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Explore Rabi and horticulture crop guides with practical tips on cultivation, nutrition, pest control, disease management, and better crop growth.
69 articles
15 minCucumber is sown in warm weather: TNAU lists June and January to April for Tamil Nadu, and ICAR notes spring-summer and kharif seasons in the northern plains. TNAU gives about 2.5 kg seed per hectare (roughly 1 kg per acre). NIPHM gives about 40:32:24 kg N:P:K per acre for cucurbits: all phosphorus and potash at sowing, nitrogen in two halves at 25 and 45 days, after 8 to 10 tonnes of farmyard manure per acre. First picking comes 45 to 60 days after sowing. Water weekly, trellis the vines, scout every week and use only a pesticide registered for cucumber. Always adjust doses to your soil test.
11 minChana wilt (ukhta rog) is caused by a soil and seed borne fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris. It blocks the water vessels, so leaves droop, turn yellow and the plant dries, often in patches. Cutting the stem near the base shows brown to black streaks inside. The fungus can stay alive in soil or crop residue for up to 6 years, so there is no cure for a plant that has already wilted. Control is prevention: a wilt resistant variety, clean treated seed, a 3 to 4 year gap before chana returns to the same field, deep sowing in light soil and no moisture stress. Always check that it is not dry root rot or collar rot first.
11 minControl mustard aphid in this order. First sow on time with a tolerant variety. Then check the field every week from the start of December. Look at the top 10 cm of the main shoot, not only the leaves. Remove small infested patches by hand, and keep ladybirds and hover flies alive. Use neem oil 2 percent or neem seed kernel extract 5 percent while numbers are low. Spray an insecticide only when aphids cross the local threshold and natural enemies cannot keep up, use the label dose, and spray in the evening when bees are not active.
12 minIntegrated disease management (IDM) in chilli means using several steps together instead of relying on one spray. Start with healthy seed and a clean, well-drained nursery, treat seed with Trichoderma or Pseudomonas, use tolerant varieties, remove sick plants, control whiteflies against leaf curl, and spray a registered fungicide only when symptoms start, following TNAU timings. Anthracnose, damping off, powdery mildew, Cercospora spot, Fusarium wilt, bacterial wilt and leaf curl each need a different mix of these steps.
14 minCauliflower is a cool-season crop whose curd forms only in a narrow temperature band, so choose the variety group for your sowing month. The ICAR e-Course lists early, mid early, mid late and late (Snowball) groups, with curd forming at about 20 to 27, 16 to 20, 12 to 16 and 10 to 16 degrees C. Raise seedlings in a raised nursery bed; transplant 3 to 4 week seedlings for mid and late types and 5 to 6 week seedlings for early types (ICAR e-Course). Spacing is about 45 x 30 cm for early and 60 x 45 cm for mid and late crops (ICAR e-Course, Vikaspedia). Cauliflower is very sensitive to boron and molybdenum; a lack causes browning and whiptail. Buttoning and riceyness are variety, age and temperature problems, not diseases.
11 minNo cotton hybrid sold in India is rated fully resistant to cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD). Desi cotton (Gossypium arboreum) is the exception: ICAR-CICR says desi varieties are immune to CLCuD and tolerant to whitefly. For bacterial blight, grey mildew and root rot, TNAU lists the CICR variety Suraksha as resistant. Only GEAC-approved Bt cotton is legal, so buy sealed Bt seed with a bill, choose short to medium duration, and sow on time.
15 minMost serious sugarcane diseases (red rot, smut, wilt, grassy shoot, ratoon stunting) enter the field through infected setts, so clean seed cane and sett treatment are the first defence. For pests, scout every week and start with cultural and biological steps: trash mulch and early planting for early shoot borer, egg-mass collection and Trichogramma for top and internode borers, flood irrigation for termites, and rapping canes plus natural enemies for woolly aphid. Remove diseased clumps early, never raise a ratoon from a red rot field, and treat with a chemical only after the pest crosses a threshold and only as the current label allows. If you cannot name the problem, split a cane and take a photo to the cane department or KVK before spraying.
11 minThere is no chilli that is fully immune to every disease. What farmers can buy are varieties rated tolerant or moderately resistant to one or two problems. For leaf curl, ICAR-IIHR lists Arka Yashasvi, Arka Gagan and Arka Tanvi, IIVR lists Kashi Garima and Kashi Ratna, and PAU lists Punjab Sindhuri and Punjab Tej. For powdery mildew, look at Arka Harita and Arka Suphal. For bacterial wilt, Kerala's Ujwala and Anugraha. Match the variety to your state and your main disease.
11 minThere is no single best coriander variety for every farm. For seed in the north and west, the ICAR-NRCSS Ajmer varieties ACr-2 (about 1,293 kg per hectare in 25 national trials) and ACr-3 (about 1,689 kg per hectare in 17 trial entries) are the best documented, and ACr-1 is the pick for fields with stem gall. For green leaf, AGCr-1 and Hisar Bhoomit are the leaf-focused releases. In the south, CO and Andhra varieties such as Sadhana and Sindhu fit rainfed land. Sow in October to early November where winters are dry, and treat the seed.
14 minWatermelon Farming in India: Season, Spacing, Fertiliser
15 minGreenhouse farming is growing crops inside a covered structure where temperature, humidity, light and water are managed, so plants can grow through the year or out of season. In India most structures use UV plastic film on a galvanised pipe frame. Cost ranges from about Rs 300 per sq m for simple designs to Rs 3,500 per sq m for fully automated ones (TNAU).
13 minCool season crops grow best in cool weather and are sown mainly from September to December in the north Indian plains. Examples: wheat, barley, mustard, linseed, chana, lentil, pea, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, radish, turnip, onion, garlic, potato, palak, coriander, methi and winter marigold. Temperature matters more than the calendar: cabbage and cauliflower prefer 15 to 21 degrees C, peas 10 to 18, radish 10 to 15 (NHB). Dates here come from PAU (Punjab) and NHB pages. Check your own state university or KVK for your district.
