2. CROP: a cultivated plant that is grown on a large scale
commercially, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable.
A crop is a plant or animal product that can be grown and harvested
extensively for profit or subsistence. Crops may refer either to the
harvested parts or to the harvest in a more refined state. Most crops are
cultivated in agriculture. A crop may include macroscopic
fungus (e.g. mushrooms), or alga.
Most crops are harvested as food for humans or fodder for livestock. Some
crops are gathered from forests etc.
3. CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS
Importance of classifying the crops
To get acquainted with crops
To understand the requirement of soil & water for different
crops
To know adaptability of crops
To know the growing habit of crops
To understand climatic requirement of different crops
To know the economic produce of the crop plant & its use
To know the growing season of the crop
Overall to know the actual condition required to the
cultivation of plant
4. CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS
Crop plants are grouped into three main classes according to three
range of cultivation:
A. Garden crops: These are basically grown in the kitchen garden,
flower garden, backyards.
B. Plantation crops: These are grown in larger scale especially in estates.
e.g. Tea, coffee etc.
C. Field crops: Grown on large scale. Mostly seasonal crops such as rice,
wheat, cotton.
5. CLASSIFICATION OF FIELDS CROPS
1. According to their place of origin
2. Botanical classification
3. Commercial classification
4. Economic classification/Agronomic classification
5. Seasonal classification
6. Classification according to ontogeny
7. Classification based on source of water
8. Classification based on serving special purpose
6. a. Native crops: which are grown with in the geographic
limit of their origin. Crop of Indian origin are Rice, Barley,
Black gram, Gram, Mustard, Castor, Sugarcane, Cotton
grown in India, are native to India
b. Exotic or alien or Introduced crops: These crops are
grown even beyond their site if origin. Some of the crops
which are now grown in India but introduced from other
countries are Tobacco, Potato, Jute, Maize, Sunflower
ACCORDING TO THE PLACE OF ORIGIN
7. Botanical or taxonomic classification
A. Poaceace (Graminae) family: Rice, Wheat, Oats, Barley, Maize,
Sugarcane, Sorghum
B. Papilionacea (Legumes) family: Pea, Cowpea, Pigeon Pea,
Groundnut, Berseem, Lentil, Dhaincha
C. Cucurbitaceae family: Mustard, Toria, Radish, Cabbage,
Cauliflower
D. Crucibitaceae or gourd family: Sweetgourd, Bitter gourd,
Pumpkin
E. Malvaceae family: Cotton, Lady’s finger(Okra)
F. Solanaceae Family: Potato, Tomato, Tobacco, Chillies, Brinjal
8. G. Tiliaceae Family: Jute, Sunhemp
H. Asteraceae (Compositae) Family: Sunflower,
Safflower
I. Chenopodiaceae family: Beet , Sugarbeet, Spinach
J. Pedeliacea: Sesame
K. Euphorbiaceae Family: Castor, Tapioca
L. Convolvulaceae Family: Sweet potato
M. Umbelliferae Family: Cumin, Coriander, Carrot
N. Liliaceae Family: Garlic, Onion
O. Zingiberaceae Family: Turmeric, Ginger
9. COMMERCIAL CLASSIFICATION
a. Food crop: Rice, Wheat, Greengram, Soyabean,
Groundnut
b. Feed Crop/ Forage crops: All fodders, Oats, Napier grass,
Sorghum, Maize, Berseem, Lucerne
c. Industrial or Commercial Crops: Cotton, Sugarcane,
Sugarbeet, Tobacco, Jute
d. Food Adjuvents: Turmeric, Cumin, Garlic
10. Economic classification
Classification according to use of crop plants and their products
1. Cereals:
a. Ceres (Roman word) name from Roman goddess who was “givers of
grains.”
b. Cereals are the cultivated grasses grown for their edible starchy
grains (One seeded fruit known as caryopsis).
c. In general larger grains used as staple food are rice, wheat, maize,
barley and sorghum
2.Millets: Small grained cereals like bajra, ragi. They are used as staple
food in drier region of the countries.
3.Oilseeds: The crop seeds are rich in fatty acids like sunflower, mustard,
groundnut, linseed, castor, sesame, soybean etc.
11. 4.Pulses: Seeds of leguminous crop plants used as food. They are rich in protein.
Such as Green gram, Black gram, Peas, Cowpea, Pigeon Pea, Lentil etc.
5.Feed or Forage: Refers to vegetative matter or preserved, utilized as feed for
animals. Its includes hay, silage, Pasturage and Fodder. Forage crops are
Berseem, Jowar, Sudan grass, Napier grass, Teosinte, Turnips, Velvet beanetc.
6. Fiber crops: Crop plants grown for fiber yield. Fiber may be obtained from
cotton, Jute, Sunhemp, Flax, Mesta etc.
7.Sugar & Starch Crops: Production of starch sugar Sweet potato, Tapioca,
Sugarcane, Sugarbeet etc.
8. Spices & Condiments: Turmeric, Cumin etc.
9. Drug crops: Preparation of medicines such as Mint, Mentha etc.
10. Narcotics: Tobacco, Opium, Poppy etc.
11. Beverages: Used for mild stimulating liquor, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa etc.
12. SEASONAL CLASSIFICATION
Kharif or South-west monsoon season crops:
• June-July to September-October
• warm wet weather - major period of growth
• shorter day length – flowering
e.g., rice, maize and groundnut.
Rabi crops/post monsoon crops:
• October-November to January-February
• cold dry weather - major growth period
• longer day length for flowering
e.g., wheat, mustard, barley, oats, potato, Bengal gram, berseem,
cabbage and cauliflower.
Zaid or summer crops:
• February-March to May-June
• warm dry weather- growth
• longer day-length – flowering
e.g., black gram, green gram, sesame, cowpea etc.
13. CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO
ONTOGENY
Each crop plant completes its life cycle after passing three
progressive stages of development. They are grouped according to
their life cycle.
A. Annual crops: Crop Plants that complete their life cycle within a year
of season such as rice, wheat, maize, mustard
B. Binneal crops: Crop plants having a life span of two consecutive years.
First year, growth is purely vegetative. During second year it produces
flowers Radish, carrot, Beet root, sugarbeet, cabbage
C. Perennial crops: Crops that live for more than three or more year
sugarcane, ginger, garlic, sweet potato
They occupy land for more than 30 months.
14. SPECIAL PURPOSE CROPS
i. Catch crops/contingent crops
These crops are cultivated to catch the forth-coming season.
It replaces the main crop that has failed due to biotic or climatic or
management hazards.
short duration, quick growing, harvestable or usable at any time of their
field duration and adaptable to the season, soil and management
practices. They provide feed, check weed growth, conserve soil, utilized
added fertilizer and moisture. e.g., green gram, black gram, cowpea,
onion, coriander and bajra.
15. ii. Restorative crops
These crops, which provide a good yield along with enrichment or
restoration of soil fertility or amelioration of the soils.
They fix atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules, shed their leaves during
ripening and thus restore soil conditions. E.g., legumes.
iii. Exhaustive crops
These crop plants, which on growing leave the field exhausted because of
a more aggressive nature. e.g., brinjal, linseed, sunflower etc.
iv. Paira crops/residual crops
These crop plants which are sown a few days or weeks before the harvest
of the standing mature crops to utilize the residual moisture, without
preparatory tillage.
The standing crop and the later sown (paira) crop become simultaneous
(forming a pair) for a short period. For e.g., rice fallow pulses black gram,
lathyrus, lentil etc.
Paira crops in succession may constitute relay cropping.
16. v. Smother crops
• smother or suppress the weed growth by providing suffocation (curtailing
movement of air) through their dense foliage developed due to quick
growing ability with heavy tillering or branching, trailing habits. e.g., barley,
mustard, cowpea, etc.
vi. Cover crops
These crop plants, which are able to protect the soil surface from erosion
(wind, water or both) through their ground covering foliage and or root mats.
e.g., groundnut, black gram, marvel grass, sweet potato
vii. Nurse crops
A companion crop nourishes the main crop by way of nitrogen fixation and or
adding the organic matter into the soil. e.g., cowpea intercropped with cereals
viii. Guard/barrier crops
These crop plants help to protect another crop from trespassing or restrict the
speed of wind and thus prevent crop damage.
Main crop in the centre surrounded by hardy or thorny crop. e.g., mesta
around sugarcane; sorghum around cotton; safflower around gram
17. ix. Trap crops
These crop plants are grown to trap soil borne harmful parasitic weeds. For
e.g.,Orobanche and Striga are trapped by solanaceous and sorghum crops,
respectively.
Nematodes are trapped by solanaceous crops (on uprooting crop plants,
nematodes are removed from the soil).
Castor in cotton, groundnut act as crop for army worm pest.
x. Augmenting crops
These sub crops are sown to supplement the yield of the main crop. e.g., mustard
or cabbage with berseem to augment the forage yield of berseem.
xi. Alley crops
These arable crops are grown in ‘alleys’ formed by trees or shrubs, established
mainly to hasten soil fertility restoration, enhance soil productivity and reduce
soil erosion.
They are generally of non-trailing with shade tolerance capacity. For e.g.,
growing pulses in between the rows of casuarina.
19. S. N. Crop Name Botanical Name Family
I Cereals
1 Paddy Oryza sativa (L) Gramineae/poaceae
2 Wheat Triticum aestivum Gramineae/poaceae
3 Maize Zea mays (L) Gramineae/poaceae
4 Sorghum/Great millet Sorghum bicolor (L) moench Gramineae/poaceae
5 Barley Hordeum vulgare Gramineae/poaceae
6 Bajra/Pearl millet Pennisetum glaucum Gramineae/poaceae
7 Finger millet Eleusine coracana (L) Gramineae/poaceae
8 Indian or Foxtail millet Setaria italic Gramineae/poaceae
9 Kodo millet Paspalum scrobiculatum Gramineae/poaceae
10 Little millet Panicum millare Gramineae/poaceae
11 Proso millet Panicum miliaceum Gramineae/poaceae
12 Barnyard millet Echinochloa frumentacea Gramineae/poaceae
II Pulses
1 Pigeon pea/Arhar/Tur Cajanus cajan Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
2 Green gram Vigna radiate Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
3 Black gram Vigna mungo Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
4 Kidney bean (Moth bean) Phaseolus aconitifolius Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
5 Cowpea Vigna sinensis Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
6 Horse gram Macrosylemee uniflorum Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
7 Chickpea Cicer arietinum Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
8 Lentil Lens esculenta Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
III Oilseeds
1 Groundnut Arachis hypogeal Leguminoseae/Fabaceae
2 Sesamum Sesamum indicum Pedaliaceae
3 Castor Ricinus communis Euphorbiaceae
4 Sunflower Helianthus annus Compositae
5 Soybean Glycine max Leguminoseae/
Fabaceae
6 Rapeseed and mustard Brassica spp. Cruciferae
IV Forage crops
1 Cowpea Vigna sinensis Leguminoseae
2 Stylo Stylosanthes lamata Leguminoseae
3 Siratro Phaseolus macroptinium Leguminoseae
4 Velvet bean Stizolobium deeringianum Leguminoseae
V Commercial crops
1 Potato Solanum tuberosum Solanaceae
2 Tobacco Nicotiana tabacum L. Solanaceae
VI Sugar crops
20. Area and Production of Foodgrains in major Producing States
(2019-20)
Area - Million Hectares
Production - Million Tonnes
State Area
%
to
All - India
Production
%
to
All - India
Uttar Pradesh 19.59 15.35 55.03 18.55
Madhya Pradesh 15.14 11.87 33.03 11.13
Punjab 6.64 5.21 30.02 10.12
Rajasthan 15.81 12.39 23.18 7.81
West Bengal 6.44 5.05 18.26 6.16
Haryana 4.59 3.60 17.86 6.02
Bihar 6.29 4.93 14.39 4.85
Andhra Pradesh 11.60 9.09 14.01 4.72
Karnataka 7.77 6.09 12.58 4.24
Tamil Nadu 4.12 3.23 12.50 4.21
Maharashtra 3.69 2.89 11.04 3.72
Telangana 3.20 2.51 11.02 3.71
Others 22.71 17.80 43.73 14.74
All India 127.59 100.00 296.65 100.00
21. PRODUCTION OF IMPORTANT FOOD CROPS
Crops Production 2018-19 (Million Tonnes)
1 Foodgrains 284.95
Rice 116.42
Wheat 102.19
Maize 27.23
Nutri cereals 42.95
2 Pulses 23.40
Gram 10.13
Tur (Arhar) 3.59
Lentil (Masur) 1.56
3 Oilseeds 32.26
Groundnut 6.69
Rapeseed and Mustard 9.34
Soybean 13.79
Sunflower 0.22
4 Cotton # 28.71
Jute and Mesta @ 9.77
Sugarcane 400.16
Crop plants are dealt with under the natural or the families under which they come in systematic arrangement.
The classification facilities in understanding the morphological character of any particular family of crop plants with different agro- botanical or morphological – agronomical characteristics:
They are cultivated grasses grown for their edible starchy grains (one seeded fruit– caryopsis).
Their larger grains are used as staple food e.g. rice, wheat, maize, barley, etc.
The word cereal was derived from the word ceres, which denotes a goddess who was believed as the giver of grains by Romans.
This classification is not a universal one. It only indicates the period when a particular crop is raised. e.g., kharif rice, kharif maize, rabi maize, summer pulse etc
