Zaid crops grow for a very short time, mostly from March to June. During the Zaid season, watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, and fodder crops are among the few crops that are cultivated. Now let’ talk about the crops grown in Zaid season in detail;
Zaid Season Crops
Sugarcane:
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a perennial grass of the grass family grown primarily for the sap from which sugar is processed. Most of the world's sugar cane is grown in subtropical and tropical regions. The plant is also grown for biofuel production, especially in Brazil, where sugar cane can be used directly to produce ethyl alcohol (ethanol). By-products of sugar cane processing, namely straw and bagasse (sugar cane fiber), can be used to produce cellulosic ethanol, a second-generation biofuel. Other cane products include molasses, rum, and cachaça (Brazilian alcohol), and the plant itself can be used for straw and fodder.
Watermelon:
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), is a succulent plant of the Cucurbitaceae family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa and is cultivated worldwide. The fruit contains vitamin A and vitamin C and is usually eaten raw. The peel is sometimes preserved as a pickle. Watermelons have been around for a long time. There is a Sanskrit word for watermelon, and early Egyptian art depicts fruits, indicating a more than 4,000-year history of agriculture. Large, intensely sweet fruits with tender flesh and fewer seeds have been produced through domestication and selective breeding. Today's "seedless" cultivars almost never produce viable seeds.
It is an annual plant that thrives in hot climates. Its vines on the ground have deeply cut leaves, branched tendrils, and single flowers in the axil of each leaf (e.g., where the leaf joins the stem). Each light-yellow flower is either a male or a female and only produces pollen or fruit.
A type of berry botanically known as pepo is the fruit. The reddish, white, or yellow flesh can be sweet and juicy; The variety determines the fruit's shape, flesh colour, and rind thickness. The weight of a watermelon ranges anywhere from 1 kg (2.5 pounds) to 20 kg (44 pounds) or more. There are anywhere from two to fifteen fruits per vine.
Muskmelon:
Any of the several types of netted-rind melons in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), often known as nutmeg melons, are known for their sweet, juicy orange flesh that has a musky fragrance. Muskmelons rank among the most significant commercial melon varieties and are frequently consumed raw.
Although any dessert melon may occasionally be referred to as a "muskmelon," the term "muskmelon" in botanical terminology only refers to the fruits that are cultivars of the common melon (Cucumis melo) and are included under the Reticulatus cultivar group.
Muskmelons, like all melons, are annual vines that need a lengthy, warm growing season. They grow round to lobed leaves on trailing stalks that are hairy and have clasping tendrils. The huge, juicy fruits that are produced by the yellow, unisexual flowers have a delicious aroma. The plants are killed by cold and are vulnerable to several fungal infections, particularly in humid environments.
Cucumber:
Cucumis sativus, a creeping plant in the Cucurbitaceae family of gourds, is extensively planted because of its edible fruit. The cucumber has little nutritional value, yet it is favoured for salads and delights because of its mild flavour. Pickling is a common method for preserving little fruits. In warm climes, the cucumber is produced as a field crop and in backyard gardens. In cool climates, it can also be cultivated in frames or on trellises inside greenhouses.
Having a rough, succulent, trailing stem, the cucumber is a delicate annual plant. The plant's stem produces branched tendrils that allow it to be trained to support, and the hairy leaves feature three to five pointed lobes. A fruit variety called a pepo is produced by the unisexual, five-petalled yellow blossoms. It is one of the typical crops with the highest heat need, which if exposed to inconsistent watering circumstances can develop a harsh taste. Anthracnose, downy mildew, and Fusarium wilt are just a few of the bacterial and fungal diseases that the plants are prone to.
