Major Crops of India

By Avinash Kumar|Updated : May 19th, 2021

In this article we are going to have a brief discussion about Major crops of India, area of crops, production and their requirements etc. Major crops of India is a very topic for all kind of papers so you should not miss this topic as well. Have a good day!

Agriculture and its allied sectors are the primary sources of livelihood in India for about more than 58 percent of the population in the country. India has been known to be an agrarian economy since the British period is at present also depends on this sector to a very large extent. India's vast geographical variation and landscape allows cultivating a wide variety of crops at a various region which also acts as a source for food grains as well as raw materials for industries. In this article, we will look at the various cropping pattern in India and also major crops cultivated in India.

Major Crops & Cropping Patterns in India

Major crops are generally classified as:

Food CropsRice, Wheat, Millets, Maize, and Pulses.
Cash CropsSugarcane, Oilseeds, Horticulture crops, Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Rubber, and Jute.

Cropping Season in India

 

Kharif crops

Rabi crops

Zaid crops

Time

Kharif crop also known as the autumn crop or monsoon crop are the plants which are cultivated in the monsoon season which extends from June to September.

Also known as winter crops. They are cultivated during the period typically extending between September to April.
These plants are cultivated in spring seasons.

These are summer season crops. These crops are grown between April and September or between Rabi season and Kharif season

Condition

Require wet and hot conditions to grow

Require cold and relatively dry conditions to grow

Mostly sown in Gangetic belts of the region.

Examples

Rice(Paddy), Maize, Groundnut, cotton, Soybean, Pigeon Pea(arhar), Mung bean, Red chilies, Sugarcane, Turmeric, Millets like Ragi, Jowar, Bajra

Wheat, Chickpea, mustard, linseed, barley, Sesame, Sunflower, Coriander, Peas, Onion, Potato, Tomato etc

Cucumber, watermelon, bitter gourd, Muskmelon, pumpkin, ridged gourd

Major Food Crops

Rice

  • Soil Type: Deep clayey and loamy soil.
  • Temperature: Between 22-32°C with high humidity.
  • Rainfall: Around 150-300 cm.
  • Top Rice Producing States are West Bengal > Punjab > Uttar Pradesh > Andhra Pradesh > Bihar.
  • In Odisha, three varieties of paddy crops are grown in a year which is Aus, Aman, and Boro.
  • China is the top rice-producing country in the world. India comes 2nd.

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Wheat

  • Soil Type: Well-drained fertile loamy soil
  • Temperature: Between 10-15°C (Sowing time) & 21-26°C (Ripening & Harvesting) with bright sunlight.
  • Rainfall: Around 75-100 cm.
  • Top Wheat Producing States in India: Uttar Pradesh > Punjab > Madhya Pradesh
  • India is the 2nd largest producer after China.

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Millets

Soil Type: It Can be grown in an inferior alluvial or loamy soil

  • Jowar- Rainfed crop is grown in moist areas with less or no irrigation.
  • Bajra- Sandy soils & shallow black soil.
  • Ragi- Red, black, sandy, loamy & shallow black soils. (dry regions)

Temperature: Between 27-32°C

Rainfall: Around 50-100 cm.

Top Millets Producing States in India: Rajasthan > Karnataka > Maharashtra

  • Jowar: Maharashtra > Karnataka > Madhya Pradesh
  • Bajra:Rajasthan > Uttar Pradesh > Gujarat
  • Ragi: Karnataka > Tamil Nadu > Uttarakhand

These are also known as coarse grains. They have a high nutritional value. E.g., Ragi is very rich in calcium, iron, other micronutrients and roughage.

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Maize

  • Soil Type: Old alluvial soil.
  • Temperature: Between 21-27°C
  • Rainfall: High rainfall.
  • Top Producing States: Karnataka > Maharashtra > Madhya Pradesh
  • India is the seventh-largest producer

Pulses

  • Soil Type: Sandy-loamy soil.
  • Temperature: Between 20-27°C
  • Rainfall: Around 25-60 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Madhya Pradesh > Rajasthan > Maharashtra
  • India is the largest producer as well as the largest consumer of pulses in the world.
  • Major pulses grown in India are urad, tur (arhar), moong, masur, peas and gram.
  • Pulses are leguminous crops. They help in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air (Except Arhar). This is why these crops are grown in rotation with other crops.

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Sugarcane

  • Soil Type: Deep rich loamy soil.
  • Temperature: Between 21-27°C with a hot & humid climate.
  • Rainfall: Around 75-100 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Uttar Pradesh > Maharashtra > Karnataka
  • India is the 2nd largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil.
  • It is the main source of sugar, khandsari, gur (jaggery), and molasses.

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Oilseeds

  • Soil Type: Loam to clayey loam & well-drained sandy loams.
  • Temperature: Between 15-30°C
  • Rainfall: Around 30-75 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Madhya Pradesh > Rajasthan > Gujarat
  • The main oilseeds produced in India are groundnut, coconut, mustard, sesamum (til), soyabean, cotton seeds, castor seeds, linseed & sunflower.
  • Groundnut is a Kharif crop& accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country.
  • Sesamum is a Kharif crop in north & rabi crop in south India.
  • Linseed and mustard are rabi crops.
  • Castor seed is grown in both seasons i.e. rabi & Kharif.

Tea

  • Soil Type: Deep & fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter.
  • Temperature: Between 20-30°C
  • Rainfall: Around 150-300 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Assam > West Bengal > Tamil Nadu.
  • India- 2nd largest producer of tea plants.
  • Slopes of eastern hills have humid climate & evenly distributed rainfall without waterlogging which are optimal conditions for terrace farming of tea plants.
  • Tea is a labor-intensive industry. Tea requires abundant, cheap, and skilled labor. It is processed within the tea garden to retain its freshness.

Coffee

  • Soil Type: Well-drained and deep friable loamy soil.
  • Temperature: Between 15-28°C
  • Rainfall: Around 150-250 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Karnataka > Kerala > Tamil Nadu
  • India is the seventh-largest producer.
  • Hills that have well-defined shade canopy, comprising evergreen leguminous trees give the optimal condition for coffee cultivation which is why it is mainly concentrated in the hilly regions.
  • ‘Arabica’ is the Indian variety of coffee which is famous worldwide.

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Rubber

  • Soil Type: Rich well-drained alluvial soil.
  • Temperature: Above 25°C with a moist & humid climate.
  • Rainfall: More than 200 cm.
  • Top Producing States: Kerala > Tamil Nadu > Karnataka.
  • It is an equatorial crop. But under special conditions, it can also be grown in tropical and sub-tropical

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Cotton

  • Soil Type: Cotton requires Well-drained black cotton soil of Deccan Plateau.
  • Temperature: Between 21-30°C
  • Rainfall:Around 50-100cm.
  • Top Cotton Producing States: Gujarat > Maharashtra > Telangana
  • Cotton needs 210 frost-free days & bright sun-shine for its growth.
  • Cotton is a Kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature.

Jute

  • Soil Type: Well-drained alluvial soil
  • Temperature: Between 25-35°C
  • Rainfall: Around 150-250 cm
  • Top Producing States: West Bengal > Bihar > Assam
  • Jute is mainly concentrated in eastern India because of the rich alluvial soil of Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.
  • It is known as the golden fiber.

India is the largest producer of jute.

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