Special Management Practices

Special management practices refers to production practices that are

regularly done but are particularly applicable to a specific crop or group of crops

1. Windbreak establishment
Windbreaks or shelterbelts are rows of trees and shrubs that protect crops
from strong winds
● a windbreak can reduce windspeed up to 20x its height
● windbreaks should have deep root system and dense canopy (examples:
ipil-ipil, bamboo, pili, tamarind, narra, eucalyptus, mahogany, etc.
● windbreaks should be planted perpendicular to the direction of the wind
● for small areas, these are planted along the borders while for large areas,
these are planted every rows of crop

2. Shading
● for sciophytes, shading is required for normal growth and development
● ways of achieving shaded condition
▪ increase plant density
▪ use of shade trees
▪ use of built-in structures e.g. slat houses, nets, etc.

3. Hardening
● exposing young plants slowly to the outdoor environment
● involves withdrawal of water and fertilizer and gradual exposure to
increased light and high/low temperature

4. Pricking
● transfer of seedlings from overcrowded container to another container

5. Rouging
● removal of off-type or diseased plants

6. Mulching
Mulch is a protective layer of a material that is spread on top of the soil
● mulching materials can either be organic (e.g. grass clippings, straw,
bark chips, etc.) or inorganic (plastic, stones, brick chips, etc.)
● Benefits from mulching:
▪prevents weed growth
▪conserves soil moisture
▪reduces soil erosion
▪keeps fruits and vegetables clean
▪cools soil surface and stabilizes soil temperature
▪adds organic matter to the soil if mulch materials are organic in
nature
 ▪ improves aesthetics of landscape
7. Pruning
● removal of plant parts to attain a specific objective
● general effect is the reduction in plant size
● types of pruning according to its purpose:
▪ preventive pruning - removal of dead and diseased branches or
plant parts
▪ formative pruning - done to improve/ develop the desired plant
shape
▪ corrective pruning - removal of interlacing branches which are
out of place. Done after formative pruning
▪ rejuvenative pruning - done to re-invigorate or reshape the top
of old trees
● other purposes of pruning:
▪ removal of undesirable watersprouts and suckers
▪ open the tree canopy to allow sunlight and facilitate spraying
operation
▪ produce a less dense canopy
● types of pruning according of nature of cut:
▪ heading back - cuts are made on the terminal portion of the
plant
▪ thinning out - complete removal of a branch of a tree

8. Fruit Thinning
● removal of some fruits to minimize ‘inter-fruit’ nutrient and assimilate
competition
● e.g. case of guava and melon

9. Deblossoming
● removal of flowers on the young woody plants to have full canopy
development

10. Ratooning
● growing of a new crop out of the shoots arising from
previous crop
● reduces cost of production since land preparation and planting materials
are no longer needed
● e.g. case of sugarcane, pineapple, rice, eggplant, and
sorghum

11. Desuckering
● removal of unnecessary suckers from the base (mat) of banana or abaca
● controls mat population
● prevents overcrowding and shading
● reduce competition for water and nutrients
● source of planting material
12. Training
● directs the growth of the plants in terms of shape, size, and direction
● involves bending, twisting and tying of plants to support structures may
or may not involved cutting of plant parts

13. Trellising
● provision of structural support to plants so that:
▪ stem and leaves are kept away from the ground
▪ allow better exposure to sunlight
▪ preventing fruits from coming in contact with the soil
● for viny crops (e.g. cucurbits, gourds, pole sitao, yam, grapes, passion
fruit)
● for some other crops that cannot stand vertically (e.g. tomato, vanilla,
black pepper)
● Types of Trellis
▪ arbor or overhead type
▪ fence type
▪ pole type
▪ T-type
▪ A-type
▪ teepee type

14. Propping
● practice of providing support to bunches or stalk which tend to bend due to
heavy load of fruits (e.g. case of banana, durian, mango, rambutan,
santol, and pummelo)
● types of propping
▪ single pole
▪ double pole
▪ cable propping
▪ tying plants to other plants or branches to trunk or other branches

15. Fruit Bagging

● enclosing or wrapping fruits, either individually or as a group, with suitable
materials (e.g. newsprint, jutesack, and PEB)
● protection of the fruits from possible damage due to insects, diseases,
birds, strong wind, etc.

16. Latex stimulation

● use of Ethrel® to stimulate latex production of old rubber trees (>28 years
old)

17. Flower induction

● Mango
▪ hacking - creation of wounds along the trunk of mango to
release ethylene
▪ smudging - creation of a smokey fire below the tree canopy and
allowing smoke to pass through the foliage for several days
▪ use of potassium nitrate (KNO3)
o applicable only to ‘Carabao’, ‘Pico’ and ‘Pahutan’
cultivars
o KNO3 is sprayed at 2.0 – 3.0% during the early season
(Jul-Nov) and 1.0-1.5% during the late season (Dec-May)
to shoots which exhibits readiness-to-flower
▪ use of other chemicals - mango flowering can also be brought
by thiourea, ethephon, calcium nitrate, and paclobutrazol

● Pineapple
▪ use of calcium carbide (CaC2)
o granular - size of bean seed; placed in the ‘heart’ or
central portion of the plant
o solution - 2 kg/20L of water; apply 30 mL/plant poured in
the ‘heart’ of the plant
▪ use of Ethrel®
o 240 ppm + 1% urea - pour/spray 30 mL on the heart of
the plant
o 25 ppm + 2% urea + 0.04% CaCO3 - pour/spray 50 mL
on the heart of the plant
▪ use of other chemicals
o 10 ppm naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)
o 2500-5000 ppm β-hydroxyethyl
hydracine

● Other fruits
▪ timing of irrigation - irrigation of lanzones, calamansi, rambutan,
and durian trees after drought period stimulates flowering
▪ heavy pruning - stimulates
flowering of atis, lime and
grapes

● Vegetables
▪ vernalization
o a process of thermal induction in plants, in which growth
and flowering are promoted by exposure to low temperatures
(1°C to 6°C)
o the effect of cold treatment increases with its duration until
response is saturated --- the longer the cold treatment the
more permanent is the effect of vernalization
 ▪ use of chemical
o exogenous application of gibberellic acid (3µg to 100µg or
more) enables many cold-requiring plants to flower without
low temperature
o gibberellins can substitute for the cold requirement needed
to induce flowering

● Photoperiodic flower induction

Photoperiodism - a phenomenon by which the duration of day and night,
as measured by the built-in-timing mechanism, determines when a
plant is going to flower
- types of plants based on their response to daylength:
o short day plants (SDPs) - flower rapidly when days get
shorter than critical daylength
- e.g. pineapple, sugarcane, poinsettia, soybean
o long day plants (LDPs) – flowers rapidly when the days
are longer
- e.g. aster, lettuce, potato, cabbage, carrot

o day-neutral plants (DNPs) – not affected by daylength

- e.g. modern varieties of rice, corn, and mungbean,
banana, citrus, coconut, sampaguita, coffee,
cucumber, tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper

18. Use of pollinators (seed production)

● these are needed to increase percentage of seed setting
● i.e. put up beehives as source of pollinators or release beehives during
pollination
● normal practice in vegetable production area is 1-2 beehives per hectare

19. Control of sex expression (seed production)

● in cucurbits, the primordium of the floral bud is originally bisexual and can
develop into a pistillate, staminate, or hermaphrodite flower depending
on genetic constitution and environment:
▪ long days and high temperature enhance maleness
▪ short days and low temperatures enhance femaleness
▪ auxin and ethylene increases femaleness
▪ gibberellins increase the staminate/pistillate ratio in monoecious
cucurbits like bittergourds and induce staminate flowers of
gynoecious lines of cucumber

20. Distance Isolation (seed production)

● done to maintain genetic purity and to avoid seed variability very critical
especially for cross-pollinated crops
Vegetable Mode of Pollination Isolation Distance
(m)
garden pea normally self-pollinated min of 10m radius
chickpea normally self-pollinated 10m radius
tomato normally selfed with crossing by insects 30-60m
eggplant partially-selfed and cross-pollinated 400-900m
21. Time Isolation (seed production)
● if seed production is small and distance isolation is not possible, there
should be difference in time of flowering especially if the crops planted are
of the same species
● there should be at least 3 weeks difference in flowering
● or bagging of emasculated flowers of plants selected for seed production
is also practiced to avoid contamination by pollens from other plants

bmsalazar
27September2006