Cumin or Jeera, also called “Zeera” is a famous Indian spice known for its extreme flavour and healing properties. This crop is native to Egypt and has vast usage in various ayurvedic-herbal medicines.
Cumin is popularly grown in India, China, and North Africa. In India, Gujarat & Rajasthan are the leading producers of cumin. Let’s analyse the health benefits of consuming cumin seeds.
Health Benefits of Consuming Jeera
Jeera is an ancient spice that services goodness of health in the following ways:
- It aids digestion and improves immunity.
- It helps treat asthma, piles, skin disorders, anaemia, and cancer.
- It as well treats respiratory problems, the common cold, and bronchitis.
Common Varieties of Cumin (Jeera)
Here are some popularly commercially traded cumin varieties:
- RZ-19 – This one matures in 4-5 months and delivers an average yield of 6 quintals/hectare. Moreover, this is a tall variety with pink flowers, erect stems & heavy grains. Highly tolerant to wilt & blight.
- GC-1 – This variety matures in 3-4 months and provides an average yield of 7 quintals per hectare. Moreover, it has brown-coloured grains with bold & linear pink flowers. They are tolerant to wilt disease.
- RZ-209 – This variety matures in 145-155 days and delivers an optimum yield of 70 quintals/hectare It offers bold & grey grains with pink flowers. They are resistant to wilt & blight diseases.
Here are some technical factors you must follow to produce 500-600 kgs of cumins per acre of land with the help of quality tractors like Mahindra 275.
Technical Factors for Cultivating Quality Cumin (Jeera)
Soil Requirement
Cumin (Jeera) does well on loamy soil that is rich in organic matter and has good drainage properties. This crop, in particular, is easy to cultivate on many soils. You can either sow these seeds in sandy soil with low organic matter or clay loam soils having a good amount of organic matter.
Climatic Conditions
The weather shouldn’t be excessively humid and doesn’t have abundant rainfall. The ideal temperature for cumin cultivation is 20–30°C and the rainfall range is 30 to 270 cm. Moreover, moderately dry, cooler and subtropical climates can be well-suited for cumin cultivation. Cumin is a tropical/subtropical crop tolerant to drought with a growth duration of 100 -120 days. And this crop is prone to frost damage during early seed formation stages.
Seed Rate & Sowing in Cumin Cultivation
There should be a moderately dry and cool climate for sowing cumin seeds. So, for sowing seeds, November to December is the ideal time. Moreover, the seed rate should be 12-16 kg of seedlings per hectare of land.
Watering & Irrigation for Cumin
Light watering during the planting or sowing of seeds is very important. Plan the second irrigation at least 7-10 days after the first watering.
Moreover, plan subsequent irrigation depending on the soil type and weather conditions. And once the seeds start forming, provide heavy irrigation. However, avoid watering during seed filling as this can cause powdery mildew, blight or aphid conditions.
Manures & Fertilisers
12-15 tons of FYM (Farmyard Manure)/hectare during land preparation with Mahindra 475
is suitable for improving soil fertility. Later, 20kg P205 per hectare should be applied during seed sowing. And 30 kg N per hectare should be applied as upper p205 dressing in either two equal doses or a single dose after 30 days of sowing.
Harvesting & Yield
Before starting the harvesting process, clean the field and remove the wilt-affected plants. Cumin plants are easy to harvest with the help of implements like sickle. Extracted plants should be stacked on the floor for sun drying. And the dun-dried plants can be further separated by lightly beating them with sticks.
The average 5 quintals/hectare yield is easily achievable when supplied with proper irrigation. However, the progressive varieties can provide a yield of up to 7.5-8 quintals per hectare.
Post Harvest Management
For sun-dried seeds, use gravity separators to clean the seeds. Furthermore, sort & grade the cumin seeds and fill them in the gunny bags. Make sure the bags are sterilised to maintain the hygiene aspect.
How to Control Weed in Cumin Cultivation?
After 1 month & 2 months of sowing, this crop requires weeding. To destroy excess plants, use a thinning method during the hoeing and weeding phases. You can also use chemical herbicides to control the weeds. Moreover, you can apply 0.5 to 1 kg/hectare pre-emergent terbutryn oroxcadiazone or fluchoralin pre-plating. You can also add 1 kg/hectare penimethalin.
