Revision on Classification of Crops JSS1 Agricultural Science Lesson Note

CLASSIFICATION OF CROP ACCORDING TO THEIR USES

Food and feed for ourselves and our livestock.  Those crops include:

1. CEREALS:  Cereals or grain crops belong to the grass family.  We grow them for their seeds; examples are maize, sorghum (guinea corn), millet, rice, wheat, and acha.
2. LEGUMES (PULSE):  The seeds of these crops are eaten and are a good source of plant proteins.  Examples are soya bean, cowpea, groundnut, and bambara.
3.   SUGAR CROPS:  Sugar crops are grown to make sugar which we eat.  The two major sugar crops are sugarcane and sugar beet.
4. BEVERAGES AND STIMULANTS:  Beverages stimulants are crops whose products are used for making non-alcoholic drinks or used to increase our body activities.  Examples are cocoa, tea, coffee, kola nut, and tobacco.
5. ROOTS AND TUBERS:  Root and tuber crops are crops that store food materials in underground parts of the plant.  Examples are cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, and cocoyams
6. FRUITS:  Many crops produce fruits.  The fruits are eaten fresh or canned.  Examples are mango, orange, banana, cashew, pawpaw, guava and pineapple.
7.  FORAGE CROPS: Farmers grow forage crops to be used mainly as feed for farm animals.  Examples are elephant grass, gamba grass, and alfalfa:  Most food crops for example cowpea are also grown as forage crops.  In this case, the crops are harvested before they are mature to feed livestock’s.  Such crops include maize, sorghum, millet, groundnut, soya beans, and cowpea.
8.  LATEX CROPS:  These are crops that provide some white sticky sap (latex) from their stem or fruit.  Examples are rubber and para rubber.
9.   FIBRE CROPS: These are crops that are usually thread-like and from which fiber is obtained.  It can be processed to make clothing materials.  Examples; are cotton, sisal, jute, kenaf e.t.c. fibers may be obtained from fruits, stems, and leaves of these crops.
10.  OIL CROPS:  These are crops whose seeds or fruit can produce oil when processed.  Examples include oil palm, coconut, soya beans, groundnut, cotton, and sunflower.