Agronomy and Crop Production
Agronomy and Crop Production carries a large block of marks in the RBSE Senior Vocational Agriculture paper. Questions test whether you can match a crop to its season, sow it at the correct seed rate and geometry, and justify a cropping system for a given field.
Seasons and cropping systems
- Kharif (June–October, monsoon): bajra, jowar, maize, guar, moth, groundnut, cotton, sesame.
- Rabi (October–March): wheat, barley, mustard, gram, cumin, coriander, fenugreek.
- Zaid (March–June): moong, cucurbits, fodder crops.
- Mixed cropping = two or more crops sown together without a fixed row plan; intercropping = crops in definite rows (bajra + guar in 2:1); crop rotation = a planned sequence of different crops on the same field.
Sowing and crop geometry
Seed rate is expressed in kg/ha and must be corrected for germination and purity. Plant population = area ÷ (row spacing × plant spacing). Cereals are drilled in lines, cotton and vegetables are dibbled, fine seeds are broadcast.
Irrigation and weed control
Critical stages are crown-root initiation in wheat, flowering in mustard and tasselling in maize; wheat usually gets its first irrigation 20–25 days after sowing. Key weeds are Phalaris minor in wheat and Echinochloa in paddy, controlled by timely sowing and pre-emergence herbicides.
Worked example
The recommended wheat seed rate is 100 kg/ha at 90% germination. Your lot tests 80%. Adjusted rate = 100 × 90 ÷ 80 = 112.5 kg/ha. Reasoning: seed quantity must rise in inverse proportion to germination so the same number of viable seeds reaches the field.
Traps that cost marks
Putting mustard or gram in kharif; quoting a seed rate without units; using mixed cropping and intercropping as synonyms; ignoring that Rajasthan's arid zone is built on bajra, moth and guar rather than paddy.