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Fodder Crops · Fodder

Growing fodder oats

Avena sativa · also called jaiOats grown for green fodder, cut once or several times through the cool season and fed fresh, as silage or as hay. A rabi fodder of the plains and a cool-season fodder in the hills.

North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A green oat crop at the edge of a field, with young panicles on upright stems
Photo: W.carter · CC0

At a glance

Fodder oats in the North-west plains

  • Season

    Rabi. The second most important winter fodder after berseem.2

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 100 to 140 days from sowing to the last cut (AI suggestion).

    No published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Sow

    Second to last week of October2

    Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  • First harvest

    65 to 70 days after sowing2

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Too late this season

The window here was Second to last week of October. The next one opens in November.

Sowing now in:Sub-tropical foothillsGangetic plainsNorth-east hills and valleysArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateauSouth interior
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
  • Not suited here
North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraNot suited here
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
North-west plainsSecond to last week of OctoberSecond half of November, for a seed cropLate December to early March
Temperate HimalayaLate September to OctoberLate March to April, spring cropLate April to early June
Cold desertLate April to MayAugust to early September
Sub-tropical foothillsMid-October to the first week of NovemberLate December to March
Gangetic plainsLate October to NovemberJanuary to early March
North-east hills and valleysLate October to NovemberJanuary to March
Arid westLate October to early NovemberJanuary to early March
Central plateauLate October to early NovemberJanuary to early March
Deccan plateauOctober to NovemberLate December to February
South interiorLate October to NovemberJanuary to February
West coastNot suited here
East coastNot suited here

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure (FYM)4

    15 t per hectare · Spread and work into the soil while preparing the field. · Field preparation, 20 to 30 days before sowing

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 7 to 10

    Seeds come up1,2,4,5Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 65 to 70

    First picking2

    Single-cut varieties once; multicut varieties twice.

  5. Day 100 to 140

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Three to four irrigations, counting the one before sowing, are enough.2

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2,4

    6 to 7

    Grows on most soils except waterlogged, alkaline or strongly saline land. Loam and clay loam suit it in Jammu; the national guide favours well-drained sandy loam and loam.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun in open fields.

  • Temperature1,2,4Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    Grows best at 7 to 24 °C

    Takes light frost.

    Monthly temperatures for the North-west plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering2

Three to four irrigations, counting the one before sowing, are enough.

Weeding2

Hoeing between rows is usually not needed, but pull weeds early if they come up.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparation, 20 to 30 days before sowingFarmyard manure (FYM)15 t per hectareSpread and work into the soil while preparing the field.

Sources4

Varieties and yield

Typical range4

40 to 45 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here2

  • OL 17

    Single cut, irrigated areas, tall and leafy.

  • OL 15

    Single cut, irrigated areas.

  • OL 14

    Multicut, irrigated areas.

  • OL 16

    Dual purpose: one fodder cut at 65 to 70 days, then grain.

  • Kent

    Older variety for one or two cuts.

Good neighbours2,4

Grows well with

Pests and diseases2

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Oat aphid

    Signs

    Appears from January to March and sucks sap, lowering fodder quality.

    What to do

    • Ladybird beetles, hoverflies and heavy rain keep it in check.
    • Do not spray chemicals on fodder; they harm the animals and kill the aphid's enemies.

  • Disease

    Loose smut

    Signs

    Single flowers in the panicle turn into masses of spores.

    What to do

    • Sow clean seed from a healthy crop.

  • Disease

    Covered smut

    Signs

    Grains are replaced by black spore masses that stay closed in the spikelets until harvest.

    What to do

    • Pull out and destroy smutted heads.
    • Sow clean seed from a healthy crop.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

For seed, sow in the second half of November at 15 kg an acre in rows 30 cm apart. A crop sown before 15 November can give one fodder cut at 65 to 70 days and then be left for seed.

When the seed is ready

Harvest when the panicles turn straw yellow and the grain is hard (AI suggestion).

Dry the seed well and store it in clean, closed bags away from damp and pests (AI suggestion). Pull out and destroy any smutted heads in the seed crop.

After the last picking4

Oats fit fodder rotations: sorghum with cowpea in kharif, then oats; or maize with cowpea, then oats, then maize with cowpea again.

Stubble left after the last cut can be grazed or ploughed in before the next crop (AI suggestion).

Rotation

Oats follow sorghum or maize grown with cowpea in kharif, or come straight after rice.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Package of Practices for Rabi Crops 2020: OatsDirectorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  2. 2Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab, Rabi 2025-26: OatsPunjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  3. 4Oats (Avena sativa): a potential winter fodder crop for better livestock production (Indian Farming 75(09), 2025)ICAR (Indian Farming); authors at ICAR-IGFRI, JhansiRead the source

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