For survival, all living organisms need food, health, growth, and development. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals are all found in food. Humans have been gathering plants and hunting animals for food since the dawn of time. Later, humans were reliant on agriculture to meet their food needs, which included the cultivation of crops, fruits, flowers, and vegetables.
During the life cycle of crops, different crops need different climate conditions. Sunlight is needed for the growth of plants and flowers. Plants and livestock are the two main sources of food. Humans have been gathering plants and hunting animals for food since the dawn of time. Humans later became reliant on agriculture to meet their food needs.
Agriculture is a broad concept that encompasses all practices that include the wise use of the earth's resources to meet human needs for food, fodder, fiber, and fuel, among other items. Crops, fruits, flowers, and vegetables on one hand, and animal husbandry and fisheries on the other, are all part of agriculture.
India has a population of over one billion and is still expanding. We need about 250 million tons of grain per year to feed this rising population. There are no plans to expand the field under cultivation. As a result, increasing crop production can be done by increasing the quality and productivity of both crop and livestock production.
It is well established that there are over 600 cultivated plant species, with approximately 100-200 species playing a significant role in global trade. Just fifteen plant species, on the other hand, represent the most important economic crops. As a result, these crop species must be categorized or grouped in a useful manner to encourage scientific communication, distribution, and retrieval, as well as to promote the conservation and enhancement of specific plants.
The following are the various standpoints at which field crops are grown.
1. Botanical Classification
Plant sections and flower structures are classified botanically based on their similarity. This is the most critical classification method since it decides how closely related the plants are. Field crops are part of the plant kingdom's "spermatophyte," or seed plant, branch, which involves seeds-reproducing plants.
Under this division, common crop plants are classified as "Angiosperm," which produces seeds with coats (covered seed). The "angiosperm" is then divided into two groups: monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Monocotyledons include all grasses, including cereals and sugar cane. Except for grasses, legumes and other plants are known as dicotyledons. Other classifications such as Orders, families, genera, plants, and varieties, can be subclassified into one of these two classes.
Monocotyledons:
- Wheat, barley, rice, maize, oat, sugar cane, sorghum, ryegrass, and sudangrass are all members of the Gramineae family.
-Onion and garlic belong to the Liliaceae family.
Dicotyledons:
- Field bean, lupine, chick pea, lentil, fenugreek, Egyptian clover, alfalfa, soybean, peanut, grass pea, castor bean, red clover, and white clover are all members of the Leguminosae family.
- Cotton belongs to the Malvaceae family.
- Flax is a member of the Linaceae family.
- Solanaceae: potato, tomato, and tobacco are all part of this family.
- Sesame is a member of the Pedaliaceae family.
- Sunflower and safflower are included in the composite.
The most important field crop families are considered to belong to two botanical families: the grass family (Gramineae) and the legume family (Leguminosae). As a result, we must gain an understanding of the features of both families.
Grass family characteristics:
- They may be either annuals or perennials in the winter.
- It's almost as if they're herbaceous plants.
- Nodes and internodes make up the bulk of roots, which are hollow, cylindrical, and made up of nodes and internodes.
- The roots are fibrous, and each year new roots are produced.
- The flowers are beautiful and gathered in an inflorescence at the plant's tip.
- The grain may be unenclosed (wheat) or enclosed (rice) (oats).
- The veins in the leaves are parallel and alternate. The stem is encased by the basal portions of the leaf sheath, which is open on the side opposite the blade. An unusual appendage known as the "ligule" is typically located where the blade of the leaf joins the sheath.
Legume family characteristics:
- It is the second most powerful family after the grass family.
- Legumes come in three varieties: annual, biennial, and perennial.
- The leaves are compound, alternate, and have netted veins.
- The flowers have a buttery feel.
- The fruit of a pod containing one or more seeds. The two cotyledons are dense and full of stored food, and the seeds normally lack an endosperm.
2. Agronomic classification
The following is a list of field crops that can be categorized based on their economic importance:
- Cereal or grain crops include wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, maize, and grain sorghum, which are grasses cultivated for their edible seeds.
- Seed legumes, including faba bean, peanuts, fenugreek, lupine, cowpea, soybean, chickpea, and lentil.
- Sugar beet and sugar cane are examples of sugar crops.
- Potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes are examples of tuber crops.
- Sweet potatoes and sugar beets are examples of root crops.
- Plants used in medicine, such as castor bean and others.
- Tobacco, tea, and coffee are examples of stimulants.
- Flax, soybean, peanut, sunflower, safflower, sesame, castor bean, and rape are examples of oil crops.
- Cotton is one of the fiber crops. Flax, jute, sisal, and ramie are all-natural fibers.
- Alfalfa, Egyptian clover, sorghum, Sudan grass, grass pea, lablab, Napier grass, millet, white clover, and red clover are among the fodder crops.
- Rubber crops such as para rubber, Castilla rubber, and guayule are among the seven.
3. Special Purpose Crops in Agriculture
In the field of agriculture, specifically agronomy, there are a variety of crops that are grown for a particular purpose under specific conditions. These crops are referred to as special-purpose crops because they must serve a specific purpose. These special-purpose crops are important in agriculture not only because they provide food for humans and livestock, but also because they help farmers protect their financial interests.
In general, five crops are known as special-purpose crops. There are the following:
Green Manure Crops - These types of crops are grown to improve soil fertility. These crops are cultivated and then ploughed into the soil. These are often grown, cut, and left in the field for a long time before tillage operations are performed.
Examples are Brassica, Vetch, Clover, Alfalfa.
Silage Crops - These are the crops that are grown to feed livestock and dairy cows. Crops are cultivated, harvested, and stored as silage. They are cut in a succulent state and silage is made by partial fermentation. During dry periods or when green fodder is unavailable, the benefit is a constant supply of fodder for livestock.
Examples are Grasses, Maize, Oat.
Catch Crops - These are also known as essential crops because they are grown to fill in the gaps left by the failure of the main crop or the delay in sowing the main crop for whatever reason. They are developed to some degree to cover economic losses.
Examples are Sorghum and Maize for Fodder.
Soilage Crops or Green Chop Crops - For livestock and dairy animals, these are green fodder crops. Soilage crops are cultivated and harvested while still green and succulent. These are directly fed to the farm animals.
Examples are Maize.
Relay Crops - It is a crop that is planted as a secondary crop in agricultural fields after the primary crop has reached reproductive maturity but is not yet ready to harvest.
Examples are: Relay cropping is shown by the sowing of sugarcane in sugar beet.
4. Classification according to life span
Plants may be categorized as annuals, biennials, or perennials depending on how long they live. The following sections go over each of these classifications.
Annuals
Annual plants are those that have a one-year life cycle. Within a year, they germinate, develop, bear fruit, and die. This form of the life cycle can be found in most herbs and plants belonging to the grass family. Annual plants include mustard, watermelon, corn, cabbage, and wheat, to name a few.
Biennials
Biennials are plants that live for two years and then die. In the first year, they germinate, grow a root system, stem, and leaves. They produce flowers and fruit later in their second year. A few herbs, such as spinach, are known as biennials. Biennials include carrot, cabbage, petunias, radish, tomatoes, and other vegetables, in addition to spinach and other herbs.
Perennials
Perennials are plants that have a life cycle that lasts longer than two years. They begin to bear flowers, produce fruits, and seeds as they mature, and the cycle continues for a longer period. They do not die after bearing fruit, but rather, season after season, they regenerate their pieces. Trees, except a few shrubs, are all known as perennials. For Example tomatoes, ginger, banana, mango, coconut, palm, banyan, etc.
5. Classification Based On Growth Habit
It's vital to find out when the best time is to plant every field crop. This is because the planting date must be at a convenient time to ensure the best weather conditions during the crop's growing season.
Crops need the right amount of light, temperature, moisture, and other environmental factors to survive and generate the most yield. As a result, when field crops are categorized by growing season, it means that the crop's environmental requirements are predominant during that season. As a result, field crops can be divided into the following categories:
Kharif: It is a rainy-season crop that is harvested between July and October. Paddy, barley, soyabean, pigeon pea, maize, cotton, groundnut, sugar beat, urad, moong, lobia, millets, til, jute, toor, sugar cane, ladyfinger (Okara), green gram, and black gram are some examples.
Rabi: It is a winter season crop grown from November to April. e.g. Wheat, gram, peas, mustard, linseed, berseem, lentil, potatoes, tobacco, etc.
Zaid: It is a crop that is planted mostly during the summer season, from April to June, or at other times depending on the crop. Cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, red melon, gourd, torai, green chilies, tomatoes, and sunflower, to name a few.
Reference List
Classification of Crops by Hemant More (July 12, 2019) Available at:
https://thefactfactor.com/facts/pure_science/biology/crops/2082/
Classification of Field Crops by Agri Learner, Available at:
http://www.agrilearner.com/classification-field-crops-2/
Special Purpose Crops in Agriculture, by Abdul Rahman in Arid Agriculture (February 27, 2018), available at:
https://aridagriculture.com/2018/02/27/special-purpose-crops-agriculture/
Plants And Its Classification, by Ibiso Obianime on byjus.com, (September 18, 2020) available at:
https://byjus.com/biology/classification-of-plants/
