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Rabi Crops -1

Agriculture ( Patwari Exam) Cropping Pattern

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Rabi Crops -1

TYPE OF FARMING - CROPPPING PATTERN - RABI CROPS

Types of farming

Primitive Subsistence Farming

Intensive Subsistence Farming

Commercial Farming

Cropping Pattern

Rabi Crops

Kharif crops

Zaid crops

Rabi Crops - Wheat and Barley

1. Types of farming

Agriculture is an age-old economic activity in our country. Over these years, cultivation methods have changed significantly depending upon the characteristics of physical environment, technological know-how and socio-cultural practices. Farming varies from subsistence to commercial type.

Primitive Subsistence Farming
Intensive Subsistence Farming
Commercial Farming

At present, in different parts of India, the following farming systems are practised.

Primitive subsistence agriculture

Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labour.

This type of farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.

It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family.

When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. This type of shifting allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes.

Land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs.

Intensive Subsistence Farming

Characterised by high output per unit of land and relatively low output per worker.

This type of farming is practised in areas of high population.

It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.

Commercial Farming

The main characteristic of this type of farming is the use of higher doses of modern inputs, e.g. high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity. The degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies from one region to another.

For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha, it is a subsistence crop.

Plantation is also a type of commercial farming. In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area.

The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry.

All the produce is used as raw material in respective industries. In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc. are important plantation crops.

Tea in Assam and North Bengal and coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states.

CROPPING PATTERN

As we all know there are so many physical diversities and plurality of cultures in India. These are also reflected in agricultural practices and cropping patterns in the country. Various types of food and fibre crops, vegetables and fruits, spices and condiments, etc. constitute some of the important crops grown in the country.

India has three cropping seasons —

Rabi(Haddi Crops) – Grown in October to November , Harvested in April to June.
Kharif(Sauni)- Grown In June (Start of Monsoon) and harvested by September/October.
Zaid

Rabi crops

Grown in winter October to December and harvested in summer from April to June.

Some of the important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.

Wheat and other crops importantly grown in states from the north and northwestern parts such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh .

Availability of precipitation during winter months due to the western temperate cyclones helps in the success of these crops.

However, the success of the green revolution in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan has also been an important factor in the growth of the above mentioned rabi crops.

Kharif Crops

Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October

Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean.

Some of the most important rice-growing regions are Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, particularly the (Konkan coast) along with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Recently, paddy has also become an important crop of Punjab and Haryana.

In states like Assam, West Bengal and Odisha, three crops of paddy are grown in a year. These are Aus, Aman and Boro .

Zaid Crops

In between the rabi and the kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer months known as the Zaid season.

Some of the crops produced during ‘zaid’ are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops. Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow.

RABI CROPS

Rabi crops are classified into three categories

I. CEREALS

2. PULSES AND OILSEEDS

3. FODDERS

1. CEREALS

Wheat and barley are two major cereals in rabi season. Wheat, being a major constituent of human diet, is the major contributor to food security of our country.

1.1 WHEAT

a.China is the top most producer of wheat in the world.

b.Uttar Pradesh leads in its production in India.

c.In Punjab, wheat is sown on area of about 35 lath ha and its average grain yield is about 18-20 quintals per acre.

Climate and soil:

It needs cool climate during the early stage of its growth.

Warm temperature at this stage is unfavorable to tillering and also promotes several diseases.

It can be grown on all kinds of soil, except the highly deteriorated alkaline (kalar) and water-logged(seam) soils.

But medium loamy (domat in hindi and maira in Punjabi )soils, in which water does not stagnate, are best suited for its cultivation.

Crop rotations:

Crop rotation is the sequence of crops grown on a field in a year.

Rice-wheat, Cotton-wheat, Maize-wheat, Maize/rice-potato-wheat, Moong/arhar/ mash-wheat, Groundnut-wheat, Soybean-wheat are some major crop rotations.

Improved varieties:

HD 2967, PBW 621, DBW 17 and PBW 343 are improved varieties of common wheat.

WHD 943, PDW 291 and PDW 233 are improved varieties of durum wheat.

Durum wheat flour is used in pasta making.

Field preparation:

After paddy (rice) harvest, if the field has enough soil moisture, undertake tillage straight way. otherwise apply first irrigation (rauni). At idealistic moisture (watrar) condition use disc harrow once for ploughing but if straw of combine harvested paddy is to be incorporated into the soil then give at least two ploughings with disc harrow followed by planking. Then give one cultivation in normal soils and two cultivations in heavy soils with cultivator followed by planking. Incorporation of rice straw into soil improves soil health.

Wheat can also be sown with zero-till drill without any preparatory tillage. If there is problem of weeds then before sowing spray Gramoxone herbicide(nadin nashak) to control weeds.

Zero tillage has many benefits such as

Saving in diesel and time

Less environmental pollution

Saving in water during first irrigation
Lower weed infestation particularly of gullidanda.

In combine harvested paddy fields, Happy Seeder machine can be used for sowing of wheat in standing stubbles without its burning or removal.

Sowing:

Good Quality 40 kg seeds treated with insecticides and fungicides per hectare.

Fertilizer:

Apply 50 kg nitrogen , 2 kg phosphorus and 12 kg potassium on soil test basis.

Manganese Deficiency : It generally appears in light soils and its symptoms appear on lower 2/3rd portion of middle leaves as interveinal chlorosis with buff coloured specks which later on form bands in between the veins which remain green. It can be managed by spraying manganese sulphate.

Zinc deficiency: It generally appears in light soils and its deficiency symptoms are stunted and bushy plants with leaves chloratic(chlorotic leaves are pale, yellow, or yellow-white.) in the middle, which later break and keep hanging. It can be managed by applying zinc sulphate.

Weed control: Infestation of weeds in wheat can be reduced by its early sowing from last week of October to first week of November.

Grass weeds like gullidanda can be controlled by herbicides like Stomp, Leader, Topik, Total, Atlantis, Treflan etc.

Irrigation: The first irrigation should be given after three weeks. Crop needs 4-5 irrigations.

Harvesting and threshing: Harvest the crop by sickle or tractor-operated reaper and thresh by power thresher.

Combine harvester combines both these operations.

Grains should not contain more than 10% moisture at the time of storage otherwise it would be spoiled by moulds and excessive heat that develops during storage.

Insect-pests and diseases: The major insect-pests of wheat are termite, aphid, army worm(sainik sundi) and gram pod borer(American sundi).

The major diseases are yellow or snipe rust (kungi) brown or leaf rust (bhuri kungi), loose smut(kaangiari) , ear cockle (Mamni), yellow ear rot (Tundu) and Karnal bunt.

1.2 Barley

1. Russian Federation is the topmost producer.

2. Rajasthan leads in its production in India.

3. In Punjab Barley is cultivated on an area about 1200 ha.

Climate and soil: Barley requires cool weather during early growth and warm and dry weather at maturity. Being drought resistant, barley suits to areas with scanty rainfall.

Crop rotations: Paddy-barley, Cotton-barley and Bajra-barley.

Improved varieties: PL 807, VIM 201, PL 426

Sowing: A seed rate of 35 kg per acre under irrigated and 45 kg per acre under rainfed and late-sown conditions is required.

Its optimum sowing time is October 15 - November 15.

Barley can also be grown without any preparatory tillage with zero till drill.