Agriculture Flashcards
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What is agriculture?
Agriculture is the cultivation of soil in order to grow crops and rear livestock.
Importance of Agriculture.
1.It provides food for our expanding population and fodder for our livestock.
2.It generates working capital for non-agricultural development, supplies raw material for agro based industries like textile, food processing, vanaspati etc.
3.It provides large part of the market for industrial goods, especially farm inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, implements, machinery, etc.
4.It accounts for substantial portion of India’s exports.
5.Provides employment to the large population.
What is shifting agriculture? Where and for what is it used?
- Primitive method
- Patch of forest cleared by cutting trees and burning stumpes, then using ash as manure
- Seeds are scattered and sown
- Patch of Land abandoned after 2 years when soil fertility is lost and new patch is found
It is used for buckwheat, dry paddy, maize, millets and vegetables. 5. Practised in hilly regions of Northeast India and in the Himalayan region. Also called Jhum
SHifting agriculture is a menace to the environment. GR.
It is destroying the virgin forest cover. It accelerates soil erosion and causes floods and silting in the lower reaches of the riverine flood plain.
How is subsistence farming done?
Farming for sustaining the farmer’s own family. Majority of farmers practice this type of farming.
1.Land holdings are small and scattered.
2.The farmers use traditional methods of agriculture with primitive tools. No fertilisers or high yielding varieties of seeds are used.
3.No facilities like electricity or irrigation is available to them so the output is not very high and consumed within the family. There is never surplus for more.
Where is dry farming practiced?
- Practised in areas where facilities for irrigation are lacking and crops grown can withstand dry conditions.
- Fields are repeatedly ploughed before and during the rains to preserve soil moisture.
- Farmers practice regular weeding along with construction of dykes and wells around fields.
- Area under cultivation is sown only once during the year.
- Practised in Deccan and western Rajasthan.
- Short maturing and drought resistant crops like pulses and millets like jowar bajra and ragi are grown.
What is commercial farming and where is it popular?
This system of agriculture involves cultivation of crops for sale in the market. These crops are called cash crops. They include sugarcane, tobacco, fibre crop and oilseeds. This type of farming has shown good results in Punjab, Haryana, Western UP, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Features of an intensive farming farmland.
- Small Farm size, usually in densely populated areas
- Multiple crops are cultivated on the same land. Main crops - Wheat and rice
- Labour intensive work and fertilisers, manure and good quality seeds are used for high yield
Where is extensive farming used? What are its characteristics?
- Terai region and sub-himalayas and parts of north-west India
- Large farm areas
- 1/2 crops grown over large area using machines and labour per area is low
- Highly capital intensive
Why is plantation farming also called monoculture?
- One type of crop is grown over a large area for commercial purposes. It is carried on in the hills of South India and north east India.
What is mixed farming? Why is it practised?
Cultivation of crops and raising of animals simultaneously is called mixed farming.
- Two or more crops are grown together. They may be one of short maturing type and one of the long maturing type. Crop rotation is practised.
- Subsidiary occupation like fruit and vegetable gardening or poultry farming
may also be practised. - This ensures steady income for the farmers.
What are some environmental problems of agriculture?
- unpredictablilty of rainfall
- Lack of irrigation facilities
- Soil erosion
- Faulty cultivation
- Bad methods of cultivation
- Reduction in net sown area
What is globalisation?
Globalisation means integrating the economy of a country with the world economy. Now foreign products including agricultural products can easily be imported to India and India can export its products to other countries. Consequently the farmers in India are facing a big challenge from international competition.
Main crops of rabi.
Sown in early nov and harvested in march - wheat, barley, oats, gram, linseed, mustard.
Main crops of kharif season and when are they harvested.
Rice, Maize, sugarcane, Jowar, bajra, cotton, jute, pulses etc. They are sown in June - arrival of rain and harvested in early November.
