Classification Of Field Crops

Agriculture and Rural Development (Phase-I/II) Agronomy

The importance of classification

“A man without food for three days will quarrel, for a week will fight and for a month or so will die”. Agriculture is a branch of applied science. Agriculture is the science and art of farming including cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock. It is the most important enterprise in the world.

Among all the branches of agriculture, agronomy occupies a pivotal position and is regarded as the ‘mother’ or ‘primary’ branch.The word Agronomy has been derived from two Greek words i.e., ‘agros’ meaning field and ‘nomos’ meaning to manage. Literally it means the art of managing fields and technically it means the science and economics of crop production. In other words it is the art and underlying science in production and improvement of field crops with the efficient use of soil fertility, water, labour and other factors related to crop production. Agronomy is the field of study and practice of ways and means of production of food, feed andfibre crops. Thus, agronomy as a branch of agricultural sciences deals with principles and practices of field management for the production of field crops.

Classification

Classification of field crops is necessary to know the adaptation,habitat,life cycle, nutrient requirement, insect-pest and disease reaction of crops, so that an appropriate production technology could be developed and adopted for maximum productivity at minimum cost.

Crop plants are grouped into three main classes according to the range of cultivation. They are as follows

Garden Crops: Crop plants that are grown on a small scale in gardens such as kitchen gardens, flower gardens and backyard gardens.
Plantation Crops:Crop plants that are grown on a larger scale on estates. They are perennial or permanent in nature.
Field Crops: Crop plants that are grown on a vast scale. They are mostly seasonal.

Agronomic use classification

The major agronomic crop plants are grouped according to the way they are used. For example:

Cereal crops. A cereal is defined as a grass grown for its edible seed. Cereals are also known as grain crops. The major cereal crops are wheat, maize, rice, barley, oat, rye, triticale, sorghum, and millet.

Forage crops. Those crops which are grazed by animals or harvested for green chop, hay, silage, or soiling are classified as forage crops. More technically, forages have been defined as plant material with a dry-matter fiber content over 25%. When maize, sorghum, or other coarse grasses are harvested as whole plants and cured for animal feed, they are termed fodder. Most of the forage crops belong either to the grass family Gramineae or the Leguminoseae, e.g. grasses and clovers, respectively.

Fiber crops. These are crops which are grown for their fiber and are used in making textiles, ropes, and rugs. Important fiber crops are cotton, jute, flax, sunkukra, sunhemp, kenaf, and sial.

Sugar crops. Sugar crops include sugarcane, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum.

Oilseed crops. These are crops which are grown for the purpose of extracting oil from their seed. The main oilseed crops are rape and mustard, groundnut or peanut, sunflower, safflower, soybean, sesame, castor bean, linseed, and flax.

Pulses or grain legumes. These crops belong to the family Leguminoseae and are grown for their edible seed. Chickpea or gram, pea, pigeonpea, cowpea or lobia, mung bean, mash bean, faba bean, field bean, lima bean, and lentil are major leguminous crops.

Root and tuber crops. These are vegetable crops grown for underground parts like roots, bulbs, rhizomes, corms, and stem tubers, e.g. carrot, radish, turnip, onion, garlic, calocasia, and potato.

Narcotic or drug crops. This category includes those crops which have some narcotic or drug value, e.g. poppy, tobacco, tea, coffee, and peppermint. These are also known as medicinal crops.

Vegetable or garden crops. Vegetable crops which are grown for their edible leaves, shoots, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, cucumber, pumpkin and squash, tomato, eggplant, and okra or lady’s finger are grouped together as vegetable crops.

Condiment crops. Crops which are grown and consumed as condiments, e.g. coriander, mint, and chilies.

Among these three classes agronomy deals with field crops only. Field crops are classified in many ways. According to economic or agrarian or agricultural classification or classification according to use of crop plants and their products, field crops are classified as follows.

Cereal Crops

A cereal is generally defined as a cultivated grass grown for their edible starchy grains.Bulk of staple food crops all over the world comes from this group.

Major Cereal Crops

In general, the larger grains are used as staple food is considered as major cereals

1. Paddy/Rice : Oryza sativa
2. Wheat : Triticumaestivum
3. Maize/Corn : Zea mays
4. Barley : Hordiumvulgare

Millets

Millets are a group of small grained cereals which are of minor importance as food and they have a single cover. Millets are further classified into two groups.

Major Millets

1. Sorghum/Jowar/Great millet :Sorghum bicolor
2. Bajra/Pearl millet :Pennisetumtyphoides

Minor Millets

1. Foxtail millet/Navane : Setariaitalica
2. Little millet/Saame : Panicummilliare

Pulses are grain legumes used as food.On splitting they produce dal which is rich in protein. They are regarded as building blocks of living organisms for high protein content. These crops have the unique built in ability of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in their root system.

Grams

1. Red gram/Pigeon pea : Cajanuscajan
2. Bengal gram/

Chick pea : Cicerarietinum

3. Black gram/Urd : Phaseolusmungo/Vignamungo
4. Green gram/Mung : Phaseolusaureus/Vignaradiata

Beans

1. Soybean : Glysine max
2. Field bean/Avare : Dolichos lablab
5. Winged bean : Psophocorpustetragonolobus

Peas

1. Pea : Pisumsativum
2. Cow pea : Vignaunguiculata/V. sinensis

Oil Seed Crops

Oil seed crops are grown for the purpose of oil. The seeds of these crops are rich in fatty acids and are used to extract vegetable oil to meet edible oil, industrial and plant protection requirements.

Edible Oil Seed Crops