Punjab's Agro - Climatic Zones

Punjab Geography and Environment

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Punjab falls in the Agro Climatic Zone-VI, which is called “Trans-Gangetic Plains Region”. Most of Punjab lies in the fertile plain; toward the southeast one finds semi-arid and desert landscape; a belt of undulating hills extends along the northeast at the foot of the Himalayas. Four rivers, the Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and Ghaggar flow across the state in a southwesterly direction. They have numerous small and seasonal tributaries. In addition, Punjab is watered by an extensive canal system.There are six agro climatic regions in Punjab.

1. Sub-Mountain Undulating Region:

This region extends along the eastern borders of the state and is 10-20 km in width except in Gurdaspur district where it is much wider. This region covers nearly 4800 sq. kilometres, which is about 9.5% of the total area of the state.

Climate:

The average maximum temperature of 40-41 °C are recorded during the first fortnight of June, whereas the minimum temperatures are recorded during the whole month of January.
The average minimum temperature in the southern half is 7°C, whereas in the northern half it is 6°C. Frost is experienced in this region.
The annual rainfall exceeds 900 mm. Out of the four rainy season months, the rainfall in two months exceeds 300 mm, one month receives between 100 & 200 and one month between 50 & 100 mm.
Twelve weeks of this period (June to September) are termed as wet, one week humid, one inter-humid while three weeks are arid to dry, which is a real moisture stress period during the kharif season. From October to May, none of the months receives more than 50 mm of rainfall.

Cropping Pattern:

Maize and paddy are the principal crops in kharif season. Groundnut is important crop in some areas of the region. Sugarcane occupies sizeable area surrounding Morinda sugar factory. In rabi season, wheat is the most important crop all over the region.
Mango is the main fruit tree over a large part of the area. Litchi is important in Pathankot area. Besides Mango, guava is the main fruit tree in Ropar area.

Districts fall under Sub-Mountain Undulating Region : Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur

2. Undulating Plain Region :

This narrow and traditional region runs parallel to the sub-mountain undulating region and is 15-30 kilometers in width. This region covers about 4600 sq. kilometres of land which represents about 9% area of Punjab.

Climate :

Temperatures are more or less similar to the first region. The annual amount of rainfall in the region is 800 to 900 mm.
The pattern of distribution of rainfall is also very close to the adjoining eastern region. The only difference is that there is no month when the amount of rainfall exceeds 300 mm.
During the period June to September, thirteen weeks can be termed as humid to wet, one week inter-humid and three weeks arid to dry.

Cropping Pattern :

Paddy is the dominant crop over a large part of the region. Maize is next in importance. Sugarcane occupies sizeable area in development blocks surrounding Batala and Nawanshahar sugar factories. Wheat is the principal crop in rabi season in all the blocks. Oilseeds are important in few blocks.
Mango is an important crop in the large part of the area. Litchi, citrus and guava are grown in some areas.

Districts fall under Undulating Plain Region : Nawanshahar, Ropar, Mohali

3. Central Plain Region :

This region, 70-80 kilometers in width, cuts through the state from north-west to south¬east. The region covers 18000 sq. kilometers which represents about 36% of the total area of Punjab.

Climate:

The mean maximum temperature recorded during the first fortnight of June is about 42°C in the southern half and 41°C in the northern half, whereas the mean minimum temperature recorded during the month of January varies from 7°C in the southern parts to 4°C in the northern parts of the region.
The mean annual rainfall varies from 800 mm in the east to about 500 mm towards the western limits. In the southern half, three months of the rainy season receive a rainfall between 200 to 300 mm and one month between 50 to 100 mm. In the northern half, two months receive a rainfall between 200 to 300 mm and in one month the rainfall is less than 50 mm.
In the rainy season (June to September), in the southern half, twelve weeks can be classified as humid to wet, two weeks intermediate dry to intermediate humid, whereas three weeks are arid to dry.

Cropping Pattern :

Wheat and paddy are the principal crops over a large part of the region. In addition to this, maize, groundnut and desi cotton occupy sizeable areas in Ludhiana and Sangrur districts. Around Phagwara and Dhuri sugar factories, sugarcane crop occupies sizeable area.
In rabi season, wheat is the dominant crop in the region. In addition, gram and barley occupy an important place in the cropping pattern of Sangrur district.
Pear (Pather Nakh) followed by guava are important fruit trees in some areas of Amritsar district. Grapes are grown in some localities in all the districts.

Districts fall under Central Plain Region : Amritsar, Taran Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Patiala

4. Western Plain Region :

This region lies between the central flat plain on the east and the plain with sand dunes in the extreme west. It covers about 9500 sq. kilometers representing nearly 19% area of the state.
During the monsoon period (June to September), eight weeks are classified as humid to wet, two weeks inter-dry to inter-humid, and seven weeks are arid to dry. These weekly index values indicate that the duration of moisture stress period for majority of the kharif crops is one month more as compared with the sub-mountain region of the state.

Cropping Pattern :

Paddy is an important crop in the development blocks of Ferozepur district and Patti tehsil of Amritsar district. In all the remaining blocks of this region, American cotton is the dominant crop along with bajra. American cotton is also grown in Bhikhiwind, Valtoha and Patti blocks.
During rabi season, wheat is the principal crop. Oilseeds are grown in patti tehsil and some blocks of Bathinda district. Gram and Barley also occupy important place in several blocks.

Districts fall under Western Plain Region : Fazilka, Ferozepur, Faridkot

5. Western Region:

This region lies in the extreme south-west covering nearly 10,000 sq. kilometers representing nearly 20% area of Punjab.

Climate:

The annual amount of rainfall is less than 200 mm. In none of the months, even during the rainy season the rainfall exceeds 100 mm. In two months, it ranges between 50 to 100 mm while in none of the other 10 months, it exceeds 50mm.
During the rainy season in the eastern parts, six weeks can be defined as humid to wet, however, in the extreme western parts only the last week of July can be termed as humid and out of the seventeen weeks of the rainy season, twelve weeks can be termed as arid to dry.
Thus, except for two to three weeks in late July and early August, moisture availability in the region is always deficient for majority of the crops during the kharif season.

Cropping Pattern :

American cotton is the dominant crop in Mukatsar, Malaut, Kot Bhai and Lambi blocks of Faridkot district, Fazilka and Abohar blocks of Ferozepur and areas of Bathinda district falling in this region. Bajra is the next important crop. Paddy is emerging as an important kharif crop in areas like Guru Har Sahai, Jalalabad and Fazilka blocks which are experiencing high water tables.
In rabi season, wheat is the principal crop. Gram, rabi oilseeds and barley are also important crops of this area. Among fruit trees, Malta is important in some blocks.

Districts fall under Western Region : Muktsar,Bathinda, Barnala, Moga, Mansa

6. Flood Plain Region (Bet) :

This region has four separate components – the Ghaggar, the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi flood plains. The flood plains are locally known as bet. Area covered by the flood plains is about 3500 sq. kilometers, which is about 7% of the total area of Punjab.

Climate :

Since the flood plains transversally cut across the state in an east-west cross-section, the region is not homogeneous in terms of climate. The climate of the different segments of the flood plains corresponds to the surrounding agroclimatic regions.

Cropping Pattern :