What are Crop Season in India ?How to get maximum out of Crops ?

Crop Season in India 

In India their are the three main crop seasons namely Kharif, Rabi, and Zaid, in which farmers plant their crops. The Indian cropping seasons are essential for farmers to choose crop wisely

What are the three crop growing seasons? 

Three crop growing season are Kharif , Rabi ,Zaid

Kharif Season

Kharif is the primary cropping season. Crops are sown at the beginning of the monsoon season and harvested afterward.

• Season its Sowed : July – October
• Harvest – September to October
• Also called Monsoon Crops
• Such crops require a lot of water.
• Example: rice, sorghum, maize, tea, rubber, coffee, guar, Sesame, cereals such as Arhar Dhal, pearl millet, soybeans, cotton, oilseeds, etc.

  Some important Kharif Crops are:

• Bajra
• Jowar
• Maize (corn)
• Millet
• Rice (paddy and deepwater rice)
• Soybean
•  sugarcane
• cotton
• groundnut 
•  Jute, 
• hemp

The cropping season in India starts in June and ends in October, where monsoon crops are cultivated and harvested.

Rabi Season

Crops need a relatively cool climate during the growth period but a warm climate during the germination of their seeds and maturation period.

• Sowing season – October to December
• Harvesting season – February to April
• Important rabi crops: 

1. Barley
2. Gram
3. Linseed
4. Mustard
5. Rapeseed
6. Mustard
7. Oat
8. Masoor 
9. Pea 
10. Wheat 
11. Bajra 

Zaid Season

The crops are raised throughout the year due to artificial irrigations as well as the kharif and the rabi crops.

• Zaid Kharif crops are usually sown from August to September and harvested from December to January.
• Many important crops are grown here, including rice, jowar, rapeseed, cotton, and oilseeds.
• During the month of February-March, Zaid rabi crops are sown. Harvest occurs from April until May.

     Here is a list of some Zaid Crops:

• Leafy vegetables
• Watermelons
• Cucumber
• Pumpkin
• Bitter Gourd.

When are Zaid crops planted and harvested?

The Zaid crops are planted between March and June and are also called summer crops. 

Indian Agriculture

• Indian agriculture is the second-largest in the world and about 80 percent of farm-produced goods come from India. For detailed information refer : Agriculture

• The main food grain of India is rice. India ranks second in the world for rice production. In terms of rice production, West Bengal leads Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.

• Indian wheat production ranks fourth in the world. India’s state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest wheat production.

• There are several millet varieties produced in India, including Bajra, Jowar, and Ragi. Maharashtra is the top producer of Jowar in India. Rajasthan ranks first in Bajra production, and Karnataka ranks first in Ragi production.

• In India, Assam is the tea-growing state, and India is second in tea production. Bangalore produces more coffee than any other state.

• The biggest crop grown in India is sugarcane. In India, Uttar Pradesh is crucial for producing sugarcane. Sugarcane research center in Lucknow.

• The major fiber crops in India are cotton and jute. The state of Maharashtra is the largest producer of cotton, while the state of West Bengal specializes in Jute production.

What is Zaid cropping season? Why its important 

 Zaid crop season is approaching. The Rabi cropping season will soon be over, and farmers will ready their land for a variety of crops.|| Zaid is now a main focus of administration attention. Zaid crops are grown on only about 2% of Kharif’s area. 

Major Zaid cultivation areas :Irrigation districts are usually located in area where Zaid crops are raised, like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu.  

Top features of Zaid crops 

• Ziad crops are generally grown during the summer when monsoons are not a factor. That’s why they are cultivated on irrigation-based land. 
• Sugarcane is harvested one year after cultivation, so these crops have short durations.
• The Zaid crops fill the “gap” between the Rabi and Kharif seasons and provide a steady source of income.
• The main growing stage of Zaid crops is dry and warm, and flowering requires longer days. It is best to plant these plants during the months of March and June when it is warm, dry, and with longer days. 

• A variety of fruits and vegetables are sown during March and April and harvested in June and July as part of Chief Zaid’s food crops. The end consumer benefits from their nutritional value, and the farmer benefits financially. 

What is Kharif Season in India ?

In India, the season is traditionally considered to start in June and end in October. The Kharif crops are generally harvested at the end of the South-West Monsoon season (October to November).

In Arabic, “Kharif” indicates the autumn season, falling sometime between late summer and mid-fall.

In addition to being called monsoon crops, they are grown during the monsoon season.

Across the country, Kharif season ranges from June to September, though it varies in each state.

These crops are usually planted around June for harvest around September or October.

Kharif crops include rice, maize, bajra, ragi, soybeans, groundnuts, and cotton.

 The method of cultivating Kharif crops:

(i) Transplantation is the most common procedure. Seedlings are first planted in nurseries before being transplanted. While this is the most efficient method, it is labor-intensive. 

(ii) The drilling technique is exclusive to India. A person ploughs the soil in this method, while another sows the seeds. Ploughing a field is usually done with an ox.

It is usually spread by hand over a large area or in the entire field (iii), a technique known as “Broadcast.” Precision is also lowered due to the less labor involved. The yield of this method is considerably lower than that of other methods.

(iv) Japanese techniques are used on high-yielding varieties and varieties that need high amounts of fertilizers. The seeds are sown in nursery beds before being transplanted to the main field. For the high-yielding varieties, it has proven tremendously successful.

What is Rabi Season crops?

Rabi which are also known as winter crops, are the crops that are grown in the winter season (October or November). In the winter, they sow their seeds and harvest their crop in the spring or by the end of the winter.

Since the rabi crops are cultivated in the dry season, timely irrigation is required in order to grow them. There are a variety of rabi crops in India, including wheat, gram, oat, barley, potatoes, mustard, linseed, sunflower seeds, coriander, cumin, etc.

In India, Rabi crops are planted after a monsoon or at the beginning of winter.

There is no connection between the rainfall and the growth of these crops. For seed germination, a warm climate is required and a cold climate is needed for the crops being grown.

Floriculture requires longer days.The harvest period is from March to April.This crop is also called a winter harvest or a spring harvest

Types of Soil 

India is an agricultural country & soil is its most valuable resource. India’s economy is largely agricultural based, so it plays a key role in it.

Loamy soil

It contains sand, clay, and silt, and contains a lot of air.

Property: ||Rich in humus and fertile; maintains water well; contains clay in trace amounts. Porous||

Crops suitable for agriculture||Wheat, gram, sugarcane, jute, vegetables

Clayey Soil

Contains fine clay particles, drains well, sticks to surfaces

Properties: There is not much air present, the soil is rich in organic material.

Suitable crops include: Cereals – Wheat, gram, paddy, lentils, pulses.

Sandy soil

 contains less clay and more sand. It is porous.

Among the properties of these soils are low water retention capacity, air content, and low nutrient content.

Plants that can be grown-cactus, melon, coconut

Mountain Soil

• Mountain soil is soil found at higher altitudes on mountains.
• This type of soil differs depending on its altitude.
• Crops Grown in Sand: potatoes, fruits, tea coffee and spices, and wheat
• Desert soil

Sandy soils like those found in Rajasthan, Haryana, and South Punjab.

• Because the soil is not sufficiently cleansed by rainwater, it has become saline and rather unfit for cultivation.
•  Despite this, irrigation technology allows cultivation to continue.
• In this soil, you can grow wheat, bajra, groundnuts, and so on.
• Phosphates and calcium are abundant in this type of soil, but nitrogen and humus are lacking.

Laterite Soil

•  In laterite, high temperatures and heavy rainstorms are paired with alternate periods of dryness and wetness.
• Throughout southern Maharashtra, in the Western Ghats in Kerala and Karnataka, and in Odisha, small patches of lateritic ground were found. Lateritic soil was the result of glacial action on these regions.
• Crops Grown:tea, coffee, rubber, cinchona, coconut, arecanut
• This type of soil is not suitable for agriculture due to its high acid content and inability to keep moisture.

Red Soil

•  Red soils develop on granite and geneses rocks under low rainfall conditions i.e., due to weathering of the metamorphic rocks.
• Because they contain a large amount of Iron Oxide, the soils are red.
•  There are mainly friable and medium fertile soils in Tamil Nadu, South Eastern Karnataka, North Eastern and South Eastern Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, major parts of Orissa, and the hills and plateaus of Northern India.
• The soils contain low levels of phosphoric acid, organic matter, and nitrogenous material.
• We grow wheat, rice, millet, pulses.

 Black soil

• In Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and mainly Malwa, regur or black soils develop extensively upon the Lava Plateaus due to volcanic activity.
• These soils are very fertile, containing a high percentage of lime and a moderate amount of potash.
• A type of soil suitable for growing cotton is called ‘black cotton soil’.
• The crops grown on the farm include Cotton, Jowar, Wheat, Linseed, Gram, Fruit and Vegetables.
• India is an agricultural country & soil is its most valuable resource. India’s economy is largely agricultural-based, so it plays a key role in it.

Alluvial Soil

• The alluvium is formed when materials in a sea or river deposit on the ground. Alluvial soil is formed as these materials settle.
• Generally, this type of soil is found along the Indo-Ganga and Brahmaputra plains in the north and in southern areas of the river basins as well as in some plateau regions.
• There are also deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari, Cauvery, and Krishna that contain this type of soil.
• A large number of alluvial soils fall into two categories, namely former alluvial soil and old alluvial soil.
• Alluvial soils are generally clayey and sticky and can be found far away from rivers.
• Alluvial soil in the floodplain of a river is much more fertile than that in the river valley.

The soil is ideal for crops like cereals, cotton, oilseeds and sugarcane grown in rabi and kharif.