Agriculture class X

Agriculture 

• The word Agri mas soil and culture means cultivation.
• It is the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.
• Agriculture is another word for farming. It includes both growing and harvesting crops and raising animals, or livestock.

Types of Farming

The physical attributes of the environment, technical advancements, and sociocultural

customs all influence the cultivation techniques.

There are two types of farming: commercial and subsistence. The following farming systems

are used in various parts of India.

Primitive Subsistence Farming

It is an agriculture of "slash and burn." After clearing some ground, farmers plant cereals and

other food crops. The farmers move and prepare a new area of land for cultivation as the

fertility of the soil declines.

In different sections of the nation, it goes by different names. The term "jhumming" refers to it

in the northeastern states.

● This kind of agriculture has low land productivity.

● This kind of cultivation is monsoon dependent.

● A small portion of India is home to this type of farming.

Intensive Subsistence Farming

● This kind of farming is done in places where there is a lot of population strain on the

land.

● High dosages of biochemical fertilisers and irrigation are employed in this

labor-intensive agricultural method to increase yield.

Commercial Farming

In order to achieve higher production, this style of farming uses higher amounts of

contemporary inputs, such as chemical fertilisers, insecticides, herbicides, and high-yielding

variety (HYV) seeds.

In plantations, a single crop is produced over a wide region as a sort of commercial farming.

Large areas of land are covered by plantations, which employ migrant labourers to help with

the use of capital-intensive inputs. Every produce item is utilised as a raw resource in

manufacturing.

E.g., Tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana.

Differences between various farming are as follows.

Cropping Pattern

India has three cropping seasons:

1. Rabi

2. Kharif

3. Zaid

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

We will discuss all of these one by one in detail.

Rice

1. This crop is Kharif.

2. It needs high humidity, high temperatures, and more than 100 cm of yearly rainfall.

3. After China, India is the world's second-largest producer of rice.

4. It is grown in deltaic regions, coastal locations, and the plains of northeastern and

northern India.

Wheat

1. It's a Rabi crop here.

2. When it comes to ripening, it needs strong sunshine and a cool growing season.

3. It needs 50 to 75 centimetres of yearly precipitation spread evenly throughout the

growing season.

4. India's two principal wheat-growing regions are the northwest Ganga-Satluj plains

and the Deccan's black soil region.

5. In the northern and northwestern regions of India, it is the principal food crop and the

second-most significant cereal crop.

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.

Maize

1. This crop is Kharif.

2. It flourishes in old alluvial soil and needs temperatures between 21°C and 27°C to

thrive.

3. It serves as both sustenance and fodder.

4. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana

are the states that produce the most maize.

Pulses

1. The world's biggest producer and consumer of pulses is India.

2. The main source of protein in a vegetarian diet is pulses.

3. India grows a variety of pulses, including Tur (Arhar), Urad, Moong, Masur, Peas, and

Gram.

4. The majority of the time, pulses are planted in tandem with other crops to replenish

soil fertility.

5. The states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and

Karnataka are major producers of pulses.

Food Crops other than Grains

Sugarcane

1. This crop is both tropical and subtropical in nature.

2. It thrives in hot, humid regions with annual rainfall between 75 and 100 cm and

temperatures between 21 and 27°C.

3. It grows well in a range of soil types.

4. Human work is required for planting through harvesting.

5. Only after Brazil is India the world's second-largest producer of sugarcane.

6. The primary source of sugar, molasses, gur (jaggery), and khansari is sugarcane.

7. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,

Bihar, Punjab, and Haryana are the states that produce the most sugarcane.

Oil Seeds

Different oil seeds are grown, covering approximately 12% of the total cropped area of India.

The main oilseeds 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

Beverages

Tea

1. The British introduced this significant crop for beverages to India.

2. Tropical and subtropical regions with deep, fertile, well-drained soil that is rich in

humus and organic matter are ideal for tea plant growth.

3. Tea bushes need a year-round climate that is warm, humid, and free of frost.

4. The tea industry is labor-intensive.

5. Assam, the highlands of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu,

and Kerala are the states that produce the most tea.

Coffee

Yemen coffee is a highly sought-after coffee varietal worldwide, with production located in

India. Its cultivation is limited to the Nilgiri region of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu,

having begun on the Baba Budan Hills.

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

Technological and Institutional Reforms

More than 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their living, so significant

institutional and technical changes are required in this area. Among the reforms people

started to enhance agriculture were the White Revolution and the Green Revolution.

Some initiatives taken by the Government are:

● Programmes launched by the government, including the Personal Accident

Insurance Plan (PAIS) and the Kissan Credit Card (KCC).

● There were created special weather briefings and TV and radio agricultural shows for

farmers.

● The government additionally declares the procurement, remunerative, and minimum

support prices for significant crops in order to prevent middlemen and speculators

from taking advantage of farmers.

Contribution of Agriculture to the National Economy, Employment and

Output

● Approximately 52% of all workers were involved in the farming industry in 2010–11.

Agriculture's contribution to GDP is decreasing.

● The government has implemented several initiatives to improve Indian agriculture,

including the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural universities,

veterinary services, animal breeding centres, horticulture development, research and

development in the field of meteorology and weather forecasting, etc.