A Short Scientific Note on the Horticultural Crops Optimum Planting Dates in Jordan

Document Type : Notes

Authors

1 Zarqa Extension Department, Zarqa Agricultural Directorate, Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture Postal Code: 13110, P.O.Box: 1433, Zarqa, Jordan

2 Extension Scholar of Agribussiness

Abstract

According to statistics of the Statistics Department for 2016 in Jordan government, the total area of ​​vegetables in Jordan accounted to about 50579 hectares including open and protected crop, where most of the crops include tomatoes, squash, eggplant, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, pepper, and faba-beans. The smallest areas were Snake cucumbers, turnips, carrots, parsley, and radish. Due to the climate change conditions and the changing needs of local and global agricultural markets, it has become necessary to provide farmers and rural women with the optimal time to grow crops
.However, plant biologists classify crops by family or by the portion consumed from the crop, making it difficult for agricultural extension agents in the field and academic scholars to classify crop planting dates.The problem becomes even more complicated when agricultural experts, plant physiologists, and crop ecologists engaged in this, where classifications are intertwined and it becomes difficult to find out when to grow crops. However, this issue can be simplified in many ways. In terms of the experience of local farmers and inherited information from their parents, it is easy to set the dates of winter and summer agriculture without addressing the autumn and spring crops so as not to increase complications due to climate change. Especially that global warming caused the disappearance of the features of the autumn and spring seasons with the expansion of time and overlap for the rest of the seasons of both winter and summer.However, it is very important to mention another very important reason and is a major cause of this huge and significant discrepancy in information, it provides protected crops that produce crops at any time and provide them throughout the year. The entry of Arab countries (such as Jordan and Egypt) into the international markets and free trade agreements makes these countries a market for crop consumption and availability at any time among the year.
This scientific note aims at simplifying the classification of planting dates for the common horticultural crops in Jordan according to winter season crops and summer season crops.Table 1 classifies open horticultural crops in Jordan categorized ecologically (winter and summer crops) and physiologically (cool and warm season crops).

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