Agricultural Region Based
Rice:
There are seven regions in India where rice is the ‘first ranking crop’:
1.Rice MonocultureZone:
- This region includes eastern Madhya Pradesh, Chhotanagpur plateau, coastal Orissa, West Bengal, Brahmaputra valley, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the deltas of Krishna, Godavari and Cauveri. Only rice is grown in these regions.
2.Western Coast:
- This zone includes Kerala and the Konkan coasts. Other crops of this region are betelnut, ragi, fodder, coconut, vegetables and rubber.
3.Eastern Coast:
- This region includes the non-delta regions of Tamil Nadu. Groundnut, bajra, jowar, cotton, millets and pulses are other crops grown in this region.
4. Ganga Plains of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar:
- In these regions, pulses, wheat, barley, sugarcane and maize are the other crops grown.
5. Southern Karnataka Plateau:
- The other crops of this region include coffee, ragi, pulses, cardamom, citrus fruits and coconut.
6. Northern Hill Districts of West Bengal:
- Tea and maize are other crops, while jute is grown in Jalpaigudi.
7. Meghalaya Plateau:
- Potato, maize and cotton are other crops in the combination.
Conditions of Growth:
- Rice cultivation is conditioned by temperature parameters at the different phases of growth. The critical mean temperature for flowering and fertilisation ranges from 16 °C to 20 °C whereas during ripening the range is from 18 °C to 32 °C. Temperatures beyond 35 °C affect not only pollen shedding but also grain-filling. High temperatures and high light intensity adversely affect grain-filling.
- A seasonal rainfall of 112 cm to 150 cm is required. Rice needs much water both in and upon the soil. As such the monsoonal lands are best suited for rice production or heavy irrigation is required. Alluvial soil suits cultivation. Deltas, estuaries, flood plains and valleys of rivers and coastal plains with heavy soils make excellent rice fields or lands.
- Rice is sown in India in three ways by broadcast, drill, or transplantation from a seedbed. The first method is practised where labour is scarce and the soil is infertile. The second method is mostly confined to peninsular India. The third method is common in river deltas and plains.
Wheat:
- Wheat is the second most important food crop after rice. There is no wheat monoculture zone because it is not double-cropped. Wheat crop occupies 40% of the cropped area in the wheat zone.
There are four regions where wheat is the first ranking crop:
Ganga-Yamuna Doab:
- Pulses, rice, maize, bajra, fodder and sugarcane are other crops entering this region.
Eastern Haryana:
- In this region, pulses, jowar, bajra, fodder and sugarcane are other crops.
Himachal Pradesh and parts of Punjab:
- These districts of Punjab are Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. Maize, rice and pulses are other crops of the region.
Rest of Punjab:
- Fodder, maize, pulses, rice, cotton and groundnut are other crops entering the region.
Conditions of Growth:
- The cool winters and the hot summers are conducive to a good crop of wheat. Wheat does not grow well in areas of high heat and high humidity. 15°C during summer is the lower limit of temperature. In India, the Indo- Gangetic plains form the most important wheat area. It is grown in the rabi season when the temperatures are 10-15°C and the rainfall 5-15 cm. Annual precipitation of 50-100 cm is best suited for wheat cultivation.
- In the early stages of growth, the wheat plant requires a fair amount of moisture with cool weather followed by warm and sunny weather. A small amount of rainfall before the ripening of the grains favours the production. Rainless days with clear and bright sunshine are essential during ripening and harvesting periods so as to have a better quality of grain. A well pulverised but compact seedbed for good and uniform germination is required for the wheat crop.
- Three or four ploughings in the summer repeated harrowing in the rainy season, followed by three or four cultivations and planking immediately before sowing produce a good firm seabed for the dry crop on alluvial soils. In the black cotton soil, blade harrow (bakhar) is used instead of the plough. Wheat can also be cultivated in areas of less than 50 cm of rainfall by practising irrigation or dry farming methods
Jowar:
- It covers a vast area which is second, in extent, only to rice. It is the first ranking crop in four regions.
Tamil Nadu Upland (Salem-Coimbatore):
- Groundnut, rice, bajra, ragi, millets, pulses and cotton are the other crops entering the region.
Northern Karnataka Plateau and Western Maharashtra:
- The other crops entering this region include bajra, ragi, millets, rice, groundnut and pulses.
Northern Maharashtra and parts of Madhya Pradesh:
- Pulses, wheat, cotton and rice are the other crops of this region.
Telangana and Chandrapur (Maharashtra):
- Besides jowar, rice and pulses are also grown in this region.
Conditions of Growth:
- Generally, most of the crop is grown on the plains; however, it can be raised successfully on gentle slopes up to 1,200 m height. The jowar belt receives an annual rainfall ranging from 40 to 100 cm per annum, usually distributed between the last week of June and the first week of October in most parts of the country. Medium and deep black soils are predominantly suitable for growing sorghum.
- The rabi sorghums or jowars are wholly confined to black cotton soils, while the kharif sorghums are grown on light soils also on a limited scale. The area under the rabi jowar is concentrated in the Deccan plateau more or less in a continuous belt.
- In the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, the rabi jowar occupies about 55-60 per cent of the total acreage, whereas in Andhra Pradesh the distribution is 5O- 5O in both seasons. In the rest of the states, the Kharif season is more important.
Maize:
It is the first ranking crop in the following two regions.
South-eastern Rajasthan, adjoining areas of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh:
- Pulses, groundnut, rice, wheat, gram and fodder are the other crops entering this region.
Hills of Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir:
- Apart from maize, rice is grown on the valley floor and horticulture is practised on the slopes.
Conditions of Growth:
- Maize is grown extensively in regions of humid subtropical climate. It may grow even in desert climate provided there is irrigation. Long and warm summer with considerable rainfall followed by autumns of little rain and cold winters are optimum climatic conditions for maize. During summer months the temperature should vary between 20 °C and 25 °C. The autumn months should have temperatures between 8 °C and 15 °C. Rainfall of 75 cm is required.
- A growing season of 120 to 170 days is required. Fertile, deep and well-drained soils are the main requirements for maize cultivation. Though any type of soil ranging from deep heavy clays to light sandy can be used for maize cultivation, it is necessary that the PH of the soil does not deviate from the range 7.5 to 8.5. Manuring is necessary as it is a soil-exhausting crop.