Crop Production Practices of Major Field Crops (Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds)
Crop Production Practices of Major Field Crops (Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds)
This domain tests package-of-practice decisions for rice, maize, wheat, pulses such as arhar and greengram, and oilseeds such as groundnut and mustard. Odisha questions favour rice-based systems, residual-moisture pulses, and rainfed oilseeds.
Core rules and concepts
- Cereals need timely sowing, adequate plant population, split nitrogen, and water at critical stages. Rice is commonly transplanted; maize and wheat are direct-sown.
- Pulses need Rhizobium inoculation, moderate nitrogen, phosphorus, and protection from moisture stress at flowering and pod filling. Greengram is often grown on residual moisture after rice.
- Oilseeds need balanced nutrition, sulphur for oil quality, and pest and disease monitoring. Groundnut responds to calcium and gypsum at pegging in some soils.
- Crop sequence matters: a legume in rotation can improve soil nitrogen and break pest cycles.
Worked example
For direct-seeded rice, target 50 plants/m², thousand-grain weight 22 g, germination 85%, purity 98%, field establishment 70%. Seed = 50 × 22 ÷ 1000 = 1.1 g/m² of pure seed. Divide by 0.85 × 0.98 × 0.70 = 0.5831. Seed rate = 1.1 ÷ 0.5831 = 1.89 g/m² = 18.9 kg/ha. The reasoning is to convert target plants to seed mass, then correct for germination, purity and establishment.
Traps that cost marks
Do not use thousand-grain weight alone as the seed rate. Do not treat pulses exactly like cereals; they fix nitrogen and usually need less nitrogen but need inoculation. Do not ignore sulphur in oilseeds. Rainfed crops can fail from one dry spell at flowering even if early growth is good.