NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography Ch 5 Primary Activities

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

(i) Which one of the following is not a plantation crop?

(a) Coffee

(b) Sugarcane

(d) Rubber

► (c) Wheat

(ii) In which one of the following countries co-operative farming was the most successful experiment?

(a) Russia

(b) Denmark

(d) The Netherlands

► (b) Denmark

(iii) Growing of flowers is called:

(a) Truck farming

(b) Factory farming

(d) Floriculture

► (d) Floriculture

(iv) Which one of the following types of cultivation was developed by European colonists?

(a) Kolkoz

(b) Viticulture

(d) Plantation

► (d) Plantation

(v) In which one of the following regions is extensive commercial grain cultivationnot practised?

(a) American Canadian prairies

(b) European Steppes

(d) Amazon Basin

► (d) Amazon Basin

(vi) In which of the following types of agriculture is the farming of citrus fruit very important?

(a) Market gardening

(b) Plantation agriculture

(d) Co-operative farming

► (c) Mediterranean agriculture

(vii) Which one type of agriculture amongst the following is also called ‘slash and burn agriculture’?

(a) Extensive subsistence agriculture

(b) Primitive subsistence agriculture

(d) Mixed farming

► (b) Primitive subsistence agriculture

(viii) Which one of the following does not follow monoculture?

(a) Dairy farming

(b) Mixed farming

(d) Commercial grain farming

► (b) Mixed farming

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Future of shifting cultivation is bleak. Discuss.

Answer

One of the major problems of shifting cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes less and less due to loss of fertility in different parcels. Therefore, Future of shifting cultivation is bleak.

(ii) Market gardening is practised near urban areas. Why?

Answer

Market gardening is specialised in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. It is practised near urban areas because farms are small and are

located where there are good transportation links with the urban centre where high income

group of consumers is located.

(iii) Large scale dairy farming is the result of the development of transportation and refrigeration.

Answer

Dairy products require quick and suitable transportation as these items are perishable. The development of transportation and refrigeration have increased the duration of storage of various dairy products.

3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.

(i) Differentiate between Nomadic Herding and Commercial Livestock Rearing.

Answer

Nomadic Herding	Commercial Livestock Rearing
Nomadic herding is a primitive subsistence activity.	Commercial livestock rearing is more organised and capital intensive.
Herders move from one place to another along with their livestock, depending on the amount and quality of pastures and water.	Commercial livestock ranching is essentially associated with western cultures and is practised on permanent ranches.
Each nomadic community occupies a well-identified territory as a matter of tradition.	These ranches cover large areas and are divided into a number of parcels, which are fenced to regulate the grazing
Herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport.	Products such as meat, wool, hides and skin are processed and packed scientifically and exported to different world markets.
A wide variety of animals is kept in different regions.	The number of animals in a pasture is kept according to the carrying capacity of the pasture

(ii) Discuss the important characteristic features of plantation agriculture. Name a few important plantation crops from different countries.

Answer

Plantation agriculture as mentioned above was introduced by the Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics.

The important characteristics features of plantation agriculture are:

• Large estates or plantations

• Large capital investment

• Managerial and technical support

• Scientific methods of cultivation

• Single crop specialisation

• Cheap labour

• A good system of transportation which links the estates to the factories and markets for the export of the products.

Few important plantation crops from different countries are:

• Tea - India and Sri Lanka,

• Rubber - Malaysia

• Sugarcane and banana plantations - West Indies.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.

List the areas where gathering is practiced.

Answer:

Gathering is practiced in regions with harsh climatic conditions.
Generally primitive societies who extract plant and animal products to satisfy their need for food, shelter and clothing, practise it.

It is practised in High latitude zones of Northern Canada, Northern Eurasia and Southern Chile, Low latitude zones of Amazon basin, Tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia, interior parts of South East Asia.

Question 2.

List different animals kept in different regions as far as nomadic herding is concerned.

Answer:

A wide variety of animals is kept in different regions. In tropical Africa, cattle are the most important livestock, while in Sahara and Asiatic deserts, sheep, goats and camel are reared. In the mountainous areas of Tibet and Andes, yak and llamas and in the Arctic and sub Arctic areas, reindeer are the most important animals.

Question 3.

Which regions are associated with pastoral nomadism?

Answer:

Pastoral nomadism is associated with three important regions. The core region extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into Mongolia and Central China. The second region extends over the tundra region of Eurasia. In the southern hemisphere there are small areas in South-west Africa and on the island of Madagascar.

Question 4.

What is transhumance?

Answer:

Pastoral nomadism is undertaken either over vast horizontal distances or vertically from one elevation to another in the mountainous regions. The process of migration from plain areas to pastures on mountains during summers and again from mountain pastures to plain areas during winters is known as transhumance. In mountain regions, such as Himalayas, Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas migrate from plains to the mountains in summers and to the plains from the high altitude pastures in winters. Similarly, in the tundra regions, the nomadic herders move from south to north in summers and from north to south in winters.

Question 5.

What is intensive subsistence agriculture? What are its types?

Answer:

Intensive subsistence agriculture is practiced in the poorer regions of the world, where farmers grow crops for family consumption. Very little is left as surplus for market. There are two types of

Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation: – It is characterized by dominance of the rice crop. Land holdings are veiy small due to the high density of population. Farmers work with the help of family labour leading to intensive use of land. Use of machinery is limited and most of the agricultural operations are done by manual labour. Farm yard manure is used to maintain the fertility of the soil. In this type of agriculture, the yield per unit area is high but per labour productivity is low.
Intensive subsidence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy: Due to the difference in relief, climate, soil and some of the other geographical factors, it is not practical to grow paddy in many parts of monsoon Asia. Wheat, soyabean, barley and sorghum are grown in northern China, Manchuria, NorthKorea and North Japan. In India wheat is grown in western parts of the Indo- Gangetic plains and millets are grown in diy parts of western and southern India. Most of the characteristics of this type of agriculture are similar to those dominated by wet paddy except that irrigation is often used.

Question 6.

Write a note on Mediterranean agriculture from the point of view of its importance, areas and crops grown.

Answer:

Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialized commercial agriculture.
It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia to Atlantic coast, southern California, central Chile, south western parts of South Africa and south and south western parts of Australia.
It is an important supplier of citrus fruits. »Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region.
Best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavors are produced from high quality grapes in various countries of this region. The inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants.
This region also produces olives and figs.
The advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is that more valuable crops such as fruits and vegetables are grown in winters when there is great demand in European and North American markets.

Question 7.

List the different uses of minerals in ancient time.

Answer:

The discovery of minerals in the history of human development, is reflected in many stages in terms of copper age, bronze age and iron age. The use of minerals in ancient times was largely confined to the making of tools, utensils and weapons. The actual development of mining began with the industrial revolution and its importance is continuously increasing.

Question 8.

Describe the factors that affect mining activities.

Answer:

The profitability of mining operations depends on two main factors:

Physical factors include the size, grade and the mode of occurrence of the deposits.
Economic factors such as the demand for the mineral, technology available and used, capital to develop infrastructure and the labour and transport costs.

Question 9.

Write a short note on commercial livestock rearing.

Answer:

Commercial livestock rearing is organized and capital intensive. The ranches on which it is practised are permanent and cover large area, which are further divided into fenced parcels to regulate grazing. When one parcel is grazed, the animals are shifted to another parcel and the number of animals in a parcel are kept according to the carrying capacity of the parcel. Only one type of animal (like sheep, cattle, goat and horses) is reared. Their products like milk, wool and hide are processed and packed scientifically, and then exported to world markets. The main emphasis is here on breeding, health care, disease control and genetic improvement of the animal. This is totally market and profit oriented. The developed countries like New Zealand, Australia, USA practise commercial livestock rearing.

Question 10.

Describe four different groups/types of economic activities.

Answer:

Economic activities are broadly grouped as Primary activities, Secondary activities, Tertiary activities and Quaternary activities.

Primary Activities: It refers to extraction/ utilisation of raw materials from the earth’s surface. These include hunting, gathering, pastoralism, fishing, forestry, mining and agriculture.
Secondary Activities: It includes industries that transform raw materials into finished foods having higher value. For example, manufacturing cotton textiles from raw cotton, and iron and steel from iron ore.
Tertiary Activities: It includes all kinds of services provided for the people such as education, health, trade and transport.
Quaternary Activities: It represents special kind of services, which is related to highly intellectual activities. For example, research and development service, information generation, information processing and transmission.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.

“There is low yield per acre but high yield per person.” In which type of agriculture is this evident? Why? Where is this type of agriculture practised?

Answer:

This feature is characteristic of extensive commercial grain cultivation. Since it is extensive that is on a very large scale, so use of mechanical devices, irrigation, sprinklers, tractors, low flying aircrafts is common.

In the areas practising commercial grain cultivation, the areas of production are high, as the farming is intensive, but due to the low population and high degree of mechanization, the number of people employed in these farms is less. Due to high level of scientific and technological skills employed in the production activities, the total yield is high, which results in very high per person yield, but due to extensive nature of farming and low pressure per unit area of land, yield per acre is low.

These are found in the developed countries of the world like in the Eurasian Steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.

Question 2.

What is the status of mining in the developed and developing economies of the world?

Answer:

Mining is primarily extraction of minerals from surface or beneath the surface of the earth’s crust for further processing in industrial and other uses. It involves more of manual labour and is hazardous, so the developed economies are retreating from mining, processing and refining stages of production due to high labour costs, while the developing countries with large labour force and striving for higher standard of living are becoming more important. Several countries of Africa and few of south America and Asia have over fifty per cent of the earnings from minerals alone.

Question 3.

Dairy farming is a modern occupation. Explain.

Answer:

It is absolutely right to say that dairy farming is a modern occupation. It is a type of agriculture in which major emphasis is on breeding and rearing milch cattle. Its main features are given below which can prove that it is a modem occupation:

It is highly capital intensive. Large investments are made on animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milching machines.
Special emphasis is laid on cattle-breeding, health care and veterinary services.
It is also highly-labour intensive as it involves painstaking care in feeding and milching.
There is no off-season during the year.
It is practised mainly near urban and industrial market.
Dairy farming development depends on transportation, refrigeration, pasteurisation and other preservation processes.

Question 4.