Chapter-4 Agriculture

Agriculture is an economic activity related to the cultivation of crops. It includes

cattle rearing and fishing. Agriculture has been derived from two Latin words “ager” meaning
land and “culture” meaning cultivation. Agriculture thus means cultivation of land.

India is an agricultural country. Nearly 2/3 of the population is engaged in agricultural activities.
Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy. It ensures food security for the country. It also
produces raw materials to the industries. Agriculture provides 10% of the exports and also a
source of fodder to the animals.

The methods of cultivation differ from place to place. It varies according to

Change in physical environment.
Change in Technological know-how.
Change in socio cultural practices.

Farming in India varies from subsistence to commercial

Primitive subsistence agriculture

 Cultivation of crops for the need of the family is called subsistence agriculture.
 It is carried out in certain pockets of India.
 They use primitive tools for the cultivation of crops like digging sticks, hoe and dao.
 The farmers depend upon natural fertility of the soil and monsoon for rains.
 The labour involved in this cultivation is the family members.
 It is slash/burn agriculture.
 A patch of land is cleared and cultivation is carried on, once when the soil losses its fertility they
move to another part of land by burning the remains.
 It is called by different names in different countries and different states of India.
Jhumming- NE states/ Pamlou- Manipur /Dipa – Chattisgarh and Andaman & Nicobar

Intensive subsistence Agriculture

It is practiced in areas where the population is high.

It is labour intensive.
Various Bio-chemical inputs and irrigation are used for the cultivation.
Though Right of Inheritance has lead to division of land the farmers try to get the maximum
output from the minimum land available.
 There is enormous pressure on the agricultural land.
Commercial/ Plantation farming

 This farming uses higher doses of modern inputs like HYV( high yielding variety seeds),
Insecticides, Pesticides and Fertilizers for the cultivation of crops.
 Plantation agriculture is also a form of commercial farming where a single crop is grown over
a larger area of land.
 They are capital and labour intensive.
 The produce is used as a raw material in the industries.
 Some of the plantation crops are Tea, Coffee, Sugarcane, Rubber, banana, spices and cocoa
 Tea- Assam, Coffee- Karnataka, Rubber- Kerala, Sugarcane- Uttar Pradesh.
 It is normally developed in the hilly regions of India.
  The processing factories are built within or close to the plantations.
 A well developed network of transport and communication system
Cropping pattern
India has three cropping seasons
Kharif
 Sown -onset of monsoon
and harvested between
Sep-Oct.
 Rice, maize, millets,
cotton, groundnut, jute
 In states like Assam,
West Bengal and Orissa
three types of rice known
as Aus, Aman and Boro
are grown.
Major Crops
RICE
 Kharif crop
 Temp: 25deg
 Rainfall: 100cms
 Northern plains and
Eastern coastal plains
 Tubewells and canal
irrigation
 Dry regions
PULSES
 Main source of protein to
a vegetarian diet.
 India- largest producer
and consumer of pulses
in the world
 moong, tur, masur, urad,
peas and gram.
 leguminous crop
 restores soil fertility by
fixing nitrogen in the air.
 Kharif and Rabi
 Karnataka Maharastra
Rabi Zaid
 Rabi crops are sown in  It is a short season
winter from (Oct- Dec) between Kharif and
and harvested in summer Rabi.
from (Apr-Jun).  Crops such as Cucumber,
 Wheat, barley, peas, Muskmelon,
 The success of the Watermelon, vegetables
production of wheat in and fodder crops are
the N and NW parts of grown.
India are  Sugarcane takes a year to
a. The success of Green grow.
revolution.
b. Precipitation in the
winter months
WHEAT MAIZE
 Rabi crop  Kharif/ Rabi crop
 Rainfall-50-75cms  Old alluvial soil
 Temp: 17deg  Food and a fodder crop
 NW parts of India  Use of modern inputs
(Punjab Haryana Plains ) have increased the
 Cool growing season and production of maize
bright sunshine
SUGARCANE OILSEEDS
 Tropical and Sub tropical  Rabi and Kharif
crop  Groundnut, castor,
 Temp: 21-27 deg coconut, cotton,
 Rainfall: 75-100 cms sunflower, mustard,
 jaggery(gur), khandsari, soyabean , sesamum and
molasses and sugar so on.
 Commercial crop  Gujarat,- Leading
 Plantation crop producer of groundnut
 Uttar Pradesh  12% of the cropping area
 Takes one year to grow of India.
TEA COFFEE RUBBER
 Plantation crop  Plantation crop  It is an equatorial crop.
 Commercial crop  Commercial crop  It requires a moist and
 Beverage crop  Beverage crop humid climate.
 Grown on hill slopes  Tropical and Sub  It is used as a raw
 Introduced by the British Tropical crop material in other
 Tropical and Sub  Indian coffee is known industries.
Tropical crop for its quality.  Temp-25deg
 Well drained soil  It is in great demand all  Rainfall- 200 cms
 Frequent showers – over the world  Kerala
growth of new leaves  Baba budan hills.  Andaman and Nicobar
 Assam/ Tamil Nadu /  Arabica – brought from islands
West Bengal Yemen
 Nilgiri hills of Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and
Karnataka.

COTTON JUTE
 Kharif crop  Fibre crop
 Home of cotton  Golden fibre – colour and Foreign
 Fibre crop exchange
 Fulfill the need of clothing  well drained soil and a high temp
 Black cotton soil  gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpet
 High temp and bright sunshine is needed  Commercial crop
 Mumbai Gujarat

Jowar (rainfed crop) Millets Maharastra

3 important food crop
Bajra (Sandy, black soils) Rajasthan
Ragi (red ,black and sandy soil ) Karnataka
The technological and institutional reforms which improved the conditions of Indian agriculture
are mentioned below

Technological reforms.
 The Persian wheel was replaced by pumps.
 Plough was replaced by tiller and harrow drawn by tractors
 Roads were converted into metalled ones for faster transportation.
 Drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation was introduced.
 HYV seeds and Bio chemicals were introduced.

Institutional reforms

 The government abolished Zamindari system for the welfare of the farmers.
 The govt encouraged consolidation of small holdings into a larger one where
mechanization is possible.
 They created awareness programmes about agricultural activities and weather
forecasting through mass media.
 Ceiling of landholdings were fixed by the government.
  Introduction of insurance to provide security against failure of crops.
 Opening of rural banks and co-operative societies to provide credit to farmers at low
interest rates.
 Issue of KCC(Kissan credit cards) and introduction of PAIS(Personal Accident
Insurance Scheme)are some other means taken by the govt.

Contribution of agriculture to the national economy.

 Provides employment and livelihood to about 60% of the population.

 When there is a decline and stagnation in agriculture it leads to the decline and
stagnation in other spheres of economy.
 As India is a agriculturally important country to modernize it various organizations such
as ICAR(Indian Council of Agricultural Research) , Agricultural universities,
Horticulture development were setup.
 Apart from all these the rural infrastructure was also considered.

Problems faced by the farmers

 They face challenges from International competition.

 Subsidy on fertilizers were reduced which led to the increase in production cost.
 Lack of alternative employment opportunities.
 Reduction in investment in agricultural sectors such as irrigation, power, roads and
markets.
 Reduction in import duties on agricultural products.

Bhoodan- Gramdan movement is also known as blood-less revolution. It was initiated by

Vinoba Bhave. (go through the paragraph Bhoodan-Gramdan in pg no-43)

Green revolution: A package programme to increase the productivity of food grains with the
help of HYV seeds , machines, irrigation and fertilizers.

White revolution: A package programme to increase the production of milk and milk products.

Horticulture: Specialized cultivation of fruits and vegetables