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3.2.1. Based on End Usage
Food Crops | Cash Crops | Plantation Crops | Horticulture crops |
These are the crops which are grown as food for the producer's family or for the producer's own livestock. Example wheat, rice, jowar etc. The scale of operations is quite small so as to fulfil the basic needs of a family. | Cash Crops are crops that are especially used for profit rather than consumption by a family. They can be consumed directly or processed into other products, such as sugar and biofuel. They consist of foods like tobacco, tea, coffee, cardamom, fruits and vegetables, grains, etc. They are sold, but some are not edible. Cotton and tobacco | A plantation is a large- scale farm that specializes in cash crops. The term Plantation crops refers to those crops which are usually cultivated as a single crop on an extensive scale in a large contiguous area, owned and managed by an Individual or a company. These plantation crops are high value commercial crops of greater economic | Horticulture is the science and art of growing and caring for plants, especially flowers, fruits, and vegetables. The word horticulture comes from Latin and means "garden cultivation." Whereas agronomy (a branch of agriculture) refers to the growing of field crops, horticulture refers |
are examples of non- edible cash crops. | importance The crops include tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, coconut, arecanut, oil palm, cashew, cinchona etc. | to small-scale gardening. | |
*All food crops can be cash crops but not all cash crops can be food crops. Food crops can be eaten by someone somewhere and so have a cash value. Food crops can be sold, which would make them cash crops as well. | |||
3.2.2. Based on Seasons
There are three distinct crop seasons namely Kharif, Rabi, and Zaid.
♤ Kharif season largely coincides with Southwest Monsoon
♤ Rabi season begins with the onset of winter in October-November and ends in March-April. The low temperature conditions during this season facilitate the cultivation of temperate and subtropical crops such as wheat, gram and mustard.
♤ Zaid is a short duration summer cropping season beginning after harvesting of rabi crops, the cultivation of watermelons, cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops during this season is done on irrigated lands.
Cropping season | Major crops cultivated | |
Northern States | Southern States | |
Kharif June-September | Rice, Cotton, Bajra, Maize, Jowar, Tur | Rice, Maize, Ragi, Jowar, Groundnut |
Rabi October-March | Wheat, Gram, Rapeseeds and Mustard, Barley | Rice, Maize, Ragi Groundnut, Jowar |
Zaid April-June | Vegetables, Fruits, Fodder | Rice, Vegetables, Fodder |
However, this type of distinction in the cropping season does not exist in southern parts of the country. Here, the temperature is high enough to grow tropical crops during any period in the year provided the soil moisture is available. Therefore, in this region same crops can be grown thrice in an agricultural year provided there is sufficient soil moisture.