Chapter - 4
" Agriculture "
❇️ ️ Agriculture :-
🔹Agriculture is the primary activity which produces most of the food grains for us. Apart from food grains, it also produces raw material for various industries. In addition, some products like tea, coffee, spices, etc., are also exported.
❇️️ Agricultural Process :-
- plowing (plowing the field, tilling the soil)
- sowing (sowing seeds)
- weeding
- Irrigation
- manure manure or fertilizer)
- Insecticide (spraying insecticide)
- Harvesting (cutting when the crop is ripe)
- Dalai / Depth (separating seeds from earrings)
❇️️ Agricultural System :-
- subsistence agriculture
- intensive farming
- commercial agriculture
- plantation agriculture
❇️️ Early subsistence agriculture :-
🔹An agricultural system in which a farmer produces to feed his family. Traditional agricultural implements and methods are used in this.
❇️️ Shearing Combustion System / Shifting Agriculture :-
🔹Farmers clean a piece of forest land, that is, burn trees by cutting trees, cultivate for the livelihood of the family, and after the fertility of that land is reduced, clean another piece of land and cultivate it.
❇️️ Intensive subsistence agriculture :-
🔹In this method, more capital investment, modern equipment, pesticides, fertilizers etc. are used for the purpose of producing more.
❇️️ Commercial Agriculture :-
🔹The main characteristics of this type of agriculture are high yields with the use of modern inputs such as high yielding seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
🔹The level of commercialization of agriculture is different in different regions. For example in Haryana and Punjab rice is a commercial crop but in Odisha it is a subsistence crop.
❇️️ Planting Agriculture :-
🔹It is a type of commercial agriculture in which a single crop is sown over a wide area. In which excessive capital investment and labor are used. The main plantation crops in India are tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana etc.
❇️ Difference between intensive subsistence farming and commercial farming :-
| primary subsistence agriculture | commercial agriculture |
|---|---|
| Small land holdings and limited land. | Large land holding. |
| Traditional techniques and tools Examples :- Spade, Dao, Digging stick. | Modern technology and equipment. |
| Production for the local market. | production for export. |
| Two or three crops in a year. | Focus on only one crop. |
| Mainly livelihood and production of food crops, example:- Paddy, Wheat | Mainly concern for business. Example :- sugarcane tea,coffee |
❇️️ Agricultural Seasons :-
🔹There are three cropping seasons in India, which are as follows:-
- Rabi
- Kharif
- Zayed
❇️️ Rabi crops :-
🔹Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to mid-December and are harvested in summer between April and June. Wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard are the main rabi crops.
❇️️ Kharif Crops :-
🔹Kharif crops are sown in June-July with the onset of monsoon in different regions of the country and are harvested in September-October.
🔹The main crops of Kharif season are rice, maize, jowar, bajra, tur, moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean.
❇️️ Zayed :-
🔹The crop sown in the summer season between the Rabi and Kharif crop seasons is called Zaid. Watermelons, melons, cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops are mainly cultivated in the Zayed season. It takes about a year for the sugarcane crop to become ready.
❇️ Main crops of agriculture :-
🔹Food crops :- Wheat, Rice, Maize, Pulses, Oilseeds
🔹Cash Crops :- Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Jute, Cotton
🔹Horticultural crops :- Fruits, flowers, vegetables
❇️ Main crops in India :-
🔹Rice, wheat, coarse cereals, pulses (pulses), tea, coffee, sugarcane, oilseeds, cotton, jute etc. crops are mainly grown in India.
❇️ Main Crops
❇️️ Rice :-
🔹Rice is the main crop of most of the people of India. Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China.
🔹Climate :- Paddy is a tropical crop and grows well in wet monsoons.
🔹Temperature :- Temperature above 25°C, heavy humidity expected.
🔹Rain :- 100 cm. Above this . It requires heavy rainfall in summer and irrigation in areas with less rainfall.
🔹Cultivated Areas :- Plains, Coastal Region and Delta region of North and North East India. Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan with the help of irrigation.
❇️️ Wheat :-
🔹Wheat is the second most important food crop. It is the main food crop in the north and in the north western part of the country.
🔹Soil Type:- Alluvial soil and Black soil.
🔹Temperature :- Cool weather at the time of growth and strong sunlight at the time of harvesting.
🔹Rain :- 50 to 75 cm. annual rainfall
🔹Cultivated area :- Ganges-Satluj plain in the north-west of the Deccan and the black soil area.
🔹Wheat producing states:- Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan are.
❇️️ Coarse Cereals :-
🔹Jowar, Bajra and Ragi are important coarse cereals grown in India. However, these are known as cereals. But the amount of nutrients in them is very high.
🔹Jowar is the third most important food crop in terms of area and production.
❇️️ Millet :-
🔹Soil Type :- It is grown on sandy and shallow black soil.
🔹Bajra Producing States:- Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana are its main producing states.
❇️️ Ragi :-
🔹Soil Type:- Ragi is a crop of dry regions and it grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.
🔹Ragi Producing States :- The major producing states of Ragi are Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
️❇️ Maize :-
🔹Maize is a crop that is used as both food and fodder. It is a Kharif crop.
🔹Temperature :- Which is grown in 21°C to 27°C temperature.
🔹Soil Type: - Grown well on old alluvial soils.
🔹Area of cultivation :- In some states like Bihar, maize is also grown in Rabi season.
🔹Maize Producing States:- Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the main producing states of maize.
🔹The production of maize has increased with the use of modern technological inputs such as high yielding seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.
❇️️ Pulses :-
🔹India is the largest producer of pulses in the world as well as the largest consumer.
🔹Pulses are the most protein provider in vegetarian food. Tur (tur), urad, moong, lentils, peas and gram are the main pulse crops of India.
🔹Pulses require less moisture and can be grown even under dry conditions. Being leguminous crops, except arhar, all other pulses maintain soil fertility by taking nitrogen from the air. Therefore, these crops are usually sown in rotation of other crops.
🔹Pulses producing states:- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are the main producing states of pulses in India.
Food crops other than food grains
❇️️ Sugarcane :-
🔹India is the second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil.
🔹Climate :- It grows well in hot and humid climate.
🔹Soil Type :- It can be grown well on different types of soils.
🔹Temperature :- The temperature requirement is 21°C to 27°C.
🔹Rainfall :- Annual rainfall between 75 cm and 100 cm.
🔹Major sugarcane producing states are – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu.
❇️️ Oilseeds :-
🔹India is the largest producer of oilseeds. Groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesame, soybean, castor, cottonseed, linseed and sunflower are the main oilseeds of India.
🔹Groundnut production in the world is China (first), India (second) and Canada, first, China, second and India third in the world in rapeseed production.
❇️️ Tea :-
🔹China first and India second in 2020 in tea production in the world.
🔹Climate :- Grows well in tropical and sub-tropical (hot and humid) climates.
🔹Soil Type :- Deep fertile well drained soil rich in humus and organic matter.
🔹Rainfall :- 150 to 300 cm annually. High humidity and applied rainfall should be evenly distributed throughout the year.
🔹Major tea producing states:- Assam and West Bengal.
❇️️ Coffee :-
🔹Like tea, coffee is also grown in plantations. Arabica variety of coffee was first grown in India from Yemen. Initially coffee was grown in Baba Budan hills.
❇️️ Horticultural crops :-
🔹In the year 2017, India was second only to China in the production of fruits and vegetables in the world. India is a producer of both tropical and temperate fruits.
🔹India has a prominent place in the production of peas, cauliflower, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, brinjals and potatoes.
Inedible crops
❇️️ Rubber :-
🔹Rubber is a crop of the equatorial region but is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions under special conditions. Rubber is an important raw material used in industries.
🔹Rain :- 200 cm to it. Requires moist and humid climate with high rainfall and temperatures above 25°C.
🔹Rubber producing states:- It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Garo hills in Meghalaya.
️❇️ Cotton :-
🔹India is considered to be the origin of the cotton plant. Cotton is one of the main raw materials in the cotton textile industry. In cotton production, India ranks second in the world after China (2017).
🔹Soil Type:- Black soil is considered suitable for cotton production in the arid parts of the Deccan plateau.
🔹Temperature :- To grow this crop, high temperature, light rain or irrigation, 210 frost free days and bright sunshine are required.
🔹Wheat Producing States:- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are the main cotton producing states.
🔹It is a Kharif crop and it takes 6 to 8 months to get ready.
❇️️ Jute :-
🔹Jute requires fertile soil of flood plains with good drainage. The main producers of jute are West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Meghalaya.
❇️ Crop Rotation: -
🔹To increase the production capacity of the land, sowing the crops alternately on a piece of land.
❇️️ Consolidation :-
🔹To make economically profitable by merging scattered agricultural holdings or fields together.
❇️️ Green Revolution :-
🔹The use of high-yielding seeds, modern technology, use of good manure/fertilizers in the agricultural sector, the revolutionary increase in the production of some crops, especially wheat, is called Green Revolution.
❇️️ Disadvantages of Green Revolution :-
- Degradation of land due to excessive chemicals.
- Decreased water level due to excessive irrigation.
- Biodiversity is being lost.
- The gap between rich and poor farmers has widened.
❇️️ White Revolution :-
🔹Improving animal breeds (using modern techniques) to increase milk production
❇️ Importance of Agriculture in Indian Economy :-
- India is an agricultural country.
- About two-thirds of the population directly depends on agriculture for their livelihood.
- Agriculture is the main part of the economy of India.
- This is 26% of the GDP.
- It ensures food security for the country and produces many raw materials for industries.
❇️ Features of Indian Agriculture :-
- Farmers own a small piece of land and grow crops mainly for their own consumption.
- Animals play an important role in various types of agricultural activities.
- Farmers mainly depend on monsoon rains.
❇️️ Global impact on Indian agriculture :-
- Indian farmers may be forced to face volatile prices for these products, which fluctuate widely from year to year.
- The effect of trade liberalization on the prices of agricultural products at the international level and domestic level depends on this. What policies do other countries follow?
- Exports of major agricultural commodities have been liberalised.
- A major change took place with the introduction of high yielding varieties of crops.
- With this innovation, investment in infrastructure, credit marketing and expansion of processing facilities came a marked increase in the use of modern inputs.
❇️ Reasons responsible for decreasing food production in India :-
- Reduction in sown area due to competition with non-agricultural uses.
- Decreased fertility due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides.
- Inefficient and improper water management created the problem of waterlogging and salinity.
- Due to excessive ground water exploitation, the ground water level has fallen, thereby increasing the cost of agriculture.
- Inadequate storage capacity and lack of market.8
❇️️ Challenges before farmers in India :-
- Uncertainty of monsoon.
- The vicious cycle of poverty and debt.
- migration to cities.
- Difficulty in access to government facilities and middlemen.
- International Competition.
❇️️ Measures of Agricultural Reforms in India :-
- Use of good irrigation system, organic manure, modern agricultural machinery etc.
- Direct assistance to farmers, direct access to the assistance amount in the bank account.
- Government assistance, cheap loans.
- Access to electricity and water.
- Ease of access to markets.
- Crop insurance to protect against flood, drought, cyclone, fire, pest etc.
- Minimum Support Price, Gramin Bank, Kisan Card etc.
- Agriculture related education, weather related information.
- Organizing national and international agricultural seminars and reaching out to the common farmer.
- Establishment and use of agricultural schools, universities and research centres.
❇️ Institutional reforms made by the government in the interest of farmers :-
- Providing insurance facility for crops.
- To provide credit facility to the farmers by developing cooperative banks.
- To encourage proper fixation of support price of crops.
- Timely dissemination of meteorological information.
- To broadcast programs related to new agricultural techniques, implements, fertilizers etc. on radio and television.
