examples include black wattle and chestnut.
16. Dyes and Colourings: Plant pigments used in food, cosmetics, and textiles. Examples are Bixa orellana and Indigofera arrecta.
17. Pesticides: Natural compounds used for pest control. Examples include pyrethrum and nicotine from tobacco.
18. Waxes: Fatty substances used in various industries such as cosmetics and food. Examples are carnauba, candellia, and jojoba.
19. Forage and Pasture Plants: Grown to feed domestic animals. Examples include maize, cowpea, and sorghum.
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