Classification of field crops

Ways of grouping field crops

Field crops are grown on large areas for food, fibre, fodder or industrial use. They can be classified in several ways.

Agronomic (use-based) classification

• Cereals: grasses (family Poaceae) grown for edible grain, e.g. rice, wheat, maize, barley.
• Millets: small-grained cereals, e.g. sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi).
• Pulses: legumes (family Fabaceae) whose seeds are rich in protein, e.g. gram, pigeon pea (arhar), lentil, green gram, black gram. They fix atmospheric nitrogen through root nodule bacteria.
• Oilseeds: grown for edible or industrial oil, e.g. groundnut, mustard, soybean, sunflower, sesame, linseed, castor.
• Fibre crops: cotton (seed fibre), jute and mesta (bast or stem fibre).
• Sugar crops: sugarcane and sugar beet.
• Forage/fodder crops: grown to feed animals, e.g. berseem, lucerne, oats, fodder sorghum.
• Others: narcotics (tobacco), spices and condiments, and medicinal plants.

Seasonal classification (India)

• Kharif: sown with the onset of the monsoon (June–July), harvested in autumn. Examples: rice, maize, cotton, groundnut, pigeon pea, bajra.
• Rabi: sown in winter (October–November), harvested in spring. Examples: wheat, gram, mustard, barley, berseem.
• Zaid: a short summer season between rabi and kharif. Examples: watermelon, cucumber, moong, fodder crops.

Other bases

Crops may be grouped by life span (annual, biennial, perennial), by photoperiod response (short-day like rice and soybean; long-day like wheat) or by family.

Key points

• Cereals and millets belong to Poaceae; pulses to Fabaceae.
• Pulses improve soil by fixing nitrogen.
• Cotton fibre comes from the seed; jute fibre from the stem.
• Kharif = monsoon sowing; rabi = winter sowing; zaid = summer.
• Berseem is the "king of fodders" and a rabi crop.

Exam tips

• Groundnut and soybean are legumes but are classed as oilseeds because of their use.
• Questions often ask you to pick the odd crop out by season; memorise examples for each season.