Chapter 4 - Agriculture

The green revolution was introduced to increase agricultural productivity in India when the country faced the food shortage. White revolution is one of the strategies that were introduced to increase efficiency. The white revolution is also known as Operation Flood. The revolution was started in the year 1970. The white revolution is the initiative to create the nationwide milk grid.

Rabi crop

The wheat is the most important cereal crop in India. This is the main food crop in the northern part of India. This is the rabi crop which needs cool and bright sunshine.

The in between season of the Kharif and Rabi, there will be a short season and that season is known as zaid season. The two crops which are grown in this season are watermelon and cucumber.

The fibre crops are the-food crops which are used for commercial use. This is mainly used for clothing purpose. The famous fibre crops are cotton and jute.

The silk is obtained from the cocoons of silkworm which is mainly fed in the mulberry leaves. The process of rearing silk is known as sericulture.

The farming activity is very much different from the old traditional way to the modern way of farming. There are very much changes in the methods of cultivation. The factors which have been very influential in the changes in the method of cultivation are:

• Physical environment

The physical environment is being changed every day in the world. There is a number of reasons for the change in the physical environment but we can quote one major change that is climatic change. The climate has been changed in most of the parts of the world and it is getting unfavourable for the world. Even the icy polar region started melting because of the heat. This contributes to the majorly towards the change in the method of cultivation.

• Technological factor

Another factor which influences the method of cultivation is technology. When there is a technological advancement in any sector then it will be adopted because of the increase in productivity and time. For example, the traditional way of ploughing the farming land was with bullocks but it has eventually changed towards the tractor which saves labour and time. Even for the increment in productivity the crops are being modified nowadays.

• Socio-cultural aspect

The method of practicing agriculture differs from different socio-cultural groups. It can be seen majorly in India where there are plenty of different socio-cultural groups. This method of difference will be according to the climatic features of the areas and crops which they are cultivating.

The shifting agriculture is the primitive subsistence farming which has been practised in olden times. This is also known as slash and burn agriculture and this type of agriculture has different names in different countries that is the northern part of India it is known as Jhumming, Milpa in Mexico and Central America, Canvuo in Venezuela, Roca in Brazil, Masole in Central Africa, Ladang in Indonesia and Ray in Vietnam.

In India, itself it is known in different as India is diversified country. It is the form of agriculture; the farmers cultivate the crops from the farming land which is sustained for the family. After the cultivation when the soil fertility decreases then burns the patch of farming land and shifts to another patch of land for cultivating.

This burning will produce the ash in the land itself which will be used by the land as manure and this ash helps the land to replenish the soil fertility. This is the natural way of replenishing the soil fertility of land without using the chemical fertilizers. After restoring the fertility of the land the farmer will again start to cultivate in the same patch of land.

The movement of the Bhoodan- Gramdan was initiated by the Vinoba Bhave. The idea of this movement was started when Vinoba Bhave was leading the Gandhiji's Padyatra in Andhra Pradesh. In the speech of Vinoba Bhave in Andhra Pradesh he came to know the problems faced by the rural landless farmers, therefore after this raised the issue in front of the government.

Immediately Shri Ram Chandra Reddy stood up and offered 80 acres of land to 80 landless farmers. After that many zamindars started offering the land and this was known as Bhoodan. When he tried to take this idea to entire India this was known as Gramdan where many villagers started offering the land for the redistribution.

Some of the zamindars were offering the land because of fear of the land ceiling act which was introduced by the government of India. This movement of offering the land to the poor landless farmers was known as Bhoodan-Gramdan movement led by Vinoba Bhave. This movement is also known as Blood-less Revolution.

The five features of Indian agriculture are:

a. Indian agriculture is mainly intensive subsistence in character. It means that it is a labour intensive type of farming, practiced on areas with a high population pressure on land.

b. India has three cropping seasons- rabi, kharif and zaid.

c. The major crops grown in India are rice, wheat, tea, coffee, sugarcane, millets etc.

d. It provides a livelihood to around 60% of the Indian population.

e. The Government of India has made many efforts for the development of agriculture. For example:-

1. Horticulture development

2. Animal breeding center

3. Research and development in the weather forecast

4. Introduced the concept of minimum support price and procurement prices

5. Provision for Crop Insurance

6. Establishment of Grameen Bank

7. Kisan credit card and personal accident insurance schemes are introduced

8. Special Weather bulletin for farmers

Agriculture and industry are complementary to each other in the following manner:

a. There are various industries which require the inputs from the agricultural sector. For example, the cotton textile industry requires cotton from the agricultural sector.

b. Agriculture sector requires various input for its modernization which are provided by the industrial sector. For example, insecticides, pesticides, PVC pipes, irrigation systems etc.

c. The agriculture sector provides a market to the industrial sector's goods. The consumer the products produced by the industries such as clothes, television etc

d. The excess labour from the agricultural sector gets absorbed in the industrial sector.

e. The agriculture sector provide the food grains the labours employed in the industrial sector to keep them healthy and making them productive.

Wheat and rice farming in India are fairly different from each other in the following way:

1. Rice is the staple food crop of the majority of the population of India and wheat is the second most important cereal crop.

2. Rice is a tropical crop and grows best in the best monsoon season. Wheat is a Rabi crop and requires Alluvial soil and black soil for its growth.

3. The temperature required for the farming of rice is above 250 degree Celsius with a high degree of humidity. Wheat is grown in a cool season accompanied with bright sunshine at the time of ripening.

4. Rice required an annual rainfall above 100 cm. It requires heavy rainfall in summer and during less rainfall, the need can be fulfilled by irrigation. Wheat requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall which should be spread evenly over the growing season.

5. Rice is grown in the plains of north and North Eastern India, the coastal region and Delta region. Wheat grows in the Ganga Sutlej plain in the Northwest and the black soil area of Deccan.

(a) The prerequisite for the development of plantation is a strong system of transport and communication connecting the market area with the plantation area, along with the use of the capital intensive technique.

(b) The values displayed by the interface of agriculture and industry are of independence and innovation.

A. A tea-producing state- ASSAM

B. A coffee-producing state- KARNATAKA

OR

The largest producer state of tea-ASSAM

C. A rubber-producing state-KERALA

D. A wheat-producing state-PUNJAB

E. The largest producer state of sugarcane-UTTAR PRADESH

F. The largest producer state of jowar- MAHARASHTRA

OR

A major sugar-producing state- UTTAR PRADESH

G. Major cotton-production state- GUJARAT

H. Major jute- producing state- WEST BENGAL