Basva's Farm

Rabi crops:-

Rabi crops or Rabi harves refers to agricultural crops sown in winter and harvested in the summer season. 

The term is derived from the Arabic word for "spring", which is used in the Indian subcontinent. The Rabi crop  is the spring harvest (also known as the "winter crop") in Indian subcontinent.

The term Rabi means "spring" in Arabic, and the rabi crops are grown between the months mid November to April.

The water that has percolated in the ground during the rains is main source of water for these crops. Rabi crops require irrigation.

So a good or bountiful rain may tend to spoil the Kharif crops but it is good for Rabi crops.

These crops are taken after the departure of monsoon rains. The seeds are sown after the rains have gone and harvesting begins in April/May.

Major Rabi crop is wheat in India followed by barley, mustard, sesame and peas. (They are harvested early as they are ready early). So Indian Markets are flooded with Green Peas from January to March (Peak is Feb.)

Examples of Rabi Crops: 

Wheat  

     Gram

     Pea

 Mustard

      Linseed 

   Barley 

Kharif Crops:-

Kharif crop, refers to the planting, cultivation and harvesting of any domesticated plant sown in the rainy (monsoon) season on the Asian subcontinent.

 Such crops are planted for autumn harvest and may also be called the summer or monsoon crop in India and Pakistan. 

Kharif crops are usually sown with the beginning of the first rains in July, during the south-west monsoon season. 

In Pakistan the kharif season starts on April 16 and lasts until October 15. 

In India the kharif season varies by crop and state, with kharif starting at the earliest in May and ending at the latest in January, but is popularly considered to start in June and to end in October. 

Rice is the main Kharif crop

  Rice

Examples include  :-

Maize,

 Sugarcane, 

Cotton,

 Jawar,

 Bajra  

soyabean,

 turmeric,

 paddy,

 moong,

 ground nuts ,

 red chillies.

These crops are totally dependent on the quantity of rain water as well its timing. Too much, too little or at wrong time may lay waste the whole year's efforts.

The harvesting begins with Diwali days or slightly earlier during Vijayadashmi days. Since this period coincides with the beginning of Autumn / winter in the Indian sub-continent It is called "Kharif period " and the crops are "kharif crops".

Crops grown in different parts of INDIA:-