Agriculture is the major occupation for as much as 60-70 percent population in India. It includes growing various crops, animal husbandry, agro-forestry etc. Interestingly, India is considered as the top producer of several types of crops & depending on the season, crops are divided into three segments called Rabi, Kharif, & Zaid crops.
Kharif Crops or Monsoon Crops
Today, our focus will be on Kharif Crops which are popularly known as Monsoon Crops. Kharif crops are grown in wet & hot conditions. Few of the Kharif crops grown during monsoons in India are rice, maize, bajra, corn, and peas.
Top 5 Kharif Crops grown in Monsoon:
Below we have mentioned 5 important crops cultivated in monsoon or kharif season;
1. Rice:
India is one of the world’s largest producers of rice & brown rice. It covers as much as one-third of the total cultivated area of India & provides to more than half of the Indian populations. Though, it is cultivated in most of the Indian states but the major 3 producers of rice are West Bengal, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. India being the highest producer of rice is considered as a top crop to grow in Monsoon. It requires an average temperature of 25-26 degrees Celsius & a minimum of 100cm of rainfall. Out of all the cities, Punjab & Haryana grow priced rice for export purposes.
2. Cotton:
Cotton is another Kharif crop, a tropical & subtropical crop. Cotton is considered as a fiber crop. Its seed is used as vegetable oil. India comes in third position in the production of cotton worldwide and popularly known as “White Gold”. Cotton is a range of long, medium & short staple variety of Kharif crops. The temperature required to grow cotton is 21-30 degrees Celsius & a minimum of 50-100cm of rainfall. The major producers of cotton among states are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Orissa. According to the previous report, Gujarat is the highest of all. Monsoon delivers about 75% of rainfall which is required for cotton production.
3. Sugarcane:
Sugarcane is grown in tropical & subtropical area which is an ancient crop of the Austronesian and Papuan people. Almost 79% of the sugar is produced from sugarcane. Few other products derived from sugarcane include falernum, molasses, rum, ethanol, etc. Sugarcane is only grown in monsoon season. It also requires hot & humid weather and agro climatic regions. North Western, North Central, North Eastern, Peninsular zone and coastal zones are identified as sugarcane development regions. The optimum temperature for stem cuttings is 32-38 degree Celsius whereas, for ripening 14-16 degree Celsius is needed.
4. Tea:
India is the second largest producer of tea in the world. We are also the largest consumer of tea & uses around 30% of the global production output. Tea production is huge and in great demand. It can usually grow from subtropical to tropical climates in different parts of the country. Its plantation is very dynamic in nature & can handle high frost and snow.
5. Pulses:
Crops like green gram, black gram, are the most important leading crops of India in monsoon. Though late monsoon slows the Kharif crops sowing and due to monsoon the production may be delayed & damaged. The main pulses growing states include Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
