Types of Plant Crops Unit 2

Food Groups Examine the items in front of you. Work with the other members of the class to put the items into six groups of like foods.

Food Groups What makes the items in each group alike? What might these groups represent? – where have we seen this before? What might we call each group?

Types of Plant Crops The important field and horticultural crops of North America can be divided into seven categories: – Grain Crops – Sugar and Oil Crops – Fiber Crops – Vegetable, Fruit and Nut Crops – Forage Crops – Ornamental and Turf Crops – Other Crops

Grain Crops Grain Crops include plants grown for their edible seeds but do not include horticultural crops. Grain crops provide many important foods including the cereal grains. Cereal grain is the seed of grass type plants grown for food and animal feed. Exapmles: rice, corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, and sorghum.

Sugar Crops Produced as a sweetener Sugar crops are used as a source of sucrose. Sucrose is commonly used as table sugar or as a sweetener in foods and beverages. It is a carbohydrate that provides energy for the human body. The major sugar crops are sugar cane and sugar beets.

Oil Crops Grown for their vegetable oil. Oil crops are plants grown for the vegetable oil contained in their seeds and fruit. The seeds of about 40 crops are used to make oil. Soybeans, corn, and cotton are the most common oil crops. Other oil seeds include sunflowers and peanuts.

Fiber Crop Fiber crops are grown for the fiber produced in their fruit, leaves, or stems. Fibers are tiny, threadlike structures used in making cloth and paper. Cotton is the major crop grown for fiber. Flax is also grown for fiber. It is the subject of considerable research because of its potential in making paper.

Vegetables Olericulture - Vegetables are a commodity both fresh and processed. California is the leader in both fresh and processed vegetables in the U.S. Vegetables are grown on 1% of the total cropland in the U.S. – This amount has been relatively stable for the past 25 years. However, the production of vegetables has increased. The increase in production on virtually the same amount of land is the result of increased technology and more efficient production practices.

Fruit and Nut Pomology In the 1993, 3.5 million acres of the U.S. were involved in fruit and nut production. Fruit production utilizes land unusable by other crops. Fruit growing is a popular but labor-intensive industry. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed in fruit and nut production jobs. The U.S. is one of the world’s top producers of fruit and nuts. – Ten percent of the world’s apples, pears, plums, and prunes, 20 percent of the world’s peaches, and 25 percent of the world’s citrus fruit are produced in the U.S.

Forage Crop Forage is plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.

Ornamental and Turf Crops Plants used for their ascetics (beauty), such as landscaping, interiorscaping, lawns, golf courses, etc.

Exit Slip What did you eat for lunch today? What types of plant groups did each portion of your meal fit into?