Agriculture in India (Geography ICSE Class 10 Project)

AGRICULTURE IN INDIA(1)

INTRODUCTION

The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, "field", and cultūra, "cultivation" or "growing". Agriculture usually refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant, termite and ambrosia beetle. To practice agriculture means to use natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services." This definition includes arable farming or agronomy, and horticulture, all terms for the growing of plants, animal husbandry and forestry. A distinction is sometimes made between forestry and agriculture, based on the former's longer management rotations, extensive versus intensive management practices and development mainly by nature, rather than by man. Even then, it is acknowledged that there is a large amount of knowledge transfer and overlap between silviculture (the management of forests) and agriculture. In traditional farming, the two are often combined even on small landholdings, leading to the term agroforestry.

Agriculture in India has a significant history. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and fisheries accounted for 16.6% of the GDP in 2009, about 50% of the total workforce. The economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth. Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India.

TYPES OF FARMING IN INDIA

èSHIFTING AGRICULTURE

Shifting agriculture is also known as slash and burn cultivation.(i) Shifting agriculture is practiced by tribal communities of tropical forest lands.(ii) The people make a small clearing in the forest by cutting the trees and burning them.(iii) They cultivate the land for 2 to 3 years and when the natural fertility of the soil decreases they abandon the field and shift to a new clearing which is again abandoned when the fertility of soil reduces.(iv) The abandoned field is overrun by weeds and secondary forests.(v) It causes soil erosion.(vi) The produce is less and a large area is needed to support a small number of people.(vii) It is a wasteful method of cultivation.(viii) It is practiced in the Zaire basin, in north eastern India by the tribal people where it is known as Jhuming.

èsubsistence farming, form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer’s family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world have traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Some of these peoples moved from site to site as they exhausted the soil at each location. As urban centers grew, agricultural production became more specialized and commercial farming developed, with farmers producing a sizable surplus of certain crops, which they traded for manufactured goods or sold for cash. Subsistence farming persists today on a relatively wide scale in various areas of the world, including large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Subsistence farms usually consist of no more than a few acres, and farm technology tends to be primitive and of low yield.

/*INTENSIVE FARMING={From text book}  EXTENSIVE FARMING=[From text book]  PLANTATION FARMING==[From text book] COMMERCIAL FARMING,DRY FARMING(TEXT BOOK)*/

èMixed farming is an agrarian system that mixes arable farming with the raising of livestock. When on a farm along-with crop production, some other agriculture based practice like poultry, dairy farming or bee keeping etc is adopted, then this system of farming is know as mixed farming. It is the dominant system in Europe, where most farms have a mixture of fields and pastures .For example, the same farm may grow cereal crops, and keep cattle, sheep, pigs or poultry.[2]In mixed farming, along with farming some other agriculture based practices are also carried out.Often the dung from the cattle is used to fertilize the cereal crops. Before horses were used for haulage, many young male cattle were often not butchered as surplus for meat but castrated and used as bullocks to haul the cart and the plough.

        INDIAN AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS AND ITS SOIUTION(2)

èMinor irrigation and rainfall-- A timely and adequate supply of water is absolutely essential for securing the maximum output from the land. In India nearly four-fifths of the cultivated area is dependent on rainfall which is seldom adequate and timely throughout the whole country. Annual failure of crops in different regions of India is, therefore, a common, feature of Indian Agriculture. The most effective way of increasing crop production in India is to provide through irrigation an additional source of water supply to cultivated land.

èInadequate storage facilities:

Storage facilities in the rural areas are either totally absent or grossly inadequate. Under such conditions the farmers are compelled to sell their produce immediately after the harvest at the prevailing market prices which are bound to be low. Such distress sale deprives the farmers of their legitimate income.

(OTHER PROBLEMS and solutions IN TEXTBOOK)

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                                             FOOD CROPS

                                    CROPPING SEASONS IN INDIA

    The term "food crops" refers to the world's major food supply derived from plants
India has many growing seasons due to prevalence of high temperature through a long period. Different crop seasons are:
(a) Kharif: Crops are sown at the beginning of the south-west monsoon and harvested at the end of the south-west monsoon.
Sowing seasons-May to July
Harvesting season-September to October
Important crops: Jowar, bajra, rice, maize, cotton, groundnut, jute, hemp, sugarcane, tobacco, ete.
(b) Rabi: Crops need relatively cool climate during the period of growth but warm climate during the germination of their seed and maturation.
Sowing season-October-December
Harvesting season-February-April
Important crops: wheat, barley, gram, linseed, mus­tard, masoor, pea~ and potatoes.
(c) Zaid: Besides the kharif and rabi crops, there are certain crops which are being raised throughout the year due to artificial irrigation.
Zaid kharif crops are sown in August-September and harvested in December-January.
Important crops: rice, jowar, rapeseed, cotton, oilseeds.
Zaid rabi crops are sown in February-March. Harvesting is in April-May.
Important crops: watermelon, toris, cucumber, leafy and other vegetables.

èRice

Rice is India’s pre-eminent crop and is the staple food of the people of the eastern and southern parts of the country. Rice is grown all across the nation and is available in umpteen varieties. In India, almost 2, 00, 000 varieties of rice exist. Rice is cultivated under extensively changeable conditions of climate and altitude. This dominant crop is basically rain-fed is those zones where the annual rainfall distribution is above 125 cm. Those regions are suitable for the cultivation of rice where the average temperature does not fall below approximately 20 degree Celsius. Rice is considered as the master crop in the coastal regions of India.

èWheat 

One of the major Indian food crops, Wheat has played a formative role in the unfolding of India’s history. It is the northern region of the country that has conventionally dominated the cultivation of wheat. In India, the abundant wheat producers are the states of Punjab and Haryana. Wheat is cultivated in clayey soil and is extensively used for bread making and other food items. India exports sufficient quantities of all types of wheat and extensive research efforts that are underway for improving its cereals and grain output in future. In fact, in the present times, India is the second largest wheat producer in the world. When fertilizers and proper irrigation methods are applied to (3)certain varieties of crops (excluding the dwarf ones), they tend to grow taller. However, regular usage of irrigation and fertilizers badly affect the cultivation of wheat. It is also said that the conditions of India are not suitable for the cultivation of wheat because of its short and relatively dry winter season.

èMILLETS

 Millets, seeded grains or cereal crops, are used as a major food crop in India and are used for various purposes. Millets have protein content higher than both Wheat and Rice individually. Millets form a major food source in the country. Moreover, millets are also used as fodder and bird-food. It can also be used for locally prepared alcoholic drinks.

Millets like Jowar (sorghum), Bajra and Ragi are also called coarse grains. They are Kharif crops and are chiefly rain-fed crops, requiring hardly any irrigational facilities. Unlike rice, they grow in less rainy areas in the following order- Ragi, which grows mostly in damp areas; Jowar, which grows in moist areas and Bajra grows in dry areas. Ragi, which requires comparatively more rain, is grown usually in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Jowar is mostly cultivated in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Bajra is grown in the drier parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and south-west Uttar Pradesh.  India leads the world in production of millets. In 2007, India produced 10,610,000 tonnes of Millets, becoming the highest producer around the globe. The region under these crops has not amplified much in the recent years.

CASH CROPS

A cash crop is an agricultural crop which is grown for sale to return a profit.

The main cash crops are categorized as;

1.Oil seeds  2.Beverages:Tea,coffee 3.Fibres:Cotton Jute 4.Others:Sugarcane,tobacco,Rubber

èSUGARCANE

Sugarcane is one of the major crops of India. India country is one of the significant producers of sugarcane in the world. Sugarcane is raised in almost every state of India. For daily sugar needs, people depend exclusively on sugarcane. India has the largest surface area under sugarcane and its production is also the highest in the world. Uttar Pradesh is a leading producer, followed by Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In India, sugarcane is mainly raised as a cash crop and it forms the source of sugar. This crop is mainly sown during the period in between February and March. Sugarcane requires well-drained productive soil, and abundance of manure and fertilizers. It demands hot climate and grows well where temperature is near about 25 degree Celsius. It also needs hot and humid climate and rainfall of approximately 100 cm. It actually grows well in irrigated lands with plenty of sunshine. Loamy soils rich in minerals like calcium, phosphorous and nitrogen are necessary for larger yields. Further, dry and cool climate during the time period when the cane matures enhances its sucrose content.

èOilseeds

Oilseeds are important as are the pulses in the country. The principal oilseeds include groundnuts, rapeseeds and mustard seeds. Oilseeds are raised in almost all the parts of the country. Oilseeds are the source of oil-cake as well as vegetable oil.

   èGroundnuts:- Groundnut is one of the main oilseeds of India. In fact, it is the leading producer in the world. Tropical climates are considered favorable for the growth of groundnuts. This oilseed is raised as a kharif crop. It is not grown mainly in the winter season. Growth of groundnuts is extremely high if sown in well-drained sandy loams. The main months when it is sown are June and July. Gujarat is the main producer of groundnut in India. Other important groundnuts states of the India are Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

   èMustard:- Mustard is another significant oil-seed in India. It is cultivated mainly in winter season. They are mainly cultivated as rabi crop. They are grown as mixed crop with gram and wheat. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are the principal producers in the country. The oil that is extracted from the mustard seeds are used for cooking in India. Other producers of oil seeds in India are

Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Punjab.

Sesamum is one of the main oilseeds produced in the country. India generates almost one-third of the total production. Even the oil that is extracted from this seed is edible. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa are the major producers of this oil-seed.

èCOTTON(4)

•Important fiber crops of India. grown on variety of soils – black cotton soil of the Deccan Plateau

which has the ability to retain moisture Grows well in in light and alluvial soils of Sutlej-Ganga plains and red laterite soils of the Peninsular regions. needs mild, cool , preferably dry climate with 21 degree C to 27 degree C temperature. Needs of plenty of sunshine. 50 cm to 80 cm, - must be well distributed throughout the year Stagnant water and excessive are harmful to the plant.

èJUTE

Jute is one of the most important cash crops of eastern India. The jute plant requires high temperature with a minimum of 27 degree centigrade and an optimum of about 34 degree centigrade during the period of growth. The relative humidity requirement is also high ranging from 80 to 90 percent. During the growing period, the jute plant needs an evenly distributed rainfall of 170 cm to 200 cm. Sandy and clayey loams are perfectly beneficial for the growth of this plant. It grows well on the alluvial soil found in the flood plains and deltas of rivers. West Bengal comes first in the production of raw jute.