Crops of Kharif Season
Crops of Kharif Season are Rice,Maize,Jawar,Bajra.The crops of Kharif season is characterized by a gradual fall in temperature, larger number of rainy days, low light intensity, a gradual shortening of the photo period, high relative humidity, and cyclonic weather.The Kharif season starts earlier in the eastern part of the country because of the earlier arrival of the monsoon and continues until the withdrawal of the monsoon.
Crops of Kharif Season are Rice,Maize,Jawar,Bajra,Groundnut and cotton
Rice
crops of kharif season Rice cultivation in India stretches from 8°N latitude to 34°N latitude. Rice is also grown in areas below the sea level (as in the Kuttanad region of Kerala) as well as at altitudes of about 2000 m (as in parts of Jammu and Kashmir). High rainfall or assured irrigation is essential for areas of rice cultivation. Rice crop requires about 30 cm of water per month during the growing period stretching from about 3 to 8 months. Rice is grown on about 40 Mha in the country. This area also includes about 7 Mha which is saline, alkaline or flood-prone. Twenty-five per cent of the rice growing area has assured irrigation and about 55 per cent of the rice growing area is ill-drained or waterlogged. The rest of the rice-growing area is rainfed uplands where the rainfall is marginal to moderate and its distribution is erratic.
Rice cultivation in India is either upland cultivation or lowland cultivation. The upland
system of cultivation is confined to such areas which do not have assured irrigation facilities.In this system, fields are ploughed in summer, farmyard manure is uniformly distributed 2–3 weeks before sowing, and the rain water is impounded in the field until the crop is about 45–60 days old.
In the lowland system of rice cultivation, the land is ploughed when 5–10 cm of water is
standing in the field. Seeds may be sown after sprouting. Alternatively, seedling which are 25–30 days old are transplanted. The nursery area required to provide seedlings for transplanting on one hectare is roughtly one-twentieth of a hectare. The water requirement of lowland rice cultivation is much higher than that of other cereal crops with similar duration.
Maize
crops of kharif season Maize is one of the main cereals of the world and ranks first in the average yield. Its world average yield of 27.8 quintals/hectare (q/ha) is followed by the average yields of rice (22.5 q/ha), wheat (16.3 q/ha) and millets (6.6 q/ha). In terms of area of maize cultivation, India ranks fifth (after USA, Brazil, China and Mexico) in the world. However, India stands eleventh in the world in terms of maize production. Within India, maize production ranks only next to
rice, wheat, jawar, and bajra in terms of area as well as production. Most of the maize cultivation (around 75 per cent) is in the states of Uttar Pradesh (1.4 Mha), Bihar (0.96 Mha), Madhya Pradesh (0.58 Mha), Rajasthan (0.78 Mha) and Punjab (0.52 Mha).
Maize requires deep and well-drained fertile soils, but can be grown on any type of soil ranging from heavy clays to light sands provided that the pH does not deviate from the range 7.5 to 8.5. Maize plants, particularly in the seedling stage, are highly susceptible to salinity and waterlogging, and hence, proper drainage of the land is essential for the successful cultivation of maize. Over 85 per cent of the crop area in India is rainfed during the monsoon.
Maize is essentially a warm weather crop grown in different regions of the world ranging from tropical to temperate ones. It cannot withstand frost at any stage of its growth. In India, its cultivation extends from the hot arid plains of Rajasthan and Gujarat to the wet regions of Assam and West Bengal.
Maize is a short-duration (80–95 days) crop and, hence, can conveniently fit into a widerange of crop rotations. It is usually grown as a pure crop, but sometimes legumes (e.g., moong, arhar or beans), and quick-growing vegetables (e.g., pumkins, gourds) are grown as mixed crops with it.
The sowing of maize starts 7–10 days before the usual date of the onset of monsoon. One irrigation at the initial stage is useful for the establishment of seedlings and the crop yield is increased by about 15–20 per cent. The maize crop is harvested when the grains are nearly dry and do not contain more than 20 per cent moisture. Maize is grown for grains as well as fodder.
Sorghum (Jawar)
Sorghum (popularly known as jawar) is the main food and fodder crop of dryland agriculture. It is grown over an area of about 18 Mha with the average yield of about 600 kg/ha. Jawar cultivation is concentrated mainly in the peninsular and central India. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh are the major jawar-growing states. Jawar is mainly grown where rainfall distribution ranges
from 10–20 cm per month for at least 3 to 4 months of the south-westerly monsoon.
Sorghum is grown during both Kharif (July–October) and Rabi (October–February) seasons. The Rabi cultivation of jawar constitutes about 37 per cent of the total jawar-growing area. Sorghum cultivation still remains predominantly traditional in most parts of the country. Mixed cropping of jawar and arhar (tur) is very common. Harvesting and threshing are still carried out manually or with bullock power. The national average yields are still low and around 500 kg/ha. However, the high-yielding hybrid varieties can yield 2000–3000 kg/ha under average growing conditions.
Spiked Millet (Bajra)
Bajra is a drought-resistant crop which is generally preferred in low rainfall areas and lighter soils. It is grown in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh. Over 66 per cent of this crop is grown in areas receiving 10–20 cm per month of rainfall, extending over 1 to 4 months of the south-westerly monsoons. It should be noted that jawar and bajra are grown mostly under identical environmental conditions and both have a wide range of adaptability to drought, temperature, and soil.
Groundnut
Groundnut is grown over an area of about 7 Mha concentrated in the states of Gujarat (24 percent), Andhra Pradesh (20 per cent), Karnataka (12 per cent), Maharashtra (12 per cent), and Tamil Nadu (13 per cent). Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh together have about 20 per cent of the total groundnut producing area in the country. Groundnut is generally grown as a rainfed Kharif crop. Groundnut is sown during May and June in the subtropics. In the tropics, however, it is sown during either January and February or June and July. Under rainfed conditions the average yield is 1200–1400 kg per hectare.
Cotton
Cotton occupies about 7.5 Mha in India. Maharashtra (36 per cent), Gujarat (21 per cent), Karnataka (13 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (9 per cent) are the leading states which together grow cotton over an area of about 6 Mha. Other cotton growing states are Punjab (5 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (4 per cent), Tami Nadu (4 per cent), Haryana (3 per cent), and Rajasthan (3 per cent). Most of the cotton-growing areas in the country are in the high to medium rainfall zones.
Cotton requires a well-drained soil. It is grown as a rainfed crop in the black cotton and medium black soils and as an irrigated crop in alluvial soils. The sowing season varies from region to region and starts early (April-May) in north India.