There are several techniques or methods of budding. The procedures on the common methods are described below:

1. T- or Shield Budding

A budding method in which incisions are made in the bark of the rootstock to form the shape of a letter “T” with one horizontal cut and another downward cut that originates from the center of the first cut.

A bud piece or shield piece containing a bud is prepared with an upward cut that includes a thin layer of wood from about 1.25 cm (½ in) below the bud.

A horizontal cut is then made about 2 cm (¾ in) above the bud to remove the shield piece from the budstick.

This piece of bark has the shape of an ancient elongated shield, with a curved lower end and a horizontal top.

The shield piece, generally with the thin piece of wood attached, is inserted into the T-cut from the horizontal cut down.

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The abiotic factors that affect plant growth and development include topography, soil, and climatic factors.

They are the nonliving components of the environment that, along with the biotic or living factors, determine the extent to which the genetically dictated characters are expressed in the plant.

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Lanzones, also known as langsat, is here used as a generic term for the fruit crop which is scientifically named Lansium domesticum (family Meliaceae).

However, langsat is commonly used also to refer to a particular type or form.

L. domesticum is a complex plant species having many variants, with wild and cultivated forms which are generally parthenocarpic and in which apomixis is common.

Lanzones is a tree that grows up to a height of about 30 meters with a trunk 75 cm in diameter.

However, cultivated trees are only 5-10 m in height.

Inflorescences bearing perfect flowers emerge from the trunk and largest branches.

The fruit is a berry with 1-3 seeds, enveloped by a fleshy aril. Some cells may consist of aril tissue without developed seeds.

The fruit is always eaten fresh by squeezing it until the skin splits, and then the arils, which may have or without seeds, are freed from their segments.

Those whitish arils are the ones that are eaten.

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Cover crops (also written in a single word, i.e., covercrops) are plants grown primarily to prevent the soil from being eroded by wind and water.

In addition, they help regulate soil temperature, suppress weed growth, reduce pests and diseases, minimize loss of water from the ground through evaporation, enhance soil fertility, add organic matter to the soil, improve soil aeration, and promote high water infiltration.

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Intercropping and crop rotation are alternative strategies applied in multiple cropping, the growing of two or more crops in the same piece of land.

Both cropping systems have resulted in increased farm production and profitability per unit of land area in selected crops.

Intercropping is the growing of two or more crops together in proximity on the same land. As a result, two or more crops are managed at the same time.

It differs from crop rotation in which two or more crops are grown one after the other.

There are at least four types of intercropping according to the spatial arrangement (Sullivan, 2003).

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Kaong or sweet palm is a promising cash crop with potential for the establishment of plantations or, at the least, for deliberate growing to supplement the natural stands.

It has been noted that the worldwide demand for the processed products of this palm continues to grow, but the supply of raw materials is limited by the number and accessibility of natural stands.

These natural sources are dispersed.

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The fibrous root system is one of two main types of roots according to the origin of development and branching pattern in the angiosperms.

The other is the taproot system.

Generally, plants with a taproot system are deep-rooted in comparison with those having fibrous types.

The taproot system enables the plant to anchor better to the soil and obtain water from deeper sources.

In contrast, shallow-rooted plants are more susceptible to drought but they are quick to absorb surface and irrigation water and thus have the ability to respond quickly to fertilizer application.

In order to enhance the development of more lateral roots in tap-rooted plants, pruning of the taproot is practiced, as in plant nurseries.

The practice is also a standard procedure with bonsai trees.

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The essential elements (or essential nutrients) are chemical elements that are absolutely needed by plants for their growth and development.

Their essentiality has been established based on the following criteria formulated by D. I. Arnon and P.R. Stout (1939):

1. An element is essential if, being deficient, the plant is unable to complete the vegetative or reproductive stage of its life cycle;

2. The deficiency can be prevented or corrected only by supplying the specific element causing the deficiency; and

3. That element is directly involved in the nutrition of the plant.

With time, it has become apparent also that there is an additional fourth criterion: that the essentiality of any element is proved in all plants tested.

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There are four climate types in the Philippines according to the Modified Corona’s Classification of Climate.

These are the Types I, II, III, and IV.

This system of climate classification was devised by Fr. J. Corona in 1920 (Lantican 2001) and is based on average monthly rainfall.

Accordingly, a dry month is one with less than 50 mm of rainfall but also considers dry a month having more than 100 mm of rainfall that comes after three or more very dry months.

Country-wide, the Philippines has a tropical climate with a relatively high temperature and humidity having abundant rainfall.

This climate is largely similar to those of countries in Central America (kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph, accessed January 28, 2011).

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