Crops

Categories of Crops in India

The major crops can all be divided into four main categories depending on their usage.

  1. Food Crops (Wheat, Maize, Rice, Millets and Pulses etc.)
  2. Cash Crops (Sugarcane, Tobacco, Cotton, Jute and Oilseeds etc.)
  3. Plantation Crops (Coffee, Coconut, Tea, and Rubber etc.)
  4. Horticulture crops (Fruits and Vegetables)

 

Millets are a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Millets are important crops in the semiarid tropics of Asia and Africa (especially in India, Mali, Nigeria, and Niger), with 97% of millet production in developing countries. The crop is favored due to its productivity and short growing season under dry, high-temperature conditions.

The most widely grown millet is pearl millet, which is an important crop in India and parts of Africa. Finger millet, proso millet, and foxtail millet are also important crop species.

Millets have formed the staple food of Dravidian (Southern part of India) population, of which pearl millet formed the most commonly consumed along with Finger millet, proso millet, little millet, kodo millet , Indian barnyard millet and foxtail millet all of which are still commonly cultivated & consumed in India especially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

 

Major millets

Major millets are the most widely cultivated species.

Eragrostideae tribe :

  • Eleusine coracana : Finger millet (also known as Ragi, nachani,Mandua or Kezhvaragu in Tamil in India) – the fourth-most cultivated millet.

Paniceae tribe :

  • Panicum miliaceum: Proso millet (syn. : Common millet, Broom corn millet, Hog millet or White millet, “Chena” or Chin in Hindi, “Pani-varagu” in Tamil, “Baragu” in Kannada) – the third-most cultivated millet.
  • Pennisetum glaucum: Pearl millet (also known as Sajjalu in Andhra Pradesh, Sajje in Kannada and Kambu as referred by other South Indian states and Bajra in Hindi) – the most cultivated millet.
  • Setaria italica: Foxtail millet – the second-most cultivated millet (also known as Korralu in Andhra Pradesh and “Thinai” in Tamil Nadu and Kang or Rala in Maharashtra, Kakum in Hindi).

Andropogoneae tribe :

  • Sorghum bicolor: Sorghum – usually not considered being a millet, but sometimes known as Great Millet, as well as Jonna in Andhra Pradesh, Jolla’ in Kannada, Vellai cholam in Tamil Nadu and Jowar in Hindi.

Minor millets

Andropogoneae tribe :

  • Coix spp.: Job’s tears – of minor importance as a crop.

Eragrostideae tribe :

  • Eragrostis tef: Teff – often not considered being a millet.

Paniceae tribe :

  • Digitaria spp.: White fonio, Black fonio, Raishan, Polish millet – of minor importance as a crop.
  • Echinochloa spp.: Japanese barnyard millet, Indian barnyard millet (syn.: Sawa millet) (also known as Kodisama in Andhra Pradesh and “Kuthirai vaali” in Tamil Nadu and Bhagar or Varai in Maharashtra), Burgu millet, Common barnyard grass (or Cockspur grass). Collectively, the members of this genus are called barnyard grasses or barnyard millets. Other common names to identify these seeds include Jhangora, Samo seeds or Morio / Mario / Moraiaya seeds.
  • Panicum sumatrense : Little millet (also known as Samalu in Telugu and “Samai” in Tamil Nadu)
  • Paspalum scrobiculatum: Kodo millet (also known as Varigalu in Andhra Pradesh and “Varagu” in Tamil Nadu)
  • Urochloa ramosa :Browntop millet (also known as Korle in Karnataka)
  • Urochloa spp. (also known as Brachiaria): Guinea millet

Source :  testbook.com, Wikipedia.com