Class 10th Easy Notes Geography Ch 4 AGRICULTURE

Agriculture

• India is an agricultural country.
• Agriculture is a primary activity in India.
• 2/3rd of its population is engaged in agricultural activities.
• Agriculture sector produce most of the food that we consume.
• Besides food grains it provide raw material for various industries.
• Agricultural products are also exported such as tea, coffee, spices, etc.

Types Of Farming

• Cultivation methods have changed - depending on physical environment, technological know-how and socio-cultural practices. 
• Many farming systems followed in India such as :

1. Primitive subsistence farming
2. Intensive subsistence farming
3. Commercial farming 

Primitive Subsistence Farming :

• This type of farming practiced on small patches of land - with primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labor.
• It depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions.
• It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. 
• Farmers clear a patch of land and produce crops, when the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation.
• It allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes. 
• land productivity is low because the farmer does not use fertilizers or other modern inputs. 
• It is known by different names in different parts of the country or in different parts of the world.
• It is commonly known as “Jhumming”.
• Also known as “shifting cultivation”.
• Slash and burn or Jhumming 
• In India, ‘Bewar’ or ‘Dahiya’ in Madhya Pradesh, 
• ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh, 
• ‘Pama Dabi’ or ‘Koman’ or Bringa’ in Odisha, 
• ‘Kumari’ in Western Ghats, 
• ‘Valre’ or ‘Waltre’ in South-eastern Rajasthan, 
• ‘Khil’ in the Himalayan belt, 
• ‘Kuruwa’ in Jharkhand, 
• ‘Jhumming’ in the North-eastern region.
• ‘Milpa’ in Mexico and Central America, 
• ‘Conuco’ in Venezuela, 
• ‘Roca’ in Brazil, 
• ‘Masole’ in Central Africa, 
• ‘Ladang’ in Indonesia, 
• ‘Ray’ in Vietnam. 

Intensive Subsistence Farming

• It is practiced in areas of high population pressure toward land.
• It is labor intensive farming - high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.
• ‘Right of inheritance’ resulting in the division of land among successive generations has rendered land-holding size uneconomical.
• The farmers still take maximum output from the limited land within the absence of other source of livelihood.
• Thus, there is enormous pressure on agricultural land.

Commercial Farming

• High yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides are used to obtain higher productivity.
• Commercialization of agriculture varies from one region to a different . For instance, rice is a subsistence crop in Odisha but commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab.
• Plantation is also a kind of commercial farming, where one crop is grown on an outsized area.
• Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the assistance of migrant laborers. All the produce is used as staple in respective industries.
• In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc., are valuable plantation crops.

Cropping Pattern

• Indian physical diversity and plurality of culture can be also seen in agricultural cropping patterns
• Various types of food and fiber crops, vegetables and fruits, spices and condiments, etc. constitute a number of the important crops grown within the country.
• India has three cropping seasons :

1. Rabi
2. Kharif
3. Zaid

Rabi Crops :

• Sown in winters – from October to December
• Harvested in summers – April to June 
• Wheat, barley, peas, gram, and mustard etc.
• Areas – Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K,Uttarakhand, and UP.

Kharif Crops :

• Sown with the onset of monsoon – from April to May 
• Harvested in the beginning of winters – from September to October
• Rice, paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean etc.
• Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Zaid Crops :

• In between the rabi and therefore the Kharif seasons, there's a brief season during the summer months called the Zaid season.
• Some of the crops produced during ‘Zaid season' are vegetables, watermelon, muskmelon, and fodder crops. 
• Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow.

Major Crops

• A variety of food and non food crops are grown in several parts of the country.
• Crop varies depending upon the variation in soil, climate and cultivation practices.
• Major crops grown in India are rice, wheat, sugarcane, oil seeds, cotton, millets, pulses, tea, coffee, and jute, etc.

Food Crops

Rice :

• It is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in all around India.
• After China, India is the second largest producer of rice in all around the world.
• It is a Kharif crop.
• It requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
• In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the assistance of irrigation.
• It is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas as well as in the deltaic regions.

Wheat :

• This is the second most important cereal crop, and main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country.
• It is a Rabi crop.
• It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall along with, cool growing season, and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
• The major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of MP.

Millets :

• Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets that are mostly grown in India.
• Though, these are called coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value.
• Jowar is the third most vital food crop with reference to area and production.
• It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown within the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation.
• Major Jowar producing States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and MP.
• Bajra grows well in sandy soils as well as in shallow black soil.
• Major Bajra producing States are Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
• Ragi grows well in black, sandy, red, loamy and shallow black soils, and basically this is a crop of dry regions.
• Major Ragi producing states are: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

Maize :

• Maize is used both as food and fodder.
• It is a Kharif crop, but some areas like Bihar it is grown in rabi season also
• It requires temp. between 21°C to 27°C and grows well in old soil .
• Use of modern inputs as HYV seeds, fertilizers and irrigation have contributed to the increasing production of maize.
• Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, UP, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and MP.

Pulses :

• India is the largest consumer as well as the producer of pulses in the world.
• These are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet.
• Major pulses that are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram.
• Pulses are grown in rabi season as well as in Kharif season.
• Pulses need less moisture and also can survive even in dry conditions.
• Being leguminous crops, all pulses except arhar help in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air. Therefore, these are usually grown in rotation with other crops.
• Major pulse producing states are MP, UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka
• Food crops other than grains.

Sugarcane :

• It is a tropical also as a subtropical crop.
• It grows well in hot and humid climate with an annual rainfall between 75cm to 100cm and temperature of 21°C to 27°C.
• Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall.
• It can be grown on a variety of soils and needs manual labor from sowing to harvesting.
• After Brazil, India is the 2nd largest producer of sugarcane in all around the world.
• It is the main source of sugar as well as Gur (jaggery), khandsari and molasses.
• The major sugarcane-producing states are UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.

Oil Seeds :

• India was the second largest producer of groundnut after china.
• Different oil seeds are grown in India, covering approximately 12 per cent of the entire cropped area of the country.
• Main oil-seeds are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesame (til), soybean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.
• Most of those are edible and used as cooking mediums.
• Some of these are used as staple in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.

Tea :

• Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture.
• The tea plants grows well in both tropical and sub-tropical climates endowed with deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus as well as in organic matter.
• Tea is a labor intensive crop. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labor for best results.
• Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are tea-producing states in India.
• In 2014 India was the second largest producer of tea after China.

Coffee :

• In 2014 India produced 3.5 per cent of the world coffee production.
• Indian coffee is thought in the world for its good quality.
• The Arabica variety brought from Yemen to India, is produced in the country.
• Initially, its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills and even today its cultivation is limited to the Nilgiri in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu .

Horticulture Crops :

• In 2014 India was the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China. 
• India is a producer of tropical and temperate fruits.
• Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 
• Oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya), 
• Bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, 
• Litchi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, 
• Pineapples of Meghalaya, 
• Grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra, 
• Apricots, Apples, Pears, and Walnuts of J&K and Himachal Pradesh are in great demand in all around the world.
• India produces for about 13% of the world’s vegetables.
• India is an important producer of pea, tomato, eggplant, cauliflower, onion, cabbage and mainly potato.

Non-Food Crops 

Rubber :

• It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown in both tropical and sub-tropical areas. 
• It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of +200 cm. and temperature +25°C.
• Rubber is an important industrial raw material in India. 
• It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya.
• In 2012–13 India ranked fourth among the world’s natural rubber producers.

Fiber Crops

• Cotton, jute, hemp and natural silk are the four main and major fiber crops grown in India. 
• The silk is obtained from cocoons of the silkworms fed on green leaves specially mulberry. 
• Rearing of silk worms for the production of silk fiber is known as sericulture.

Cotton :

• Cotton is one of the main raw materials for textile industry in India. 
• In 2014 India was second largest producer of cotton after China. 
• It grows well in drier parts of the Deccan plateau.
• It requires black soil, high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sun-shine for its growth. 
• It is a Kharif crop and needs 6-8 months to mature.
• Major cotton-producing states are Maharashtra,  Gujarat, MP, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and UP.

Jute :

• It is known as the golden fiber, that requires high temperature during the time of growth.
• It grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains.
• West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya are the main jute producing states.
• It is utilized in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts.
• Due to its high cost, it's losing market to synthetic fibers and packing materials, particularly the nylon.
• Technological and Institutional Reforms.

Collectivization

• Consolidation of holdings - First Five Year Plan
• Cooperation and abolition of zamindari, etc.
• Green and white revolutions
• In the 1980s and 1990s, a land development programmed (LDP) was initiated,
• Included both institutional and technical reforms.
• Government decides to give crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, to farmers, and also establish Grameen banks, cooperative societies and loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest, etc. to improve this sector.
• Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS).
• minimum support price are announces every year by government, also remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to examine the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.
• Mahatma Gandhi's follower Vinoba Bhave - Shri Ram Chandra Reddy -80 acres of land – Bhoodan or Gramdan.

Agriculture : Role In Economy

• Agriculture sector has been the backbone of the Indian economy.
• But share in GDP declining since 1951.
• Agricultural sector gives employment to 263 million people
• We can develop this sector by following improments :
• Establishment of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),
• Agricultural universities, Horticulture development could be started.
• Veterinary services and animal breeding centers could be established.
• Research and development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast could help a lot.

Food Security

Buffer stock

• Public distribution system ( PDS ).
• Above poverty line known as APL and Below poverty line known as BPL.
• The government announced minimum support price (MSP) to farmers
• Subsidies on agriculture inputs like fertilizers, power and water.
• Impact of Globalization on Agriculture
• Cotton belts - attracted the British - cotton was exported to Manchester and Liverpool.
• The Champaran movement - 1917 in Bihar - Farmers were forced to grow Indigo - unable to grow food grains.
• Genetic engineering helps in developing hybrid variety of seeds.
• Diversifing cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops. Like  flowers, fruits, vegetables, bio-diesel crops, medicinal herbs like jatropha and jojoba need much less irrigation than rice or sugarcane.

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