OIL CROPS

Oil crop production in the Philippines is a very

promising agricultural enterprise. Aside from
providing humans and animals with nutritious
food, oil crops provide a variety of uses for
industrial, medicinal, cosmetic, forage, and
fertilizer preparation.
THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF OIL CAN BE
EXTRACTED FROM DIFFERENT OIL CROPS:
• Volatile oil. This type of oil can be used for perfume
preparation and the manufacture of cosmetics, facial
creams, shampoos, soaps, and lubricants.
• Organic oil. This type of oil extracted from plants can
be utilized in preparing insecticides, fungicides,
• herbicides, and other chemicals used controlling insect
pest and diseases.
• Essential and pure oil. This resembles that of
gasoline and diesel and can be used for fuel purposes.
• Lubricating oil. This type of oil extracted from plants
is used as lubricant for machines, engines, and other
equipment of the same kind.
• Edible oil. This type of oil is very useful for
household and culinary purposes. Some of the
finished products from this type of oil are cooking
oil, cheese, and butter.
KINDS AND VARIETIES OF OIL CROPS

• Soybean. UPL-SY2, BPI-SY2, and BPI-SY$. It carries

almost all characteristics of the ideal variety and
matures within 90 days.
• Sunflower. CLSUN-1. It matures in 90 to 95 days
and has a yield potential of one to two tons per
hectare.
• Peanut. UPL-Pn2 and BPI-Pn6 which matures in 95
to 100 days. UPL-Pn4 which matures within 95 to
115 days.
• Sesame. The only recommended variety of sesame
for commercial crop production is Guatemala white.
It matures from 90 to 100 days, highly adaptable, and
resistant to pest and diseases.
FACTORS THAT ARE OBSERVED IN
RAISING THESE CROPS;
• Market. It is futile to raise any crop if there is no
market for such a product. This statement is true in
oil crop production.
• Transportation facility. Proximity to good roads
and better transportation facilities greatly affect the
production and marketing of farm products.
Good transportation facility can cause reduction of
the production cost and an increase of the market
profit.
• Climate and Altitude. Adaptation has been
proven in oil crop production. However, it is wise to
select varieties of oil crops that will yield more
under the prevailing conditions of the geographical
region.
• Topography or contour of the land. Level land
with good drainage is suitable for oil crop
production. Gently sloping land, however, is
preferable to provide good drainage especially
during the rainy season.
• Water supply. All kinds of commercial oil crops
need abundant supply of water especially during dry
season. During the growth and
development stage, these plants needs higher soil
moisture thus adequate water supply is very
important.
• Availability of the sunlight. Oil crop production
must be located in places where sunlight is available
almost the whole day.
• Soil. The type of soil that is best suited for oil crop
production are those which are well
drained, medium-textured, moderately acidic with a
pH of 5.5 to 6.5.
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF OIL CROP
PRODUCTION:

• Land Preparation. A thorough tillage operation

should be done to fields for oil crop plantation. The
frequency of plowing depends upon the presence of
weeds, their types and varieties.
• Planting and preparation of planting
materials. Soybean, sunflower, peanut, and sesame
are
sexually propagated and planted directly into the soil.
Seeds for planting must be treated to make sure that
they are free from diseases and to maintain their high
percentage of germination.
Generally, planting oil crops is done at the rate of two
to three seeds per hill at a depth of three to five cm.
two weeks after planting, pull out thin or
weak seedlings to prevent overcrowding.
• Irrigation. The best way to irrigate oil crops is by
furrow irrigation. This is an example of surface
irrigation wherein water is allowed to flow in
furrows until full length of furrows are covered.
During dry season, the following general practice of
irrigating the field is recommended.

•
• First irrigation-three to four days before
furrowing. This is done by flooding the field.
• Second irrigation- one day after fertilizer
application.
• Third irrigation- 40 days after seed emergence.
• Fourth irrigation- 55 days after seed emergence.
• Fifth irrigation- 71 days after seed emergence.
• Weed control. Two weeding are generally
practiced in oil crop production. the first weeding is
often done after thinning or about 15 to 20 days
after seed emergence. This is done through off-
baring or by plowing the soil away from the plants.
The second weeding should be done 14 to 21 after
the first weeding.
• Crop protection. Prevention and control of
insects pests and diseases is necessary among oil
crops.
MARKETING OIL CROP
• Marketing oil crops sometimes poses a problem among
small farmers. Big time businessman monopolize the
production and processing oil crops in the country and
dictate its market price while buying the produce of
small farmer at a low price. To prevent such monopoly,
cooperatives should be organized especially by small
farmer raisers.