How to choose Zaid crop? Know about crop care and sowing from expert Vishuddhanand

Zaid crop: Rabi season crop harvesting has started in many parts of the country. To produce vegetables in Zaid crop, farmers should use loam soil (loamy soil). Zaid crop needs about 6 to 7 hours of sunlight. Sowing of Zaid crops has started from the month of March.

Now an important thing comes here that which crop should the farmer choose in Zaid crop and how to take care of Zaid crop? Also, what things should be given special attention at the time of sowing the crop? So for this, all the questions in the show Krishi Talk of Kisan of India have been answered by Dr. Vishuddhanand, an agricultural expert working as Assistant Professor (Agronomy) at Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology. Let us know the main points of the discussion regarding the Zaid crop.

Which crops come in Zaid season?

Let us tell you that many types of fruits and vegetables come in Zaid crop. For example, farmers can grow crops like Ridge gourd, brinjal, bitter gourd, melon, watermelon, parwal, ladyfinger, cucumber, chilli, tomato etc. in their fields.

How to prepare the soil before sowing Zaid crops?

Zaid crops are sown from March to May. The month of February is for soil preparation. Harvesting of crops grown in the Rabi season has started in some parts. In many places, farmers have harvested potatoes. To prepare the field, deep plowing should be done first. After this, the field should be left open. This will provide sunlight to the field. Due to which the insects that damage the crops die. Such as termites, thrips and other insects are destroyed.

After deep plowing, add 20 to 25 tonnes of cow dung manure to the field, after this plow the field well. This will mix the manure. After mixing, fill the field with water. By doing this, the manure gets mixed well in the soil of the field.

When and how to sow zaid crops?

Along with preparing the field, farmers should decide which crop they want to produce. For example, if you are planting gourd, pumpkin, then after plowing, make arrangements for irrigation through Thala method. After this, sow the seeds using scientific method. If farmers are growing ladyfinger crop, then it should be planted on the ridge of the field. Also, proper distance should be kept in mind.

How to set the market?

If we talk about profit, then the area has a great impact. First, the farmer should understand the demand of his area. The crop can be sown by identifying the demand of the crop in that area. If the farmer has sown the crop early, then the produce reaches the market early. This increases the chances of profit for the farmers. If the farmer sows the crop late, then the farmer’s chances of profit decrease.

What things should be kept in mind in vine crops?

Vine crops include pumpkin, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, bitter gourd and parwal, so farmers should make a structure for these crops. This increases the spread of the vine to the maximum. The distance between one plant of bottle gourd and another should be kept five meters. Apart from this, it also depends on its species. If you cultivate vine vegetables in the field, then first of all use sand and cow dung manure. Both of these should be mixed in equal quantity. It has to be prepared by bag method. After this, the seeds should be sown at a certain distance. After this process, the bag should be put in a pit in the field, and the seeds should be sown. This saves the farmer the cost of ploughing.

Farmers make structures with wood, iron rods and pillars to spread the vine. If we talk about parwal, then the structure should be made by wrapping the wire with iron angle. By making a structure like this, the chances of flowering and fruiting increase. This can protect the crop from diseases. By making a structure like this, the plant gets sunlight and the insects and diseases that affect the plants do not get affected.

Diseases in Zaid Crop and its remedies

Leaf curl disease- Leaf curl disease in Zaid crop is caused by virus. Leaf curl disease occurs most in vine crops like pumpkin and gourd. In this disease, brown spots appear on the lower surface of the leaves. The edges of the leaves get scorched. The growth of the plant is reduced and production also decreases. If these symptoms are seen in the plants, then the plant should be uprooted and buried in the field. The farmer should also take care of crop rotation. Improved varieties with disease resistance should be used.

Damping off disease- In damping off disease, the stem of the plant completely rots in the seedling stage. This disease is mostly seen in onion and garlic plants. To avoid this disease, the seeds should be treated beforehand. The amount of Captan is treated with 2.5 grams per kilogram of seeds. By doing this, this disease can be got rid of. 

Powdery mildew disease-

Powdery mildew disease occurs mostly in crops like bottle gourd, ridge gourd, parwal, bhindi. Symptoms of this disease are white and grey coloured powder on the lower leaves. Along with this, the growth of the plant also stops. For the prevention of powdery mildew disease, first spraying should be done by mixing soluble sulphur 0.2 gram per liter of water when the bunch of flowers should be 8 to 10 cm in size. After this, the second spraying of Dinocap should be done 10 to 15 days after the first spraying. The third spraying of Tridimorph should be done 10 to 16 days after the second spraying. If the effect of this disease is less, then soluble sulphur should be used in all three sprayings.

Downy mildew disease- Symptoms of downy mildew Yellow patches start appearing on the upper surface of the leaves of mostly bottle gourd, ridge gourd etc. Brown colour appears on the lower side of the leaves. This prevents the growth of leaves. Due to this disease, the process of photosynthesis does not take place. Due to this, farmers get less production.

What should be the pH value of the soil?

For the production of vegetables in the zaid crop, farmers should cultivate in loam soil (loamy soil). To avoid diseases in vegetables, the pH value of the soil on the land where the farmer is going to plant the crop should be between 6 to 7.