Agriculture Flashcards
Intensive Subsistence Farming
It is practiced in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production. Due to the law of inheritance, the size of landholdings have decreased thus there is enormous pressure on agricultural land
Primitive Subsistence Farming
Practiced on small patches of land
Primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks are used
Family/community labour is employed
It depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of soil and suitability of other environmental conditions
Land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs
Eg; slash and burn
Slash and burn
Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. This type of shifting allows nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes.
Commercial farming
high doses of modern inputs are used
eg; HYV seeds, fertilisers, insecticides etc
The degree of commercialisation of a crop depends from one region to another. Eg; rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha it is a subsistence crop.
Plantation is a type of commercial farming wherein a single crop is grown on a large area. The plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry. Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant labourers. Tea in Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states. Since the production is mainly for market, a well-developed network of transport and communication connecting the plantation areas, processing industries and markets plays an important role in the development of plantations.
Rice
It is the staple food crop
India is the second largest producer of rice
It is a kharif crop
It requires high temperature (above 25°C ) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100cm.
In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation
Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions.
Development of dense network of canal irrigation and tubewells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.
Wheat
This rabi crop requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly-distributed over the growing season. There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country - the Ganga-Satluj plains in the north-west and black soil region of the Deccan.
The major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
Millets
Jowar bajra and ragi. Are the important minutes grown in India though they are known as coarse grains they have a very high nutritional value.
JOWAR:
It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation.
Major Jowar producing States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
BAJRA:
Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil.
Major Bajra producing States are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.
RAGI:
it is rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage.
It is a crop of dry regions and grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.
Major ragi producing states are: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
Maize
It is a crop which is used both as food and fodder.
It is a kharif crop which requires temperature between 21°C to 27°C
grows well in old alluvial soil.
In some states like Bihar maize is grown in rabi season also.
Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Pulses
India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world.
These are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet.
Major pulses that are grown in India are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram. Pulses need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions.
Being leguminous crops, all these crops except arhar help in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.
Therefore, these are mostly grown in rotation with other crops.
Major pulse producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
Rubber
It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas.
It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm and temperature above 25°C.
Rubber is an important industrial raw material. It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya.
Jute
It is known as the golden fibre.
Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year.
High temperature is required during the time of growth.
West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya are the major jute producing states.
It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts.
Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly the nylon.
Cotton
Cotton is one of the main raw materials for cotton textile industry.
Cotton grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau.
It requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sun-shine for its growth.
It is a kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature.
Major cotton-producin tates are-Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Fibre crops (mainly abt silk here)
Cotton, jute, hemp and natural silk are the four major fibre crops grown in India.
Silk is obtained from cocoons of the silkworms fed on green leaves specially mulberry. Rearing of silk worms for the production of silk fibre is known as sericulture.
Sugarcane
It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.
It grows well in hot and humid climate with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and an annual rainfall between 75cm and 100cm.
Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall.
It can be grown on a variety of soils and needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
It is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggary), khandsari and molasses.
The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
Oilseeds
Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.
Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums. However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.
Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Gujarat was the largest producer of groundnut followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Linseed and mustard are rabi crops. Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India.
Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop.
