Classification of Crops: Crops growing in various parts of India are grouped in number of categories on the basis of the nature of the product, its intended use and the importance of the produce in the regional economy and similar other consideration. Crops can be classified in the following ways:

1. Agriculture Classification
2. Classification based on crop season
3. Classification based on irrigation requirements.

1. Agriculture Classification is as follows:

• Food Crops: All crops providing food to crop are called food crops i.e cereals, pulses, sugar sugarcane, condiments, pepper, fruits and vegetables including root crops etc.

• Commercial Crops: Crops grown with a motive of selling in the market and earning profit are known as commercial crops, also, known as cash crops. Sugarcane and cotton are important cash crops grown in India.

• Plantation Crops: The plantation agricultural is mainly practised in the tropical area to grow cash crops. It is a specialised commercial cultivation of cash crops on estates or plantation. Some of the agricultural products are obtained from trees. These trees are planted once and they continue providing fruits etc for many years to come. Such crops are called plantation or tree crops. Tea, coffee, rubber and almost are included in this category.

• Fibre Crops: These are crops or plants which yield fibres and they are grown mostly in hot wet tropical region of the country. The most important fibre crops are jute and cotton.

• Fodder Crops: These are the crops grown exclusively for feeding animals (cattle). They are general harvested when green. Barseen is an example of fodder crop. Such fodder provided grains also beside dry fodder for cattle

• Horticulture Crops: Consisting various fruit crops, various vegetable crops and flower crops

• Oil seed crops: Such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, linseed, caster etc.

2. Classification based on crop season:

• Rabi crops or Winter Crops: These crops are sown in autumn (or October) and harvested in spring (or March). Examples: gram, wheat, barley, peas, mustard, tobacco, linseed, potatoes etc.

• Kharif Crops: These crops are sown by the beginning of south west monsoon and are harvested in autumn. These consist of rice, maize, spiked millets, pulses, ground nut etc.

• Perennial crops: These are the crops that require water for irrigation throughout the year. Examples: sugarcane, fruits, vegetables.

• Eight months crops: These crops such as cotton require irrigation water for eight months.

3. Classification based in irrigation requirements: Based on irrigation requirements, crops can be classified as (i) dry crops(ii) wet crops and (iii) garden crops. Dry crops are the one which do not require water for irrigation, only rain water is sufficient for their growth. Wet crops are those which cannot grow without irrigation. Garden crop require irrigation throughout the year.