Looking After Crops

Lots of different crops are grown on the farm but the four main groups grown on British farms are:

Click on each of the four groups above to discover details of the crops and the way we farm them.

Pulses

The final group of crops are pulses.

Pulses are varieties of plants that are annual. They produce their own nitrogen and yield between one and twelve seeds within a pod. The best known pulses are peas and beans which can be used for both animal and human foods. As leguminous (nitrogen fixing) plants soya, oilseed rape and clover could be classed as a pulse but due to them being use mainly for other purposes (oil extraction etc) they are not. Pulses are used extensively by vegetarians due to their high protein levels. Compared to wheat they have twice as much protein and to rice three times as much. India and Pakistan grow the most pulses in the world and consume more than anyone else as well. The other main producers are Canada and Australia.

There are many other crops grown on farms more often on a smaller scale. They include many different types of vegetables, plants used for medicine, plants specifically for building, plants to improve wildlife habitat, plants for fuel and many others.