CLASS NOTES GRADE 10

CHAPTER - 4
AGRICULTURE

Facts:
• 2/3rd population in India is engaged in agriculture.
• Agriculture is a primary activity.
• There is an inter dependence between agriculture and industries.

TYPES OF FARMING
1) Primitive Subsistence Farming

• It is practiced on small patches of land.

• Primitive tools such as hoe, dao, digging sticks etc are used.
• Labour is provided by self or by family members.
• This type of farming is dependent on natural resources like rainfall, natural fertility of
soil and suitability of other environmental conditions for crop grown.
Main example of this type of farming which is still practiced in India is-
Slash and Burn Farming/ Shifting Cultivation
• In this farmers clear a patch of forest land and burn the trees.
• The ashes are then mixed with soil to increase its fertility; land production is low as
farmers do not use fertilizers or other modern inputs.
• They grow crops like cereals etc .
• Once the fertility of soil decreases, they move on to some other land.

Note : Different names of this type of farming Jhum

– North eastern states of India.
Milpa – Mexico
Ladang – Indonesia
Ray- Vietnam
Dipa – Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Bewar or Dahiya - Madhya Pradesh.

2) Intensive Subsistence Farming

• This type of farming is practiced in the areas with high population pressure on land.
• It is labour intensive.
• High doses of bio chemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.
Note: The ‘Right of inheritance’ lead to division of land among successive generations has
reduced the land holding size; farmers continue to take maximum output from limited land,
creating enormous pressure on agricultural land.

3) Commercial Farming
• Higher doses of modern inputs are used example: HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers,
insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.
• It is labour and capital intensive.
• Plantation is a type of commercial farming, where single crop is grown on huge land size.
Types of crops grown are sugarcane, tea, coffee, banana etc.
• Large scale production takes place which is mainly for market purposes.
• A well developed network of transport and communication connecting the plantation
areas, processing industries and markets plays an important role.

CROPPING PATTERN
India has three cropping seasons –
1) RABI CROPS
• Sown – Winter from October to December
• Harvested – Summer from April to June.
• Important crops – Wheat, Barley, Peas, Gram, Mustard etc.
• Areas- north and north western part of India – Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, U.P, Rajasthan, Gujarat.
Note: Availability of winter rainfall in these regions due to western temperate cyclone helps
in the growth of crops.

2) KHARIF CROPS
• Sown – Onset of monsoon season
• Harvested – between September – October
• Important Crops – Paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, pulses, cotton, jute, groundnut.
• Areas – Assam, West Bengal, Coastal regions of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, Maharashtra etc.
Note: In places like Assam, West Bengal and Odisha three crops of paddy are grown a)
Aus (sown in summer and harvested in autumn)
b) Aman (sown during rainy season and harvested in winter)
c) Boro (sown in winter and harvested in summer)

3) ZAID
• In between the rabi and the kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer
months known as Zaid season.
• Crops grown are Watermelon, musk melon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops.
 MAJOR CROPS

1) RICE
• Staple food crop of majority of people.
• India is the second largest producer of rice in world after China.
• Climatic conditions:
a) It is a Kharif crop which requires high temperature (above 25)
b) High humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm.
Areas: Coastal areas, deltaic regions of India like West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh etc.
Plain areas of North and north eastern India.
Note: Canal irrigation and tube wells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less
rainfall like Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.

2) WHEAT (2nd important cereal crop after Rice in India)

• It is the main food crop of people living in north and north western part of India.
• Climatic Conditions:
a) It is a rabi crop which requires a cool growing season.
b) Bright sunshine is required at the time of ripening.
c) Annual rainfall required – 50 to 75cm which should be evenly distributed over growing
season.
Areas:
a) Ganga – Satluj Plains and Black soil region of Deccan.
b) Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

3) MILLETS
CROPS: RAGI JOWAR BAJRA •
These are known as coarse grains.
• They have high nutritional value.

JOWAR –
• It is the third important crop with respect to area and production
• It is rain-fed crop and is grown in moist areas and hardly needs irrigation.
• Areas: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh.

BAJRA-
• Grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil.
• Can grow in dry conditions.
• Areas: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra.
RAGI- rich in iron, calcium and other micro nutrients and roughage.
• Grows on red, black, sandy, shallow black and loamy soil.
• Can grow in dry conditions.
• Areas: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu.

4) MAIZE:
• It is used both as food and Fodder.
• It is a kharif crop.
• Temperature requirement is between 21 to 27 C.
• Grows well in old alluvial soil. Areas: Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh.
Note: In Bihar Maize is grown as rabi crop.

5) PULSES:
• India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses.
• They are major source of protein.
• Major pulses are : Arhar, Urad, moong, Masur, peas and gram.
• It requires less moisture and can survive dry conditions.
• They are leguminous crops and are mostly grown in rotation with other crops.
Areas: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan.

FOOD CROPS OTHER THAN GRAINS

1) SUGARCANE (Tropical and sub tropical crop)
• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil.
• It is the main source of sugar, jiggery, khandsari etc.
• Grows well in hot and humid climate. • Temperature requirement: 21 to 27 C.
• Annual rainfall between 75cm and 100cm.
• Manual labour is required from sowing and harvesting.
• Areas: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu.

2) OILSEEDS
• Main oilseeds produced in India are Groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum, soyabean,
cotton seeds etc.
• Most of these are edible and used for cooking.
• Used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.
• Groundnut (kharif crop) – Gujarat is the largest producer followed by Rajasthan and
Andhra Pradesh etc.
• Linseed and mustard (rabi crop).
Note: India is 2nd largest producer of Groundnut after China and 3rd largest producer of
Rapeseeds after China and Canada.
 12% of the total cropped area is used for growing different oil seeds.

3) TEA (Plantation)
• India is second largest producer after China.
• It is a beverage crop introduced by British.
• Grows well in tropical and sub tropical climates.
• Deep and fertile well drained soil rich in humus and organic matter.
• Requires warm and moist frost free climate.
• It is labour intensive.
• Areas: Assam, Darjeeling (west Bengal), Tamil Nadu etc

Note: Tea is processed within tea gardens to restore its freshness.

4) COFFEE
• Arabica variety is grown in India.
• India produces 3.5% of world’s coffee.
• Areas: Baba Budan Hills and Nilgiris in Karnataka, also grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu.

5) HORTICULTURE
• In 2015 India was the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after
china.
• India produce both Tropical and temperate fruits.
• Example: Mangoes – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh , Telengana, U,P o Oranges –
Nagpur ( Maharashtra), Cherrapunji o Bananas – Kerala, Mizoram o Pineapples –
Meghalaya.
o Grapes- Andhra Pradesh Telenagana and Maharastra.
o Lichi and Guava – UP and Bihar
o Apples, Pear, Apricot and Walnut – Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal

• India produces 13% of world’s vegetables like Potato, Tomato, onion, cabbage,
cauliflower, brinjal etc.

NON – FOOD CROPS

1) RUBBER
• It is an equatorial crop.
• Requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200cm.
• Temperature requirement is about 25 C.
• It is an important industrial raw material.
Areas: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar islands. Note:
Mainly rubber in India is used in auto tyres and tubes.

2) FIBRE CROPS: 4 main Fibre crops are – Cotton , jute, hemp and natural silk

SILK
• It is obtained from cocoons of the silkworms fed on green leaves especially mulberry.
• Rearing of silk worms for the production of silk fibre is known as sericulture.

COTTON (Kharif crop)

• India was the second largest producer of cotton after china.
• It is one of the main raw materials for cotton textile.
• Cotton grows well in drier parts of black cotton soil of Deccan plateau.
• It requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation.
• Requires 210 frost free days and bright sun shine for its growth.It is a kharif crop and
requires 6-8 months to mature.
• Areas: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka etc.

JUTE
• It is known as golden fibre.
• Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils. High temperature at the time of growth.
• It requires soil which gets renewed every year i.e. Khadar.
• It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, carpets etc.
• Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing material.
• Areas: West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya.