25 practical guides on Crop guides, written for Indian farmers and home growers.
Cumin is among the highest-value crops a Gujarat farmer can grow and among the easiest to lose. Two cloudy weeks at flowering can take the whole field. Here is how to give it the best odds.
North Gujarat supplies much of the world's psyllium husk from light land and almost no water. The crop is easy until harvest — and at harvest one shower can take the value out of it.
Gujarat grows most of India's castor, and India supplies most of the world's. A deep-rooted crop for light land that pays across several pickings — and one you must never treat as food or fodder.
India's biggest pulse crop is also the one most often ruined by kindness — too much water, too much nitrogen. What chana actually needs, how to beat wilt and pod borer, and desi versus kabuli.
The cheapest pest control and the cheapest fertiliser on your farm are the same thing — deciding what follows what. The three rules, the crop families you must not repeat, and what your soil type allows.
Millets survive where other cereals fail, and that is the whole argument for growing them. Which of the three suits your rainfall, your soil and your market — and where the money actually comes from.
A phone can give you your field's area in minutes, in bigha, vigha or acre. It can also give you a confidently wrong number. Here is how GPS measurement actually works, when to trust it, and the one thing it must never be used for.
Precision agriculture was built for hundreds of acres. Some of it now reaches two. Here is which tools repay the effort on a smallholding, which are marginal, and which are simply not for you yet.
Artificial intelligence has quietly moved from the news into the field. Here is exactly how an ordinary Indian farmer with an ordinary Android phone can use AI for crop planning, disease diagnosis, irrigation timing and selling — step by step, in 2026.
Mustard is one of the most reliable rabi oilseed crops a farmer can grow, but two things quietly decide whether you get an average harvest or a genuinely good one: whether irrigation lands at the two moments the crop can't do without it, and whether aphids get caught early or late.
Tur is one of the most forgiving crops a farmer can grow — and one of the best for soil health — but pod borer and wilt can still take a serious bite out of yield if you're not watching for them. Here's how to grow it well from sowing to harvest.
Maize is grown almost year-round in India, as both a kharif rainfed crop and a rabi irrigated one — and the two seasons ask for genuinely different decisions. Here's a practical guide to both, plus what to watch for now that fall armyworm has become a serious threat.
Soybean rewards good basics more than almost any other kharif crop — the right seed treatment, sowing window, and spacing routinely make a bigger difference than anything sprayed on afterward. Here's what actually moves the yield needle.
Ratooning — letting the old cane stubble regrow instead of replanting — can save a season's worth of planting cost. Here's how to manage a ratoon crop properly, and how to know when it's time to stop ratooning and replant.
From raising a healthy nursery to knowing exactly when to drain the field before harvest, this is a full season-by-season guide to growing paddy well — with the water-saving trick that can cut your irrigation bill without cutting your yield.
Yields differ hugely between fields in the same village — and it's rarely luck. Good seed, correct spacing, timely water and weekly scouting lift cotton yield without a fortune in inputs.
A hybrid's vigour lasts exactly one generation; desi seed can be saved every season. But the real question isn't which is better — it's which one fits your water, your budget and your buyer.
Wheat rewards timing more than anything else — sow in the right window, never skip the crown-root irrigation, and control weeds in the first month.
Tomato is high-value but demanding. Strong seedlings, steady water, staking and early disease action separate the farmers who earn well from those who lose the crop.
Groundnut pods form below the surface — which is why light soil, calcium at pegging and steady moisture decide your pod count and returns.
Chilli is profitable but disease-prone. Winning the daily battle against thrips, leaf curl and fruit rot is the theme of good chilli farming.
Turmeric is a long-duration, high-value crop that rewards careful rhizome selection, steady water and correct post-harvest processing more than almost any other spice crop. A full field-to-processing guide for Indian growers.
Mango rewards patience and timing more than almost any other fruit crop — a season-by-season calendar for pruning, flowering, pest watch and post-harvest handling.
Tissue-culture banana plants cost more upfront than suckers — but disease-free starts, uniform bunches and a real yield jump usually make the difference back many times over.
Potatoes rot, sprout, and lose weight fast after harvest — but the right curing, temperature and simple storage choices can keep them sound for months, cold store or not.
