Cumin commonly known as Jeera, has become the most important spice crops cultivated in India and is next in importance after black pepper. This Crop is is mostly cultivated in Rajasthan and Gujarat and in some part of M.P. and U.P. as a rabi crop. It is rich in iron, manganese and vitamin E and is good for digestion and related problems in addition to many medicinal properties. It is widely used all over the world in many culinary preparations and drinks because of its aroma and medicinal properties. Cumin crop is a cash crop and gives good profit with proper crop management practices.

The crop is successfully cultivated in moderately cool and dry climate areas of subtropical region with a temperature range of 20 to 32 degree Celsius. Cumin cultivation is also restricted in the area, where atmospheric humidity is low, and winters are not severe. It is grown under rainfed and irrigated conditions in Rabi season after the Kharif crops like jowar, maize, cowpea and green gram.

Generally higher seed rate in used for bold seeded variety. In general, the seed rate varies from 5 to 8 kg per acre.Seed priming for 8 hours followed by shade drying and treating seeds with bio inoculants such as Azospirillum or Azotobactor @ 10 g per kg of seeds and Trichoderma viride or T. harzianum @ 4g per kg of seeds before sowing improves germination and reduces occurrence of seed borne diseases. The optimum sowing time is first fort night of November in Gujarat, Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and second fortnight of November in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Sowing of cumin is done by two methods i.e. line sowing and broad casting. Traditionally farmers sow cumin by broadcasting method, but sowing done in lines with seed cum fertilizer drill results in better seed germination and crop stand and also facilitates intercultural operations. The recommended line-to-line distance is 20 to 25 cm with a sowing depth of 1.5 to 2 cm. Deeper sowing delays seed germination. There should be good soil moisture at the time of sowing to ensure better germination of seeds.

Fusarium wilt, Alternaria blight, and powdery mildew are major disease in cumin. Alternaria blight and Powdery mildew can be managed by applying Nativo at the dose of 140 gram per acre in 200 liters of water. To manage these diseases, take fungicide sprays as per the recommendations of state or central research organizations at appropriate time to reduce yield loss.

The requirement of fertilizer depends upon the fertility status of the soil. Therefore, fertilizer is to be applied based on soil testing report. In order to maintain good soil structure and soil health application of organic manure @ 4 to 5 tonnes of well decomposed Farmyard manure or 2 to 3 tonnes of compost per acre two to three weeks before sowing of the crop is recommended. The crop responds well to fertilizer application and in general the dose recommended is 20 kg nitrogen, 10 kg phosphorus and 10 g potassium per acre. At the time sowing half of the recommended nitrogen and full dose of recommended phosphorus and potash are applied, and the remaining half of recommended nitrogen is applied after 60 days of sowing as a top dressing. If drip system of irrigation is adopted, it is advised to give fertilizers through fertigation using water soluble fertilizers which also helps in increasing the nutrient use efficiency.

After sowing a light irrigation should be applied for getting good germination. Then irrigations are given regularly at 8 to 10 days interval till seed maturity stage.

Sometime cumin crop is affected with frost injury in the area where there is sudden fall in temperature during cropping season. Cumin is susceptible to frost during initial flowering and seed formation stage. During such conditions it is advised to irrigate the crop in anticipation of frost if atmosphere is clear, wind stops flowing and there is an expectation of frost sudden fall in temperature.

Generally, cumin crop takes about 100-130 days to reach maturity depending on the variety grown. In most parts of India where cumin is cultivated the crop will be ready for harvesting from February to end of March. The crop is harvested when it turns yellow, leaves fall down, and seeds turn light greyish brown.  Harvest the crop early in morning to avoid grain shattering. After harvesting, threshing is done by threshers or done manually. After harvesting and threshing, cumin seeds are dried in sun up to moisture level of 8-9%. With good agronomic practices 400 to 500 kg per acre cumin seeds of improved varieties can be obtained. For cleaning cumin seeds, vacuum gravity separator is used. The properly cleaned seeds are stored in gunny bags lined with polythene film.

Thank you for reading this article, we hope you clicked on the 🖒 icon to like the article and also do share it with your friends and family now!