AGRICULTURE

Answer the following question:

1. What is agriculture?
Agriculture is a primary activity that includes growing crops, vegetables, fruits, flowers and

rearing of livestock.

2. Name the factors influencing agriculture.

Answer: Climate, type of soil, population density and technology.
3. What is shifting cultivation? What are its disadvantages?
Answer:  Shifting cultivation or slash-and-burn gvvfcfcfcddis a type of farming activity
which involves clearing a plot of land by felling trees, burning the felled trees, mixing
the ashes with soil, and then growing crops like maize, yam, potatoes and cassava on the
cleared land. After the soil loses its fertility, the land is abandoned and the cultivator
moves on to a new plot.

This type of farming has the following disadvantages.

 It leads to deforestation.
 The land used loses its fertility after some time
 It also leads to soil erosion
 Burning of trees causes air pollution
 Crops are cultivated on small plots of land which is insufficient for feeding a large
population.

4. What is plantation agriculture?

Answer: 
Plantations are a type of commercial farming where a single crop of tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber,
banana or cotton is grown. It requires a large amount of capital and labour. The produce can be processed on
the farm itself or in nearby factories. The development of a transport network is thus essential for such
farming. This type of farming can be found in tropical regions of the world like India, Sri Lanka and Brazil.

5. Distinguish between the followings.

     (i)   Primary activities and Tertiary activities.
   
Primary Activities Tertiary Activities
 Primary activities are those  Tertiary activities are those activities
activities which are associated which provide support to primary
with the extraction & production and secondary activities through
of natural resources. services.
 Examples are - Extraction   Examples ar
(mining), gathering, fishing, e - Transport, communication, trade,
agriculture. banking, media etc.
 
 6. Distinction between Subsistence & Intensive Farming:
 
Subsistence Farming  
 This type of farming is carried out to meet the needs of the farmer’s family.
 It is done generally on a traditional basis using low levels of technology and household labour.
 A variety of crops are raised in small quantity on a small plot of land.
 
Intensive Farming  
 It is a kind of subsistence farming only where a farmer cultivates a small plot of land by simple
tools and more labour.
 Climate with large number of day’s sunshine and fertile soils help in growing more than one
crop on the same plot in a year.
 This type of farming is common in the thickly populated areas of the monsoon regions of south,
southeast and east Asia.
7. Describe the various kinds of commercial farming.
Answer: The different kinds of commercial farming are-
Commercial grain farming:
 In this type of farming, crops are grown for commercial purpose in areas that are sparsely populated with
large farms spreading over hundreds of hectares.
 Severe winters restrict the growing season and only a single crop can be grown.
 Wheat and maize are common commercially grown grains.
Mixed farming:
 In such type of farming, the land is used for growing food and fodder crops and rearing livestock.
Plantation farming:
 In this type of farming, a single crop is grown using large amount of labour and capital.
 The production may be processed on the farm itself or in nearby factories.
 The development of a transport network is thus essential for such farming.
 Primarily crops like tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, banana or cotton are grown in this type of
farming.

Answer: 
Jute and Cotton are fibre crops.

The climatic conditions required for the growth of Jute are:

 High temperature
 Heavy rainfall
 High humidity
The climatic conditions required for the growth of cotton are:

 High temperature
 Light rainfall
 Bright sunshine
8. Major Crops and Producing States in India
Largest Rice producing state in India is West Bengal
Largest Wheat producing state in India is Uttar Pradesh
Largest Sugarcane producing state in India is Uttar Pradesh
Largest Maize producing state in India is Andhra Pradesh
Largest Cotton producing state in India is Gujarat
Largest Banana producing state in India is Tamil Nadu
Largest Tea producing state in India is Assam
Largest Coffee producing state in India is Karnataka
Largest Rubber producing state in India is Kerala
Largest Pulses producing state in India is Madhya Pradesh