Know Your Crop

Kharif Crops

The crops which are grown in the monsoon season are known as Kharif crops. For eg., maize, millet, and cotton.

The seeds are sown at the beginning of monsoon season and harvested at the end of the monsoon season.

Such crops require a lot of water and hot weather for proper growth.

Rabi Crops

The name “Rabi” means “spring” – a word derived from Arabic.

The crops that are grown in the winter season and harvested in the spring are called Rabi crops.

Wheat, gram, and mustard are some of the Rabi crops.

Various agricultural practices are carried out to produce new crop varieties.

Such crops require a warm climate for the germination and maturation of seeds. They, however, require a cold climate for their growth.

Zaid Crops

Such crops are grown between the Kharif and Rabi seasons, i.e., between March and June.

These crops mature early.

Cucumber, pumpkin, bitter gourd, and watermelon are zaid crops.

There are several classifications of crops. This classification falls into six basic groups:

Food crops – For human needs (e.g. wheat, maize, legumes, rice, potatoes, tomatoes).

Feed crops – For cattle or livestock consumption (e.g. barley, beets, grasses for domestic animals to graze and store as hay or silage).

Fiber crops – For the sake of fibers used in clothes, bedding, industry, and household (hemp, cotton, flax, bamboo).

Oil crops – For oil manufacturing either for machinery fuel (rape) or food industry (sunflower, olives).

Ornamental crops – For home decoration and landscape design (garden or pot flowers and bushes).

Industrial crops – For industrial manufacturing (rubber).