CBSE X G IV AGRICULTURE

Class X

Geography

Unit IV – Agriculture

Various names of slash and burn agriculture across the world:

Milpa Mexico/Central America
Coamile Mexico

Conuco Venezuela

Roca Brazil

Masole Central Africa

Ladang Indonesia

Ray Vietnam

Hanumo / Caingin / Chengin Philippines

Chena Sri Lanka
Jumar Java
Tam-ray / rai Thailand
Hay Laos

Karen Japan / Korea
Taungya Myanmar
Tavy Madagascar
Proka Ghana
Chena Sri Lanka
Chitimene / Citimene Zambia / Zimbabwe / Tanzania




Bewar/Dahiya Madhya Pradesh

Podu/Penda Andhra Pradesh

Pama Dabi/Koman/Bringa Orissa

Kumari Western Ghats

Valre/Waltre Rajastan

Khil Himalayas

Kuruwa Jharkhand

Jhum North-East India

Pamlou Manipur

Dipa Chattisgarh, Andaman

Source: An Introduction to Agroforestry by P K Ramachandran Nair
(http://www.worldagroforestry.org/units/library/books/PDFs/32_An_introduction_to_agroforestry.pdf?n=161)

Primitive subsistence farming: Agriculture that uses primitive tools and is dependent on monsoon and natural fertility of soil

Intensive subsistence farming: Labour-intensive agriculture, practised in areas of high population pressure, using high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation for higher production

Commercial farming: Sale and profit oriented agriculture using modern inputs like HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides etc.

Plantation: A single crop grown on a large area

Examples of plantation crops: Tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana

The three crop seasons: Rabi, kharif, zaid

Examples of rabi crops: wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard

Examples of kharif crops: paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut, soya bean

Crops produced during zaid season: watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops

Major crops in India: rice, wheat, millets, pulses, tea, coffee, sugarcane, oil seeds, cotton, jute

Millets: Jowar, bajra, ragi

Examples of countries that import food (cereals) and export high value farm products like fruits, olives, speciality seeds and wine: Italy, Israel, Chile

Examples of bio-diesel crops: Jatropha, Jojoba

Cause of reduction in net sown area in India: Competition for land for non-agricultural uses like housing

BPL: Below the Poverty Line

APL: Above the Poverty Line

FCI: Food Corporation of India

MSP: Minimum Support Price

PDS: Public Distribution System

ICAR: Indian Council of Agricultural Research

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

KCC: Kisan Credit Card

PAIS: Personal Accident Insurance Scheme

Bloodless Revolution: It refers to the Bhoodan – Gramdan Movement initiated by Vinoba Bhave.

White Revolution or Operation Flood: A rural development programme started by India’s National Diary Development Board which increased the production of milk and dairy products drastically

Two-thirds of India’s population is engaged in agriculture.

Agriculture is a primary activity.

Rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab but a subsistence crop in Orissa.

Rabi is sown in winter (October – December) and harvested in summer (April – June).

Rainfall due to western temperate cyclones is favourable to rabi crops.

Kharif crops are grown with the onset on monsoon and harvested in September – October.

Aus, Aman and Boro are three crops of paddy grown in a year in Orissa, West Bengal and Assam.

Zaid is a short crop season during the summer months.

Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow.

Genetic engineering helps in inventing new hybrid varieties of seeds.

India’s rural population is 600 millions which depends on 250 million hectares of agricultural land, indicating an average landholding of less than half a hectare per person.

Organic farming is practised without factory made chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides.

The key word in agriculture today is not Green Revolution but genetic engineering.

India’s agricultural products are not able to compete with those of the developed countries because of highly subsidized agriculture in those countries.

The Champaran Movement was started in Bihar in the year 1917 because the farmers there were forced to grow indigo for the textile industries of Britain.

Globalization since 1990 has brought new challenges before Indian farmers.

There can be no food security without the security of small farmers.

Bhoodan Movement started at Pochampalli village in Andhra Pradesh in 1951.

Land reforms were in the main focus of the First Five Year Plan.

Adverse effects of Green Revolution:

-         Land degradation due to overuse of chemicals

-         Drying aquifers

-         Vanishing biodiversity

The two components of national food security system:

-         Buffer stock (by FCI)

-         Public Distribution System to provide food grains and essential commodities at subsidized prices

Rice:

-         Staple crop for a majority of people in India

-         India is the second largest producer after China.

-         Kharif crop

-         Requires high temperature, high humidity and high rainfall

-         Grown in the plains of north, northeast, coastal areas and deltaic regions

Wheat:

-         Second most important cereal crop in India

-         Rabi crop

-         Requires low temperature while growing and high temperature while ripening

-         Requires moderate rainfall

-         Grown mostly in Ganga-Satluj Plain and Deccan

Jowar:

-         Third most important food crop

-         Rain fed crop

-         Maharashtra is the largest producer.

Bajra:

-         Grows well on sandy and black soils

-         Rajastan is the largest producer.

Ragi:

-         A crop of dry regions

-         Rich in iron, calcium and fibre

-         Karnataka is the largest producer

Maize:

-          Used both as food and fodder

-         Kharif crop

-         Grows well in old alluvium

-         Requires high temperature and low rainfall

-         Major producers are Karnataka and UP.

Pulses:

-         Major pulses grown in India: tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas, gram

-         Grown in kharif as well as rabi seasons

-         Urad and moong are mostly grown in rabi season

-         Pulses are leguminous. They fix nitrogen from the air and help in restoring soil fertility. Therefore grown in rotation with other crops.

-         These are a good source of protein.

-         India is the largest producer as well as consumer of pulses.

-         Need less moisture. Survive in dry conditions also.

-         Major pulse-producing states: MP, UP, Rajastan, Maharashtra, Karnataka

Sugarcane:

-         Source of sugar, jaggery, khandsari and molasses

-         Tropical as well as sub-tropical crop

-         Needs hot (21 – 27⁰C) and humid (75 – 100 cm of annual rainfall) conditions.

-         India is the second largest producer after Brazil.

-         Requires a lot of manual labour

-         Sugarcane-producing states: UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, AP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana

Oil seeds:

-         India is the largest producer.

-         Oil seeds grown in India: groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soya bean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed (flax, alsi or teesee), sunflower

-         Groundnut accounts for nearly half of the total oilseed production in India

-         AP and Tamilnadu are the main producers of groundnut

-         Linseed and mustard are rabi crops

-         Sesamum or til is a kharif crop in north India and a rabi crop in south India

-         Grown on 12% of India’s cropped area

-         Used as edible oils and also as raw material in soap / cosmetic / pharmaceutical industries

Tea:

-         India is a leading producer as well as exporter of tea

-         India is the second largest producer after Sri Lanka

-         A typical plantation crop

-         Introduced in India by the British

-         A labour-intensive crop

-         Grows in tropical as well as sub-tropical conditions

-         Requires warm and moist frost-free climate

-         Tea-producing states: Assam, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Kerala

Coffee:

-         India produces 4% of world’s coffee.

-         The coffee-variety grown in India is Arabica brought from Yemen.

-         Introduced on the Baba Budan Hills

-         Coffee-producing states: Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu

Horticulture:

-         India is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables

-         India produces 13% of world’s vegetables.

-         Mango-producing regions: Maharashtra, AP, UP, West Bengal

-         Orange-producing region: Nagpur, Cherrapunji

-         Banana-producing regions: Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra

-         Lichi and guava producing regions: UP, Bihar

-         Pineapple-producing region: Meghalaya

-         Grape-producing regions: AP, Maharashtra

-         Regions producing apples, apricots, pears, walnuts: J&K, Himachal Pradesh

Rubber:

-         Equatorial crop, also grown in tropical and sub-tropical conditions

-         An important industrial raw material

-         More than half of the rubber  produced is used in the manufacture of tyres and tubes

-         India ranks fifth in rubber production

-         Requires hot (more than 25⁰C) and humid (more than 200 cm of annual rainfall) climate

-         Rubber-producing states: Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka

Fibre crops:

-         Major fibre crops in India: cotton, hemp, silk

-         Silk is obtained from cocoons of silkworms fed on mulberry leaves

-         Sericulture refers to rearing of silkworms

Cotton:

-         Cotton is endemic to India.

-         India ranks third in cotton production.

-         A kharif crop

-         Grows well on the black soil of the Deccan.

-         Requires high temperature, light rain and 210 frost-free days

-         Major producers: Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP

Jute:

-         It’s called the golden fibre because of its colour.

-         Used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets etc.

-         Being replaced by the cheaper synthetic fibres like nylon

-         Requires high temperature and moderate rainfall