Shop at deodar-seeds.com 
About this seed
Which jeera is this?
Cuminum cyminum, safed jeera, in a packet of 500 seeds. It belongs to the Apiaceae. Black cumin or kalonji (Nigella sativa, sold separately as our Black Cumin Seeds) is a different plant in the Ranunculaceae, with very black seeds that resemble onion seeds.
Shah jeera is a third plant, Bunium persicum, and the name kala jeera is used for more than one spice, so go by the Latin name when you compare packets.
What 500 seeds weigh
About 2–3 g. That follows from an approximate thousand-seed weight of about 4–6 g, typical of Indian cumin genotypes; we have not weighed this lot.
Germination temperature
Cumin seed germinates best at about 20 °C. In a laboratory test on paper at 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C two Gujarat varieties did best at 20 °C, and germination suffers above 30 °C and below 10 °C. Treat this as a guide for the species, not a result for this lot.
Growth and development are reported at 9–26 °C, so this is a cool-season crop.
Sowing depth and spacing
Sow no deeper than 1.5 cm, in rows 25 cm apart with plants about 10 cm apart in the row.
Soil and drainage
Use well-drained sandy loam to medium-heavy soil; drainage is critical, and the preferred pH range is 6.8–8.3.
Days to harvest
Plan for roughly 100–140 days to maturity. Released Indian varieties mature in 100 days (Gujarat Cumin-2) to 120–140 days (RZ-19); this seed is not a named variety, so the range is a guide, not a promise.
What goes wrong
- Fusarium wilt: tips and leaves droop and the whole plant dies.
- Alternaria blight: small brown spots that turn blackish, favoured by humid, cloudy weather, especially at flowering and seed setting.
- Frost at flowering and early fruit set harms the crop.
Sowing jeera in India
Cumin is grown mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and trials point to November sowing. In a three-season trial at Jagudan, Gujarat, a 5 November sowing in rows 30 cm apart gave the highest seed yield of the four dates and three spacings tested. CZC-94, a variety bred in arid Rajasthan, can be sown up to mid-December without losing yield.
Wilt is the main field risk: reported yield losses reach up to 25% in North Gujarat and up to 60% in Rajasthan.
Also known as
Jeera, Zeera, Zira, Safed jeera, Comino, Cumino, Kreuzkümmel, Komijn, Kammun, Zireh and Kimyon.