BHARAT NATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL

CHAPTER-4
AGRICULTURE
NOTES

Meaning:-
Agriculture is a primary activity, which produces most of the food that we consume. Besides
food grains, it also produces raw material for various industries.

Types of Farming
The cultivation methods depend upon the characteristics of the physical environment,
technological know-how and socio-cultural practices. Farming varies from subsistence to
commercial type. In different parts of India, the following farming systems are practiced.

a. Primitive Subsistence Farming

It is a ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other
food crops. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for
cultivation. It is known by different names in different parts of the country. It is known as
jhumming in north-eastern states.
· Land productivity is low in this type of agriculture.
· This type of farming depends on the monsoon.
· This farming is practised in a few parts of India.

b. Intensive Subsistence Farming

· This type of farming is practised in areas of high population pressure on land.
· It is labor-intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used
for higher production.

c. Commercial Farming
This type of farming uses higher doses of modern inputs such as high yielding variety (HYV)
seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides to obtain higher productivity.
Plantation is a type of commercial farming in which a single crop is grown on a large area.
Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant
laborers. All the produce is used as a raw material in industries.
Eg: Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Sugarcane, Banana.

Cropping Pattern
India has three cropping seasons:
1. Rabi
2. Kharif
3. Zaid
 Rabi Kharif Zaid

Sowing Winter from Beginning of the In between the Rabi and

Season October to rainy season the Kharif seasons, there
December between April and is a short season during
May the summer months
known as the Zaid
Harvesting Summer from September-October season (in the months of
Season April to June March to July)

Important Wheat, Barley, Paddy, Maize, Watermelon, Muskmelon,

Crops Peas, Gram Jowar, Bajra, Tur Cucumber,
and Mustard. (Arhar), Vegetables and Fodder
Moong, Urad, crops
Cotton, Jute,
Groundnut and
Soyabean.

Major Crops in India

A variety of food and non-food crops are grown in different parts of India, depending upon the
variations in soil, climate and cultivation practices. Major crops grown in India are:
· Rice
· Wheat
· Millets
· Pulses
· Tea
· Coffee
· Sugarcane
· oil seeds
· Cotton
· Jute

Rice
1. It is a kharif crop.
2. It requires high temperature and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
3. India is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China.
4. It is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic
regions.
Wheat
1. This is a rabi crop.
2. It requires a cool growing season and bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
3. It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing season.
4. The Ganga-Satluj plains in the north-west and black soil region of the Deccan are two main
wheat-growing zones in India.
5. It is the second most important cereal crop and main food crop, in the north and
north-western part of India.

Millets
1. Jowar, Bajra and Ragi are the important millets grown in India.
2. These are known as coarse grains and have very high nutritional value.
Jowar Bajra Ragi

3rd most important food Grows well on sandy soils It is a crop of dry regions.
crop with respect to area and shallow black soil.
and production.

It is a rain-fed crop Grows well on red, black,

mostly grown in the sandy, loamy and shallow
moist areas. black soils.

Mainly produced in Major producing states Major producing states are

Maharashtra, Karnataka, are Rajasthan, Uttar Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Pradesh, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh. Gujarat and Haryana. Uttarakhand, Sikkim,
Jharkhand and Arunachal
Pradesh.

Maize
1. It is a Kharif crop.
2. It requires a temperature between 21°C to 27°C and grows well in old alluvial soil.
3. It is used both as food and fodder.
4. Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Pulses
1. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world.
2. Pulses are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet.
3. Major pulses grown in India are Tur (Arhar), Urad, Moong, Masur, Peas and Gram.
4. Pulses are mostly grown in rotation with other crops so that the soil restores fertility.
5. Major pulse producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh
and Karnataka.

Food Crops other than Grains

Sugarcane
1. It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.
2. It grows well in hot and humid climates with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and annual
rainfall between 75cm to 100cm.
3. It can be grown on a variety of soils.
4. Needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
5. India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
6. Sugarcane is the main source of Sugar, Gur (Jaggery), Khansari and molasses.
7. The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.

Oil Seeds
Different oil seeds are grown covering approximately 12% of the total cropped area of India.
Main oil-seeds produced in India are:
· Groundnut: is a Kharif crop and accounts for half of the major oilseeds produced in India.
Gujarat is the largest producer of groundnuts.
· Mustard: is a rabi crop.
· Sesamum (til): is a Kharif crop in the north and rabi crop in south India.
· Castor seeds: It is grown as both Rabi and Kharif crop.
· Linseed: is a rabi crop.
· Coconut
· Soyabean
· Cotton seeds
· Sunflower

Tea
1. It is also an important beverage crop introduced by the British in India.
2. The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates with deep and fertile
well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter.
3. Tea bushes require a warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year.
4. Tea is a labor-intensive industry.
5. Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Coffee
Yemen coffee is produced in India and this variety of coffee is in great demand all over the
world. Its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills and is confined to the Nilgiri in
Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Horticulture Crops
India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits. Major crops produced are pea,
cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato. Some of the famous horticulture crops
grown in India are:
· Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
Oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya), bananas of Kerala, Mizoram,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
· Lichi and Guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
· Pineapples of Meghalaya
· Grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra
· Apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh

Non-Food Crops

Rubber Fibre Cotton Jute

It is an equatorial Cotton, Jute, Hemp It is a Kharif crop. It is known as the

crop. and Natural Silk are golden fibre.
the four major fibre
crops.

It requires a moist Cotton, Jute and It requires high It grows well on

and humid climate Hemp are grown in temperature, light well-drained fertile
with rainfall of the soil. rainfall, 210 soils in the flood
more than 200cm frost-free days and plains. High
and temperature bright sunshine for temperature is
above 25°C. its growth. required for its
growth.

It is an important Natural Silk is Cotton grows It is used in

industrial raw obtained from well in black cotton making gunny
material cocoons of the soil of the Deccan bags, mats, ropes,
silkworms fed on plateau. yarn, carpets and
green leaves other artefacts.
 Mainly grown in Rearing of Major Major jute
Kerala, Tamil silkworms for the cotton-producing producing states
Nadu, Karnataka production of silk states are are West Bengal,
and Andaman and fibre is known as Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam,
Nicobar islands Sericulture. Gujarat, Madhya Odisha and
and Garo hills of Pradesh, Meghalaya.
Meghalaya. Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh,
Telangana, Tamil
Nadu, Punjab,
Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh.

Technological and Institutional Reforms

Agriculture provides a livelihood for more than 60% of its population, so this sector needs some
serious technical and institutional reforms. The Green Revolution and the White Revolution
were some of the reforms initiated by people to improve agriculture.

Some Initiatives taken by the Government are:

· Schemes introduced by the Government such as Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal
Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS).
· Special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers on the radio and television
were introduced.
· The government also announces minimum support price, remunerative and procurement
prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and
middlemen.
Contribution of Agriculture to the National Economy, Employment and Output
· In 2010-11 about 52% of the total workforce was employed by the farm sector.
· The share of agriculture in the GDP is declining.
· Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services
and animal breeding centres, horticulture development, research and development in the
field of meteorology and weather forecast, etc. are a few of the initiatives introduced by the
government to improve Indian agriculture.

Contribution of Agriculture to
the National Economy,
Employment and Output

Contribution of Agriculture to
the National Economy,
Employment and Output