Agriculture and vegetation in India

Agriculture in India
● Definition: the practice of cultivation of soil and rearing of animals to provide food and other products
● Almost ⅔ of Indians depend on agricultural activities
● Primitive subsistence farming :
○ No surplus
○ No technology
○ Usually shifting cultivation or slash and burn cultivation
● Intensive subsistence farming:
○ High irrigation,chemical inputs →high productivity
● Commercial farming
○ Modern methods
○ High yielding variety of seeds
● Cropping patterns
○ Kharif,rabi,zaid

In states like Assam,West Bengal and Odisha 3 crops of paddy are grown in a year
->aus,Aman,boro
Let's learn about soil types in India!
Soil is the mixture of rock debris and organic matter that develop on earth's surface.
● Vertical section of soil is called soil profile
● On the basis of genesis, colour,composition and location, the soils of India have
been classified into:
● (i) Alluvial soils
● (ii) Black soils
● (iii) Red and Yellow soils
● (iv) Laterite soils
● (v) Arid soils
● (vi) Saline soils
● (vii) Peaty soils
● (viii) Forest soils.
Rice
● Kharif crop
● High temperature
● High humidity
● Rainfall above 100cm
● India is the second largest producer of rice in the world
● Grown in plains of north and north eastern India,coastal plains and deltaic
regions
● Canal irrigation makes it possible to be grown in Punjab,Haryana etc
Wheat
● Second important staple crop
● Needs cool growing season and bright sunshine at the time of ripening
● 50-75 cm rainfall evenly distributed throughout growing season
● Mainly grown in Ganga-satluj plains of northwest and black soil region of
Deccan
Major wheat producers
Millets
● Also called coarse grains
● Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses that are cultivated as
grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.
● Jowar,bajra,ragi etc
● Rich in iron, micronutrients and roughage( fiber)
● Jowar
○ 3rd important crop in terms of area and production
○ Rainfed crop
○ Major producer states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhrapradesh
● Bajra
○ Needs Sandy soil or shallow black soil
○ Major producers are Rajasthan,Uttar pradesh, Maharashtra
● Ragi
○ Crop of dry regions
○ Grows well on red,black,Sandy,loamy,shallow black soils
○ Major producers are Karnataka,Tamil Nadu,Himachal pradesh
International year of Millets
● India's proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 was approved
by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2018 and the United Nations
General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
● India is the largest producer of millets in the world
● Merits
○ Less expensive and nutritionally superior
○ Rich in calcium and magnesium
○ Can help fight hidden hunger
○ Low glycemic index which means they can help tackle diabetes and obesity
○ Resilient to climate change
○ Low carbon and water footprint
● Government has given a push by increasing Minimum Support price of Millets
Maize
● As both food and fodder
● Kharif crop
● Need 21-27⁰celsius of temperature
● Old alluvial soil
● Karnataka is the top maize producing state in India, followed by Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra
Pulses
● India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world

● Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka

● All(except arhar) fix nitrogen and help in restoring soil
Sugarcane
● Tropical as well as subtropical crop
● Need a temperature of 21 to 27 ⁰ celsius
● Annual rainfall of 75-100cm
● India is the second largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil
● Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugarcane in India, followed by
Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Oil seeds
● Accounts for 12% of the cropped area of the country
● Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut,mustard, coconut,
sesamum (til), soyabean,castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower
● GROUNDNUT
○ Kharif crop
○ Gujarat is the largest producer
● Linseed(ചണവിത്ത്) and mustard(കടുക്) are rabi crops
● Sesamum(എള്ള്) and castor seed as both rabi and kharif
Tea
● Plantation crop
● Grows in tropical as well as subtropical climates
● Needs warm and moist frost free climate throughout the year with frequent
showers
● India is the second largest producer of tea after China
● Major producers are Assam, West Bengal,Tamil Nadu and Kerala
Coffee
● India grows Arabica variety of coffee
● Mainly grown in Nilgiris of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Horticultural crops
● include fruits, vegetables, medicinal, aromatic, and ornamental plants
● India is second largest producer of fruits and vegetables after China
● Mangoes of Maharashtra,Bananas of Kerala,Lichu and guava of
Uttarpradesh,Apples,pears and apricots of Jammu,Himachal and Ladakh.
● India is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato,
brinjal and potato
Rubber
● Equatorial climate
● Moist and humid climate with rainfall more than 200cm
● Mainly grown in Kerala,Tamil Nadu,Andaman and Nicobar
Fibre crops
● Major fibre crops in India are cotton,jute,hemp(one of the fastest growing
plants on earth) and natural silk
Cotton
● Need high temperature
● Light rainfall
● 210 frost free days and bright sunshine for its growth
● Grows well on _______ soil
● Kharif crop
● Requires 6-8 months to mature
● Major cotton producing states are Maharashtra,Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh
Jute
● also called golden fibre
● Grows on well drained fertile soils on flood plains
● Requires high temperature
● West Bengal,Bihar,Assam,Odisha and Meghalaya are major producers
Green Revolution in India
● Pre-independence - In 1943, India was ravaged by a famine in the Bengal
region.Over 3 million people lost their lives due to starvation.Back then,
India suffered from an acute food shortage partly due to the colonial
hangover and mainly depended on foreign aid for imports of wheat.

● Post- independence- India signed a long-term Public Law (PL) 480

agreement to get food aid under Government agricultural trade
development assistance, with the US in 1954.The ships would land on our
shores with grains and they would directly go to feed the people and they
called it a “ship-to-mouth’ existence
C Subramaniam’s role - C Subramaniam, who became the Food and Agriculture
Minister in Shastri’s Cabinet came up with two-point formula.To provide price
incentives to farmers.To go in for science and technology application

Fourth Five Year Plan was redrafted with higher financial allocation for
agriculture and agricultural research was given priority.
Problem with the traditional wheat and rice varieties was that they were tall
and slender.

They fell flat on the ground when they grew and their earheads were heavy with
well-filled grains produced in response to high fertiliser doses.

The seeds of the Green revolution were sown in the 1940s, when an American
scientist named Norman Borlaug was hard at work creating his dwarf varieties
with Norin-10 dwarfing genes.
1st Phase- Mid 1960s to mid-1970s

The use of HYV seeds was restricted to the more affluent states such as Punjab,
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.Further, the use of HYV seeds primarily
benefited the wheat growing regions only.

2nd phase- Mid-1970s to mid-1980s

The HYV technology spread to a larger number of states and benefited more
variety of crops
● GR technology was more suited to the areas that had adequate irrigation
facilities as well as proper water irrigation system.
● While on the one hand the HYV seeds required high doses of chemical
fertilizers for their growth, the use of fertilizers in turn generated weeds,
requiring the application of weedicides
MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE
● MSP is the guaranteed amount paid to farmers when the government buys
their produce
● MSP is based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural
Costs and Prices (CACP).
● CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare.
● The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime
Minister of India takes the final decision (approve) on the level of MSPs.
● The CACP recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and
remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane
Assignment:Millets and their names in Malayalam.
Note on National mission on edible oil
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