Plants can be grouped into:
• Plants that are grown by human beings.
• Plants that grow on their own in nature.
The plants that are grown by human beings are crops.
The plants that grow on their own and are not needed by the farmer are weeds.
Crops
Crops are plants that are useful to human beings.
Crops can be used for different purposes and as such, there are different types of crops depending on their use to human.
Types of crops:
The crops can be divided into two;
Let’s learn more about different types of crops.
These are crops grown essentially to provide food for the human population.
They are the crops that are edible.
Examples of food crops are maize, beans, potatoes and bananas.
Food crops grown in different localities differ, depending on the climate, especially, the amount of rain.
Sorghum, millet and cassava are food crops grown in dry areas while food crops like maize, beans and potatoes need a good supply of rainfall.
Food crops can be grouped into:
• Cereals: wheat and maize,
• Legumes: peas and beans,
• Vegetables: cabbages and kales,
• Fruit: oranges and mangoes,
• Tuber crops: potatoes, yams and cassavas
These are crops grown for sale when they are mature so that the farmer can earn money.
Cash crops include coffee, tea, maize, potatoes and so on.
Cash crops differ from one region to the other depending on the climate especially the amount of rainfall.
Cash crops are grouped into three different groups.
These are beverage crops,
Beverage crops are cash crops which when processed provide a raw material to make refreshing drinks.
Examples of beverage crops are tea and coffee.
Fibre crops are cash crops that are grown to produce fibre.
Examples include, sisal and cotton.
The sisal leaves are processed to produce fibre that can be used to make sisal bags, ropes and mats.
Cotton is picked when mature and spun into yarn that makes clothes.
Oil crops are cash crops whose seeds or fruits are processed to produce oil.
Such crops are sunflower, coconut, groundnuts, cotton and castor oil.
