Chapter 4

Agriculture

 Types of Farming
 Subsistence farming: Practiced to meet the ends of a farmer’s family.
Low levels of technology and household labour are used for production.
The concept can be further classified into intensive subsistence
farming and primitive subsistence farming.
 Intensive subsistence farming
 Farmers cultivate a small piece of land using simple tools and
more labour.
 Prevalent in thickly-populated areas of the monsoon
regions of south, south-east and East Asia.
 Rice is the main crop and other crops include wheat, maize,
pulses and oilseeds.
 Primitive subsistence farming
 Shifting cultivation
a. Plot of land is cleared by felling the trees and burning
them. The ashes are then mixed with the soil.
b. Crops grown are maize, potatoes, yam and cassava.
c. After land loses fertility, a new plot is used in the same
way.
d. Prevalent in Amazon basin, tropical Africa, parts
of south-east Asia and north-east India.
 Nomadic herding
a. Herdsmen move from place to place with their animals
for fodder and water along defined routes.
b. Commonly reared animals are camel, sheep, goats and
yak.
c. Practised in arid and semi-arid regions of Sahara, Central
Asia, parts of India such as Rajasthan and Jammu &
Kashmir.

 Commercial farming: Crops are grown and animals are reared for sale
in the market. Amount of capital used and area cultivated is large. Most
work is done with machines. Includes commercial grain farming,
mixed farming and plantation agriculture.

 Commercial grain farming

  Crops grown for commercial purpose.
 Common commercially grown grains are wheat and maize.
 Major areas where practiced: Temperate grasslands of
North America, Europe and Asia.

 Mixed farming
 Land is used for growing food crops, fodder crops and
rearing livestock.
 Major areas where practiced: Europe, Argentina,
eastern USA, south-east Australia, South Africa and New
Zealand.

 Plantations
 Single crop of tea, coffee, cashew, sugarcane, rubber, banana
or cotton is grown.
 Large amount of capital and labour are required.
 Major places where practiced: Coffee in Brazil, rubber
in Malaysia and tea in India and Sri Lanka.

 Major Crops
 Rice
 Staple diet of the tropical and sub-tropical regions.
 Needs high temperature, rainfall and humidity.
 Grows best in alluvial clayey soil.
 Major producers: China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
and Egypt.

 Wheat
 Requires moderate temperature and rainfall in growing season and
bright sunshine during harvest.
 Grows best in well-drained loamy soil.
 Major producers: USA, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Australia and
India.

 Millets
 Require adequate rainfall and high to moderate temperature.
 Can be grown in less fertile and sandy soils.
  Major producers: India, Nigeria, China and Niger.

 Maize
 Requires rainfall, lots of sunshine and a moderate temperature.
 Requires well-drained fertile soil.
 Major producers: Brazil, China, North America, India, Canada
and Mexico.

 Cotton
 Requires high temperature, light rainfall and bright sunshine for
growth.
 Grows best on black and alluvial soil.
 Major producers: China, India, USA, Pakistan, Egypt and
Brazil.

 Jute
 Requires high temperature, humid climate and heavy rainfall.
 Grows well in alluvial soil.
 Grown in tropical areas.
 Major producers: India and Bangladesh.

 Coffee
 Requires warm, wet climate and well-drained loamy soil.
 Hill slopes are appropriate for this crop.
 Major producers: Brazil, India and Colombia.

 Tea
 Requires high rainfall and cool climate throughout the year.
 Needs gentle slopes and well-drained loamy soils.
 Major producers: Kenya, China, India and Sri Lanka.

 Agricultural Development
 To increase production in order to meet the growing demands of the
increasing population, the following factors are necessary:
 Increasing the cropped area
 Increasing the number of crops grown
 Improving irrigation facilities
 Using fertilizers and high yielding variety of seeds
 Mechanising the methods of agriculture.