Factors Affecting Permanent Crop Production
In crop production, crops are domesticated plants that we grow on our farms, orchards and gardens. These crops vary in their climatic, nutritional requirements and soil needs; susceptibility to pests and diseases conditions, just to mention a few.
Therefore, the cultivation and production of crops are based on some basic factors and these factors must be considered in the choice of what type of crop to grow in a particular place.
In this article therefore, you will read and study the general principles of crop production. Some of the factors that influence crop production that you as students will deal with include: climatic, biological, soil/edaphic, crop nature, technical and economic factors that you need to put into consideration before you embark on a particular crop production, especially where permanent crop production is concerned.
In addition, pests and diseases constitute threat to production efforts of farmers; they therefore need to be considered before you finally decide on what type of permanent crop(s) you will produce on your farm, orchard or garden.
Factors Affecting Permanent Crop Production
Report on permanent crops production indicated that the major factors that influence farmers and agriculturists in their choice of type of crop to grow in their farm include climatic factors, biological factors, edaphic/soil, and economic variables.
1. Climatic Factors
Talking about climatic factors, first, climate is the average weather conditions of a place over a period of thirty five to forty (35- 40) years. On the other hand, the particular condition of a particular place and at a particular time is called weather.
Major weather elements are; rainfall/precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, wind, sunlight and solar radiation. These elements affect the growth of plants and in different ways.
Rainfall / Precipitation: Rainfall / precipitation is the release of water droplets from the sky to the earth surface. The total rainfall of any place is the total amount of precipitation that a place gets during a fiscal year of 365 days. In other words, the rainfall may occur during only three of the twelve months of the year.
The rains may be evenly distributed within the twelve (12) months of the year or fall within specific months of the year.
Crops vary in their requirements for water at different stages of the crop growth and production. While some crops require a large amount of water, some may not withstand nor survive when the precipitation is high.
However, water helps in the following;
Keeping the soil soft for easy penetration of the roots of plants.
Water also helps the plant in the uptake of nutrients from the soil.
Water as well helps in the transportation of materials from one part of the plant to another.
Water again, helps in keeping the plant turgid.
It ensures a cooling effect in the plant and this helps to reduce evaporation.
Solar radiation / Sunlight: The solar system is made up of the sun at the centre with satellite objects rotating round it. The sun is at the centre and it is a very large object that is burning away every second. The heat and light generated by the burning sun is emitted to the circling satellite objects round it.
The earth is second to the sun and it derives its light and heat energy from the sun. The earth goes round the sun in an orbit that has the shape of an eclipse. The amount of heat and length of the day varies from one period to another and from one region to another.
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Also, as the earth rotates on its own axis to give day and night, the orbiting of the earth round the sun gives rise to the seasons of the year, that is rainy and dry seasons (in the tropics); while in the sub-tropical areas, there are four seasons – summer, fall/autumn, winter and spring. The sun rises in the east and then sets in the west for a particular day.
Some crops are sensitive to day-length and the amount of heat that is available in the environment. Some crops require longer nights to initiate the process of flowering while some are day-length neutral.
Solar radiation or sunlight combines or reacts with the chlorophytic cells (chlorophyll) to produce carbohydrates and the process is called photosynthesis.
Therefore the amount of food that a particular crop can produce during its growing season is a function of the sunlight available for the crop, and other variables like available nutrients, available soil-water, foliage, presence/absence of diseases.
Temperature: Temperature is the resultant effect of solar radiation on the earth’s surface. Temperature is measured in degrees on Celsius or Fahrenheit scale.
During the day, when the rays of the sunlight shine on the direct surface of earth, the temperature is often higher than when it is in the night. Temperature affects the growth of the plant in different ways like;
It affects the rate of transpiration and where available soil-water is not adequate, high rate of transpiration can lead to wilting of the plant.
It however, helps in the flow of nutrients and water from one part of the plant to another through the process of transpiration.
Relative Humidity: Relative humidity is the amount of water in the form of water vapour in the atmosphere. Relative humidity affects the assimilation, absorption, transportation and transpiration reactions taking place in crops.
Most crops perform optimally when the relative humidity is low. Others crops like forage and those grown for their vegetative parts perform optimally when relative humidity is high.
Disease causing organisms perform optimally when the relative humidity is high. Thus high relative humidity is not good for optimum crop performance.
Winds: All crops and indeed all living things need air. Air in motion is called wind. The wind may be mild or strong. Wind can also be how, warm or cold. Hot or warm wind has more devastating effects on the plant, while cool wind has beneficial effects on the plants.
Strong winds as storms and cyclones cause damage to crops depending on the nature of the crop. Tender shoot crops as rice, wheat, maize, oats, and rye easily log (fall off) with the slightest storm.
In plantation crops like rubber, banana, plantains, strong winds cause heavy damage. Gentle wind (breeze) is good for crops as it encourages good transpiration
2. Pests and Diseases
Crops respond to other environmental variables that do not constitute climatic elements. Permanent crop – Wikipedia stressed that these variables include pests and diseases.
Pests are small insects and animals that damage crops either on the field when growing or cause damage to crop products when they are in the store.
Pests range from small insects as bugs, butterflies, locusts, midges, aphids, caterpillars to medium to large animals as rats, rabbits, grass- cutters and antelopes.
Some underground worms attack crop roots e.g. nematodes. They all cause physical damage to crops – roots, shoots, leaves, flowers, tubers, stems and seeds/fruits.
May it be known that some pests like butterfly has beneficial effect on the plant in that they help in the pollination of the flowers of plants.
Diseases: Diseases are microscopic organisms in crops and they cause an abnormal condition, discomfort or harmful condition in the plant.
Diseased crops are crops that cannot perform all the necessary biological functions at the optimal level of the crop.
Oftentimes, the crops exhibit symptoms of stress dysfunction due to the disease. In some cases, dysfunction may be due to non-availability of some necessary nutrients.
Causal agents or organisms of crop diseases are of three major groups. These organisms are responsible for crop diseases. The organisms are:
- Viruses,
- Bacteria, and
- Fungi.
Viruses: They have no definite shape. They change forms and cause malfunction in crop nucleus, cytoplasm, protoplasm and tissues. This malfunctioning is through change in the original nature of the crop plant so affected. They attack crop chromosomes and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
There are different types of viruses and they are all very difficult to control because they constantly change form. They cannot live on their own and as a result, they cannot perform basic biological activities by themselves because they lack the parts that perform these basic functions.
However, as they gain entrance into any living tissues, they take over all the biological functions and distort as many of the processes as possible and at last cause severe damage in the affected part(s) of the plant. Examples of virus attack on crops are: cassava mosaic virus (CMV), and rosettes in groundnuts.
Bacteria: These are living microorganisms that attack crops. Once they attack a crop, they rapidly multiply and make colonies on the crop parts so attacked.
The parts so affected become damaged. Sometimes the damaged parts cannot perform their normal function. In very common cases, the resultant effect is the death of the crop parts so affected.
The bacteria can be divided into two major groups and these are:
Aerobic– these are the ones that need oxygen to perform. Anaerobic – they are those ones that do not need oxygen to perform.
Fungi: Fungi are non-green plants and as such they cannot manufacture their own food. They live on other plants to be able to perform their normal biological activities.
They feed on the attacked dead parts of the plant, or they feed directly from the nutrients that the crops require or feed on the food reserves of the crops.
They are of different types of fungi. Irrespective of type, they all thrive better when the relative humidity is very high. This is because the available moisture assists in the rapid decay of the affected parts e.g. black pod disease of cocoa.
Edaphic / Soil Factors: Edaphic factors are also known as soil factors. Since soil varies in its composition, component constituents, its nature and reactions, so do different crops perform differently on different soils.
Crops like other plants manufacture their food from simple chemical elements through the use of sunlight reacting with carbon-dioxide and water to form carbohydrates.
Other nutrients needed for the process are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, and Sulphur in fairly large quantities, hence they are called marcro-elements.
On the other hand, some elements as zinc, molybdenum manganese, boron, are needed in small quantities are therefore called micro / trace elements in crop nutrition.
Most of these elements are often present in the soil. However, they are not always available to the crops. The availability (rate of release) to the crops depend on very many variables as: soil acidity, soil water, soil air, and other soil properties (soil physics) as texture, structure, porosity, soil-water-air mixture, etc.
In the following sub-units, you will read about some of the above identified variables of the soil. Soil Fertility: A soil that contains large quantities of crop nutrients is said to be fertile.
As mentioned earlier, a soil that is rich in macro and micro – elements in required quantities by the crops is a good soil for crop production.
The most crucial of these elements include: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), Molybdenum (Mo), Manganese (Mn). and Zinc (Zn). In all, sixteen (16) chemical elements are needed for crop growth and development.
These Are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Sulphur, Magnesium, Boron, Manganese, Zinc, Iron, Molybdenum, Sodium, Copper, Chlorine, Aluminum, and Silicon.
Six (6) other elements are known to stimulate crop growth under certain conditions – these are: cobalt, arsenic, selenium, lead, lithium, and vanadium. Carbon and additional oxygen are drawn from the air.
Oxygen and hydrogen are supplied in water. All the above elements can be present in the soil, the rate at which they are made available to the crops depend on the soil acidity.
Soil acidity and alkalinity: Soil acidity can be described as a measure of the acidity and alkalinity of the soil. When the concentration of hydrogen ions [H]+ is higher than the hydroxyl ions [OH]–, the soil is said to be acidic.
On the other hand, if the reverse is the case then the soil is said basic or alkaline. But if the concentrations of both the hydroxyl and hydrogen are the same, the soil is said to be neutral.
The acidity and alkalinity is measured with the pH Scale, numbering 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 and crop nutrition is optimal when the soil pH is neutral.
When the soil is acidic, some elements are easily released to the crops while some are tied up. A reversed condition occurs if the soil is alkaline. When the soil pH is 7, the soil is said to be neutral.
The soil acidity increases as the scale moves from neutral position (7) to one. On the reverse, soil alkalinity increases as the scale moves from neutral position (7) to fourteen.
Soil Physical Characteristics: Soils are made of physical particles of rocks and minerals matter. The level of integration of the particles determines the nature of soil.
The rock particles are classified into aggregates as small stones, sand, coarse particles and fine particles (silt and clay).
Similarly, the broken down organic matter can be classified into groups based on size. The organelle is the fine particle size usually called organic matter colloids.
Since reactions take place at the surfaces of the particles, the available soil nutrients will depend on the particle surface area compared with the mass / volume of the particle concerned.
Soil particles come together to form soil aggregates of different shapes and forms. These aggregates determine the air-space and water spaces available in the soil. These latter conditions determine the suitability of the soil medium for crop adaptations.
For instance, porous soil or sandy soil has large air spaces and thus larger water spaces in the aggregates. Porous soil in turn allows free flow of water particles through the soil with little or nothing retained in the soil for crop use later. This type of soil aggregate encourage leaching of soil nutrients.
Clayey soil on the other hand has very small air spaces and water in its aggregates. Water does not flow through it easily.
Besides, whatever water is available is held very tightly to the surface of the clay particles at the expense of the crops. Because of slow downward flow of water (percolation) this type of soil aggregate encourages heavy surface run-off leading to surface erosion.
Physical characteristics of the soil determine which types of soil are prone to flood, swamp, erosion, leaching, etc. These in turn determine what types of crops the soil can support.
Soil Texture: This is the nature of fineness or roughness of the soil. Better put, it can be described as the amount of sandy, silt and clay particles in a particular soil.
It therefore goes to say that a soil with much sandy particles is described as sandy soil while a soil sample with much clayey particles is described as clay soil. As earlier noted, these soils grow well different crops.
Soil Structure: Soil structure is the relative arrangement of the different types of soil in a given soil profile. A sample or area may have clay soil on the top while some other areas may have sandy particles at the top of the soil. The type of the soil on the top will determine the type of crop to grow.
The Nature of Crops: Huffstetlerm (2020) noted that crops vary in their needs for water, nutrients, sunshine and day length, and agronomic management strategies.
For example, water is very critical in the growth and production of sugar care, bananas, plantains, rubber and to some extent, oil palm and pawpaw. Whereas in the production of cotton, groundnut and beans (legumes in general), sunshine and day-length are the most critical.
Therefore, in the selection of what to grow, you must bear in mind the variables which encourage the crops to perform optimally.
Unless, you are prepared to create a micro-climate or environment, like a greenhouse environment for the crops of your choice, you should as a matter of importance check through the list of crops that perform optimally in the (selected) environment where you intend to grow the crops.
For example, swamp rice requires pre-nursery and nursery operations in the production of the rice seedlings; upland rice does not require pre-nursery and nursery operations.
Most tuber crops do not perform well in swamps or water logged areas. Similarly, most cereals require heavy sunshine, moderate water / rainfall and well drained soils.
The following two units will deal extensively on the nature and types of crops we grow in our environment.
Economic Factors: Besides the innate characteristics of the crops and the environmental factors as climate and soil physical characteristics, other variables that influence permanent crops production are the economic factors as stated by permanent crop – Wikipedia. The report noted that economic factors encompasses so much.
Economic factors include such variables as labour, which has to do with the available manpower to do work in the farm. The more they are, the more crops that are produced, all things being equal.
Supply of tools and materials, are another group of factors that affect the production of crops. A good supply will guarantee good level of production.
Market forces as supply, demand and price: Demand is the quantity of goods consumers are willing to buy at a particular price, place and time. While supply is the quantity of commodities suppliers or producers or farmers are willing to supply to the market at a particular time, price and place.
When the demand for particular crop is high, producers will produce more and then sell at a high price. On the contrary, when the demand is low, producers will produce little or small quantity. Then suppliers or farmers will supply less of such crops to the market at a relatively low price.
The farmer must consider the demand for the crop produce that he/she intends to produce on his/her farm. The farmer must also consider the total demand for the crop produce compared with the total supply of the produce in your immediate community.
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This is necessary as the total demand and supply of the produce will eventually determine its market price. The price at which you sell your produce will determine your total turnover in the enterprise and this goes a long way in determining the gain of the farm and dictates how far he/she will be in the business of farming.
3. Technical Factors
Permanent crops production indicated that supplies of inputs as seeds, seedlings, improved stock are considered very important in any production activity in agricultural enterprise.
Sources of energy for farm work include human beings (you and I), machines such as tractors, ploughs, small machines, motors, solar energy, wind energy, water energy, animal power (as bulls, work horses and donkeys), electrical energy, chemical power, etc.
The supply of the above forms of power in right quantities and qualities at the appropriate time are critical to successful farm operations and determine the level of success that are assured of type of crop to produce.
The commonest source of energy amongst them all, is the human power. Recently, the supply of human labour at the critical period of production is indeed a crucial issue.
This is mostly because agricultural operations are quite timely and limited to time. At the critical periods, the available farm hands cannot go round the required activities of the period.
Lack of necessary farm hands at the required time may lead to loss in the productivity of the crops so grown.
Where relevant farm hands are inadequate, farmers are expected to augment with power from other sources. Such other sources include animal power, mechanical power from machines as tractors and small engines. The supply of these is also inadequate and highly constrained by availability of funds.
Where funds are available farmers are advised to own personal sources of mechanical energy or share with other farmers. Farmers are advised to source for funds that assist in the purchase of farm power.
In summary, this article reveals that crops vary in their climatic, nutritional requirements and soil needs; susceptibility to pests and diseases conditions, nature of the crop and economic factors that influence the growth of the crops.
The cultivation of crops is therefore dependent on the above mentioned factors if success is a considered paramount. The climatic factors include rainfall, wind, relative humidity, temperature and pest and diseases.
The soil/edaphic factors include soil fertility, soil acidity and alkalinity, soil physical characteristics, soil texture and structure while the economic factors include labour, supply of tools and materials and market forces of demand, supply and prices of the crops produced.
The prices to a good extent determine the turnover and how far the producers would be in the business of farming permanent crops.
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