Maize has bold seed size. It requires 50-60 kg seeds depending upon size. Seed should be sown in lines spaced at 30 cm. For summer sowing in irrigated areas, last week of February to last week of March-April is the appropriate time. Rainy season crop is sown with the beginning of rains in June-­July. Rabi crop is sown in October-November particularly in eastern and southern parts of the country. In hills sowing is taken up in May.

It is propagated by stem cuttings with two buds called rooted slips. About 25000 to 40000 rooted slips or stem cuttings/ha are needed. Planting can be done at any time of year except during winter months. February planting is most suitable in areas where assured irrigation facility is available.  Under rainfed conditions July-August planting is preferred. Stem cuttings are placed into the soil at an angle of 45⁰, so that one node is pushed into the soil and one remains above the soil surface. Rooted slips are prepared by uprooting a clump, dividing it into rooted slips with small stem. They should be planted in to field with a spacing of 70x50 cm for sole cropping and 100x50 cm for intercropping. Irrigation should be done just after the planting of crop.

Spacing- 50X30 cm or 90X45 cm

Seed rate- 20-25 days old nursery of 2.5 kg seed or 25000 to 66000/ha rooted slips are sufficient.

      Sowing should be done by drill at distance of 25 cm row to row using a seed rate of 30-40 kg/ha. For small seeded sudan types, a seed rate of 30 kg/ha is sufficient. Broadcasting of seeds should be avoided. The seed should not be put more than 2-2.5 cm depth during sowing.

For summer sowing of multicut types mid March to mid April is the best period, while for monsoon season crop sowing should be done preferably between 25^th June and 10^th July. In southern India it is grown during Rabi season also for which sowing is done in October-November.

Seed rate and sowing method: The sowing should be done in lines at an inter row spacing of 25-30 cm using a seed rate of 35-40kg/ha.The seed should be sown with seed drill or behind the plough at 2-3 cm depth. Thinning operation may be done after germination to maintain interrow spacing of 5-8 cm between plants.

Sowing Time: Cowpea requires warm climate with good atmospheric humidity. ItsSowing time extends from March to middle of July. In irrigated areas sowing can be done during summer while in rainfed areas, it can be done after commencement of rains. In southern region, sowing of crop for fodder may be done throughout the year.

Seed rate and sowing method:

          Sowing is done in lines 25 cm apart using a seed rate of 35 kg/ha. In dryland semi arid regions, where moisture stress is common phenomenon sowing is recommended in 30-40 cm apart rows with reduced seed rate of 25-30 kg/ha to have a low plant population. The seed should be sown with Kaira under irrigated conditions and Pora in drylands.

Sowing time:

         Summer crop is sown in March-April under irrigated conditions Kharif sowings is done in June-July with the onset of monsoon, under north Indian conditions for a lush higher fodder yields. However, in southern parts of the country Rabi sowings can be done in October-November.

Seed cleaning:  

     Usually (Chicorium intybus) is found admixed with berseem seed. Since the size of chicory seed resembles with berseem seed; it becomes difficult to separate them by ordinary methods.

      However, the seed of berseem is oval while the seed of is conical. To remove chicory seeds, 10% common salt solution is used. The chicory seeds being lighter in weight then berseem seed float on the surface while berseem seeds settle down at the bottom of container. In this way chicory seeds may be drained off and berseem seed collected.

Seed inoculation:

     Being a leguminous crop, berseem enriches the soil with sizeable quantities of nitrogen through symbiotic nitrogen fixation with the help of Rhizobium bacteria .Therefore, berseem seed should be inoculated with culture of Rhizobium trifollii to enhance the process of biological nitrogen fixation in root nodules especially in soils where berseem is being grown for the first time

Seed rate:     

      Under normal condition, the optimum seed rate of berseem has been found to be 25 kg/ha. When the sowing is taken up earlier than the appropriate time, the quantity of seed used is increased by 15to20%to compensate the loss of seedling mortality occurring due to prevailing high atmospheric temperature.

Sowing time:  

       Sowing time is an important factor governing germination, seedling survival, number of cuts and herbage production. Berseem should be sown when the temperature is in the range of 25-27^oC. Thus, the optimum sowing time of berseem in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (the bowl cultivation) is the entire month of October. In Bengal and Gujarat sowing is taken up only in the month of November. Sowing can continue upto first week of December in eastern region. Delayed sowing results in loss or one of two cuttings. Timely sowing extends the period of forage availability and thereby increases the total yield.

Sowing method:

       The seed bed for berseem sowing is prepared by filling the water to a depth of 4-5cm, raking the soil and creating the muddy condition by light puddling (mechanical manipulation of soil at high moisture content). Then the over night soaked seeds are broadcast in standing muddy water in crosswise directions to obtain uniform seed distribution. The sowing should be done towards the evening or during non windy periods of the day.