CBSE Class 10 Agriculture in India notes

Agriculture in India

Introduction

  • Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock.
  • It includes the preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to markets.
  • Agriculture provides food, fabrics, Cotton, wool, and leather are all agricultural products.
  • Agriculture also provides wood for construction and paper products.

Major Characteristics of India Agriculture

  • Subsistence agriculture – The famer owns a small piece of land, grow crops with the help of his family members and sell it to the market at very low profit.
  • Pressure agriculture – Due to the increasing population heavy pressure on Indian Agriculture. Large number of populations are engaged in agriculture.
  • Pre dominance of animal force – Animal force is playing important role in ploughing, irrigation, threshing and transportation agriculture products.
  • Uses of irrigation – India agriculture is mainly depending on monsoon which is uncertain or irregular. So, we need to expand irrigation from different source of water like Rivers, Cannels, lakes, and wells etc….
  • Uncontrolled use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers – using of chemical fertiliser is boosting the output of agriculture products but damaging the soil. Later, the production will be reduced due to chemical fertiliser.
  • Insignificant place given to fodder crops – India has largest population of livestock in the world, fodder crops are given a very insignificant place in the crop calendar. Only 4% land is under permanent pasture. This is due to tremendous need of food grains.
  • Variety of foods – India is a vast county with a variety of relief, climate and soil conditions. Thus, large variety of crops are grown all over the country depending upon suitable conditions.
  • Dependence of monsoon – India agriculture is highly depended on the monsoon rains.

Rice

Introduction

  • Rice is Kharif Crop.
  • Rice is obtained from Paddy.
  • Scientific name – (Oriza Sativa)
  • Rice is Anchard Hydrophyte Plant.
  • Rice (Grass category plant) growing to a height of 1 to 2 meters.
  • Rice is staple Food.
  • Tropical and Subtropical Monsoon is favourable for cultivation of rice.
  • Its Require Hot and Humid Climate.
  • It gives more calory and energy per acer than wheat.
  • Rice have originated somewhere in China and India.

Climate Conditions

  • Temperature – 16 ℃ to 25 ℃.
  • Rainfall – Over 150 cm.
  • Land – Low and flat land surface. Flat surface helps to hold water on surface.
  • Soil – Fertility clayey soil is ideal for Rice cultivation. Marshy Soil is very suitable.

Economic Conditions

  • Labour – Rice is labour intensive crop. It requires cheap and abundant labour.
  • Capital – Its production cost is relatively high.
  • Others – Chemical Fertilizers, Irrigation, High Yield seeds, Pesticides.

Area of Production

  • India is second largest producer of rice after China.
  • Annual production in 1999-2000 is 12.8 crore tons.
  • India produces total 28% of total rice produce in the world.
  • Important Regions – Eastern Ganga Plains, The Brahmaputra Valley, Coastal stripes parts of Mahanadi, Godavri, Krishna, and Kaveri deltas.

Rice Production states of India

  • West Bengal – 15% of total country production. o Major regions – Bardhaman, Medinipur, north and south 24 parganas.
  • Andhra Pradesh – Second highest production region in India. o Guntur, Kurnool, and Nellore, district is leading producer.
  • Uttar Pradesh – Third Highest producer of rice in India. o Bahraich, Kheri, and Doon Valley of U.P.
  • Tamil Nadu – It’s Rank fourth position. o Kaveri delta produce plenty of Rice. o Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, and Thiruchirapalli.
Rice, Paddy
Agriculture Method

Wheat

Introduction

  • Wheat is annual Grass Crop.
  • Wheat is growing to the height of 2 to 6 cm.
  • All Species of wheat is belonging to Gramineate (Grass Family).
  • Scientific Name of Wheat is (Triticum).
  • Wheat is originated in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

Climate Conditions

  • Wheat is a crop of temper zone.
  • Wheat requires a moderate cool climate with moderate rain.
  • It is Rabi Crop and can be successfully
  • Temperature – 15 to 20 ℃
  • Weather should be warm and moist at the early stage, dry and sunny weather at later stage.
  • Frost free 100 days.
  • Foggy weather is harmful for growing of wheat.

Soli

  • Suitable soil is Light Clay or heavy loamy.
  • World’s best wheat comes from Ukraine from Chernozem Soil (blackcoloured soil containing a high percentage of humus 4% to 16% and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus, and ammonia.)

Land

  • Slightly rolling plains is required to cultivation of wheat.
  • Plain should be well drained so that water cannot stand there.
Wheat

Sugarcane

Introduction

  • Sugarcane is a cash crop.
  • It is highly valuable crop because from its we get foods like sugar, mollases, alcohol etc.
  • The fibrous part of the sugarcane is called bagasse.
  • Bagasse is used to make paper, and board etc.

Temperature

  • 20℃ – 26℃ is ideal for growth.

Rainfall

• Moderate rainfall is ideal for sugarcane. Sugarcane requires about

150 cm rainfall.

Land

  • Well drained and sloping land is ideal for sugarcane cultivation.

Soil

  • Loamy Soil is rich in LIME and SALT is ideal for sugarcane.
  • Sugarcane is mainly produced Black soil regions.

Labour

  • A large no of cheap labour is requiring for its planting and harvesting.

Other Requirements

  • Well Developed roads and Transportation network. (Transport from field to Factory)
  • Fertilisers
  • Huge Capital
  • Port
  • Market

Distribution

Utter Pradesh

  • U.P. is the leading sugarcane producing state in India.
    • Saharanpur
    • Muzaffarnagar
    • Bulandshar
    • Bijnor
    • Moradabad
    • Rampur
    • Pilibhit
    • Kheri

Maharashtra

  • Second position in India to produce sugarcane.
    • Khandesh
    • Kolhapur
    • Nasik
    • Pune
    • Ahmednagar
    • Solapur

Karnataka

  • Shimoga, and Belgaum

Tamil Nadu – Kaveri Region

Others

  • India’s wheat Research Institute is located at Pusha near New Delhi.
  • India is self-sufficient in wheat production, although we import wheat from Australia, Canada, and USA.

Millets

Introduction

  • Crops like Jowar, Bajra, Ragi are called millets.
  • These are inferior goods.
  • These are best grown in India in the world.

Geographical Conditions

  • Temperature – 25 ℃ – 32 ℃.
  • Rainfall – 40 cm – 60 cm.
  • Soil – Black soil and Red loamy soil are best for growing millets.

Production area

  • Maharashtra
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Karnataka
  • Tamil Nadu
  • Gujarat
  • Rajasthan
  • Punjab
  • Haryana

Production Jowar produce 16% of agriculture land of India. In 1999 – 2000 India produce 57 lakh tons of Bajra and 23 Lakh ton of Ragi.

Plantation Crops

Tea

Introduction

  • The word tea has most probably come from the word ‘Thea’.
  • Actually, tea comes from camellia family.

Climate

  • Tea is a sub-tropical plant and needs hot and wet climate.

Temperature

  • Tea requires temperature between 10°C and 35°C.
  • The growth is retarded if it falls below 18°C.
  • The most suitable temperature for tea growth this 25°C .

Rainfall

  • The tea plant needs a rainfall between 150 cm and 200 cm.
  • The rainfall should be well distributed throughout the year.
  • It cannot withstand of dry weather at any season of the year.

Humidity

  • High humidity, heavy dews and morning fog favour rapid development of young leaves.

Winter frost

  • Widespread winter frost is harmful to the crop.

Shade

  • Tea is a shade-loving plant and develops more vigorously under light shade.
  • Shade plants are generally grown in tea gardens to avoid direct sunshine on tea.

Relief

  • Tea plantations are located in the highlands and on hill slopes where the natural drainage is good.
  • Tea cannot tolerate stagnant water and waterlogged lowland areas are thus least suited to tea cultivation.

Soils

  • Tea requires well drained sandy loam with porous subsoil.
  • The sandy loam is considered the best soil for tea cultivation.

Labour

  • Tea cultivation and processing are labour-intensive.
  • The work of field-preparation, weeding, manuring, pruning and picking goes on all the year round on the tea estates.
  • Tea plucking requires abundant supply of cheap labour.
  • Female labour is preferred for tea picking because it is a tedious job, requiring both skill and patience.
  • Plucking demands a skilled manipulation of fingers, as with care, two leaves and bud are to be plucked out at a time. 

Capital

  • Tea is a very capital-intensive cultivation.
  • Tea estate requires a heavy amount of capital.

Production area  

Assam

  • It contributes to 45% of India’s tea. It ranks first in tea production.
  • Tea estates numbering nearly 750 are to be found from Sadiya to Goalpara.
  • Most of the tea is grown in the valleys of Brahmaputra and Surma.
  • The main tea producing districts are
    • Derrang
    • Lakhimpur
    • Shibsagar
    • Nowgong
    • Goalpara
    • Kamrup
    • Cachar.

West Bengal

  • It ranks second position in tea production.
  • Tea estates numbering nearly 350 are to be found in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri (Duars Area) and Coochbehar districts.
  • The production of tea in W. B. varies from 20 to 25% of India’s total.

Uttaranchal

  • Important tea producing districts are Almora and Garhwal districts.

Himachal Pradesh

  • Kangra Valley is the main tea producing area.

South India

  • Tamil Nadu ranks third in tea production.
  • Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, these states contribute about 19% of the total Indian tea.
  • In south India, tea estates are concentrated in the mountain regions of Nilgiris, Cardamom, Palni and Anaimalai.

Production

  • India holds the first position in tea production in the world.
  • Annual production of tea in India is 7.5 lakh tonnes. 2004-05 2009-10

Tea Export

  • India is the leading tea-exporter in the world.
  • India’s tea is exported to many countries, such as
    • U.K
    • Russia
    • USA
    • European countries
    • Arabian countries
  • Maximum tea is exported through the port of Kolkata.

Research Centre

  • Jorhat (Assam)
  • Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu).

Coffee

Introduction

  • Coffee was first found in Yemen. From Arabia it spread to India.
  • Coffee is usually 3 to 6 m tall.

Climate

  • Coffee grows best in tropical high lands. It thrives well in warm moist climate.

Temperature

  • The monthly average rainfall ranging between 15°C and 28°C is ideal for coffee plantation. Mean monthly temperatures should not drop below 11 °C for the coldest month.

Sunlight

  • Bright sunlight and warm weather are necessary for the harvesting and preparation of the berries.

Winter frosts

  • Wide spread winter frost is harmful to the crop.

Shade

  • Coffee is a shade-loving plant. Coffee should be sheltered from direct sunshine, especially when the trees are young. In plantation, the coffee bushes are generally planted under the shade of taller and hardier plants.

Rainfall

  • Coffee needs abundant moisture. Humidity should range between 80 to 90% and a rainfall of 127 cm. or more per year is essential. Excessive evaporation is harmful to the tree.

Topography

  • The best quality coffee usually comes from plantations at high elevations and slopes between 600 m and 1800 m.
  • Cooler and slopes which face the sea also benefit from mists and sea freezes

Soil

  • Coffee plant needs deep loamy soil formed from weathered lava.
  • Coffee needs fertile soil free from water logging.
  • The Coffee soils in India belong to red and laterite soils.

Labour

  • Coffee cultivation needs plenty of labor.
    • planting
    • seeding
    • transplanting
    • looking after the growth
    • plucking the coffee cherries
    • loading and unloading
    • processing coffee in the factory

Fertilizers

  • Coffee is a perennial crop and exhausts the fertility of the soil too much. So, it is necessary to replace the lost nutrients by applying chemical fertilizers.

Transport

  • The plantation areas are by roads and railways so as to offer quick and smooth transport facilities.

Species

  • Coffee Species: Coffee Arabica and Coffee Robusta are the two main types of coffee grown on a commercial scale in India.

Area of Production

  • Coffee is produced entirely in South India.
    • Karnataka
    • Kerala
    • Tamil Nadu
  • Nilgiri area is the most popular coffee producing region.

Karnataka

  • About 60% of the total area under coffee crop is in Karnataka state.
  • It produces about 65% of the total coffee output in India.
  • Most of the coffee produced here is of Robusta variety.
  • Particularly in the districts of Kadur, Shimoga, Hasan and Mysore. Chickmaglur district has the largest concentration of coffee area,

  Kerala

  • Kerala is the second coffee producing state in India.
  • It produces about 22% of the total coffee output.
  • Mostly produced in north Coorg district. Travancore, Cochin and Malabar districts are other producer,

Tamil Nadu

  • Tamil Nadu is the third largest coffee producing state of India. It produces about 16% of the total output.
  • Mostly in the south-west from North Arcot to Tirunelvelli including the western areas.
  • The Nilgiris is the most productive area, followed by Madurai, Salem districts.

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