Agriculture

• Primitive Subsistence farming:

  • Practiced on small patches of land with primitive tools like hoe, dao, and digging sticks
  • Depends on monsoon, natural soil fertility, and environmental conditions for crop growth
  • 'Slash and burn' agriculture where farmers clear land, grow crops until soil fertility decreases, then shift to a new patch
  • Shifting allows soil fertility to replenish naturally
  • Low land productivity as no fertilizers or modern inputs are used
  • Still practiced in pockets of India known by different names in different regions
• Intensive Subsistence Farming:

  • Practiced in areas with high population pressure on land
  • Labor-intensive farming using biochemical inputs and irrigation for higher production
  • Division of land among generations has led to uneconomical land-holding sizes
  • Farmers maximize output from limited land due to lack of alternative livelihoods, leading to pressure on agricultural land
• Commercial Farming:

  • Involves higher doses of modern inputs like HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides for higher productivity
  • Degree of commercialization varies by region
  • Example: rice is commercial in Haryana and Punjab but subsistence in Odisha
• Plantation Farming:

  • Commercial farming with a single crop grown on a large area like tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, or banana
  • Capital-intensive inputs used with migrant laborers
  • Interface of agriculture and industry as produce is raw material for industries
  • Well-developed transport and communication network needed
  • Examples: tea in Assam and North Bengal, coffee in Karnataka
• Rice:

  • Staple food crop in India, second largest producer in the world
  • Kharif crop requiring high temperature, humidity, and rainfall
  • Grown in plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas, and deltaic regions
  • Canal irrigation and tube wells enable cultivation in areas with less rainfall
• Wheat:

  • Second most important cereal crop in north and north-western India
  • Rabi crop needing cool growing season and bright sunshine at ripening
  • Requires 50-75 cm annual rainfall, grown in Ganga-Satluj plains and Deccan black soil region
  • Major producing states: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, parts of Madhya Pradesh
• Millets:

  • Jowar, bajra, and ragi are important millets in India with high nutritional value
  • Jowar: rain-fed crop in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
  • Bajra: grows well on sandy soils, major producing states: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana
  • Ragi: dry regions crop, major producing states: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh
• Maize:

  • Kharif crop used for food and fodder
  • Requires 21-27°C temperature, grows well in old alluvial soil
  • Major producing states: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
• Pulses:

  • Major source of protein in vegetarian diet, grown in rotation with other crops
  • Major pulses in India: tur, urad, moong, masur, peas, gram
  • Major producing states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka
• Sugarcane:

  • Tropical and subtropical crop needing hot, humid climate and 75-100cm annual rainfall
  • Grown in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana
  • Second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil
• Oilseeds:

  • Cover 12% of total cropped area in India, main oilseeds: groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum, soybean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed, sunflower
  • Groundnut major kharif crop, India second largest producer after China
  • Linseed and mustard are rabi crops, sesamum kharif in north and rabi in south
  • Castor seed grown as rabi and kharif crop
• Tea and Coffee:

  • Tea: plantation agriculture, grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates with warm, moist climate
  • Major producing states: Assam, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
  • Coffee: known for good quality, Arabica variety grown in Nilgiri, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
• Horticulture Crops:

  • India second largest producer of fruits and vegetables after China
  • Famous regions for fruits: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
  • Examples: Mangoes, Oranges, Bananas, Litchi, Guava
• Rubber:

  • Equatorial crop, but can also grow in tropical and sub-tropical areas
  • Requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm and temperature above 25°C
  • Mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Garo hills of Meghalaya
• Cotton:

  • Believed to be the original home of the cotton plant
  • Second largest producer of cotton after China in 2017
  • Kharif crop requiring 6 to 8 months to mature, grows well in drier parts of black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau
  • Requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days, and bright sunshine for growth
  • Major cotton-producing states include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh
• Jute:

  • Known as the golden fibre
  • Grows well on well-drained fertile soils in flood plains with high temperature during growth
  • Major jute producing states are West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Meghalaya
  • Used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets, and other artefacts