Revision Notes for Class 10 Social Science

Geography Chapter 4 - Agriculture

Agriculture is an age-old economic activity. About two-thirds of our population is engaged in

agriculture. Agriculture not only produces grains but also raw materials for many industries.

Types of Farming

Farming varies from subsistence to commercial type.

At present the following farming systems are practiced:

1. Primitive Subsistence Farming

• It is also called slash-and-burn agriculture.

• This type of farming is majorly practiced on small patches, using primitive tools like
hoe, dao and digging sticks. Family and community labour are involved in this type of
farming.

• Nature plays a significant role in this type of farming. The production depends upon
fertility, monsoon and the suitability of other environmental conditions.

• First, a patch of land is cleared and then food crops are grown on it. After the soil
fertility decreases, they shift to another patch which allows the previous patch to
replenish the nutrients and new fertile land for plantation.

No modern equipment or advanced farming techniques are used in this type of farming.

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2. Intensive Subsistence Farming

Usually practised in areas where there is high pressure of production on land. Various
biochemical inputs and modern irrigation techniques are used to aid production.

3. Commercial Farming

• High doses of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, fertilisers, insecticides and

• pesticides are used.

• Rice is a commercial crop in Haryana.

• Another type of commercial farming is plantation in which a single crop is grown over
a large area.

In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc.. are important plantation crops. Tea in
Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown
in these states.

Cropping Patterns

Three cropping seasons:

1. Rabi

• Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer
from April to June.

• Wheat, barley, peas, gram, and mustard are major rabi crops.

states from the north and northwestern parts such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh grow most quantities of wheat and other
rabi crops.

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2. Kharif

• Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon and are harvested in September-
October.

• Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar),
moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean.

Some of the most important rice-growing regions are Assam, West Bengal, coastal regions of
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, particularly the
(Konkan coast) along with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

3. Zaid

• A short season during the summer months, in between the rabi and the Kharif seasons
is known as the Zaid season.

Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops are some of the major zaid
crops.

Major Crops

1. Rice

• India is the second-largest producer of rice in the world after China.

• It is a Kharif crop and requires elevated temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity
with annual rainfall above 100 cm.

Major rice production is found in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas, and
the deltaic regions.

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2. Wheat

• It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall.

• There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Satluj plains
in the northwest and the black soil region of the Deccan.

The major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and
parts of Madhya Pradesh

3. Millets

• Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India.

• Jowar is a rain-fed crop cultivated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and

Madhya Pradesh

• Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil.

• Major Bajra producing States were: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and
Haryana.

• Ragi grows well on dry red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.

Major ragi-producing states are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

4. Maize

• It is a Kharif crop and requires a temperature between 21°C to 27°C.

• Grows well in old alluvial soil.

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Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
and Madhya Pradesh.

5. Pulses

• Major pulses cultivated are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, and peas.

• They help in restoring soil fertility as there are leguminous crops and nitrogen fixation.
These crops are grown in rotation with cereal crops.

Major pulse-producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Food Crops other than Grains

1. Sugarcane

• It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.

• It grows well in a hot and humid climate and 21°C to 27°C as temperature

• Rainfall between 75cm and 100cm is required for its proper cultivation.

• India is the second-largest producer of sugarcane, after Brazil.

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar,
Punjab and Haryana are major producers of sugarcane.

2. Oil Seeds

• In 2008 India was the second largest producer of groundnut in the world after China.

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 • 12 per cent of the total cropped area of the country is used for the cultivation of various
oil crops.

• The main oil seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til),
soybean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed, and sunflower.

• Groundnut is a kharif crop.

• Gujarat was the largest producer of groundnut followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu.

• Linseed and mustard are rabi crops.

• Sesamum is a Kharif crop in the north and a rabi crop in south India.

Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crops.

3. Tea

• Tea is a labour-intensive industry.

• Assam, the hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala are major tea-producing states in India. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in
the country.

India was the third-largest producer of tea after China and Turkey in 2008.

4. Coffee

• In 2008 India produced 3.2 per cent of the world coffee production.

It is cultivated in the Nilgiris in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

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5. Horticulture Crops

• In 2008 India was the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after
China.

• Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,
oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya), bananas of Kerala, Mizoram,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, lichi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, pineapples
of Meghalaya, grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra, apples, pears,
apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are in great demand
the world over.

India produces 13 per cent of the world’s vegetables.

Non-food Crops

1. Rubber

• It grows in a moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm and
temperatures above 25°C.

• It is grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the
Garo hills of Meghalaya

India ranked fourth among the world’s natural rubber producers.

2. Fiber Crop

l. Silk

• It is obtained from cocoons of the silkworms that feed on mulberry leaves.

The rearing of silkworms to produce silk fibre is known as sericulture.

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II. Cotton

• India was the second-largest producer of cotton after China in 2008

• It grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau.

• It requires elevated temperature, light rainfall, and irrigation, 210 frost-free days and
bright sunshine.

• It is a Kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature.

Major states are– Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

III. Jute

• It is known as golden fibre.

• Elevated temperature is required for its growth.

West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya are the major jute-producing states.

Technological and Institutional Reforms

1. The main focus of the First Five Year Plan by the government was ‘land reform’.

2. The Government of India introduced agricultural reforms in the 1960s and 1970s to
improve agriculture.

3. The Green Revolution and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were some of the
strategies adopted to improve Indian agriculture.

4. In the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development programme was initiated,
which included both institutional and technical reforms.

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 5. Important steps like provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire
and disease, the establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for
providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest.

6. Kissan Credit Card (KCC), and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some
other schemes introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers

The government also announces minimum support prices, remunerative and procurement
prices for important crops which helps to increase farmer’s profit and promotes them to grow
more crops.

Contribution of Agriculture to the National Economy, Employment and Output

• In 2010-11 about 52 per cent of the total workforce in India was employed under the
farming sector.

• More than half of the Indian population is dependent on agriculture for their sustenance

The establishment of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural

universities, veterinary services and animal breeding centres, horticulture development,
research, and development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast, etc. were given
priority for improving Indian agriculture.

Food Security

• If any segment of our population does not have this access, that segment suffers from a
lack of food security.

• The remote areas of the country are more prone to natural disasters and uncertain food
supply.

• The government has resorted to two components (a) buffer stock and (b) public
distribution system (PDS), to ensure food availability to all.

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 • PDS provides food grains and other necessities at subsidized prices to the poor.

• Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring and stocking food grains,
while distribution is ensured by the public distribution system (PDS).

The FCI procures food grains from the farmers at the government-announced minimum
support price (MSP) and then is given to the poor at subsidised prices.

Impact of Globalization on Agriculture

• After 1990, under globalisation, the farmers in India have faced new challenges in the
international market.

• Despite being an important producer of rice, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, jute and spices
Indian agricultural products are not able to compete with the developed countries
because of the highly subsidized agriculture in those countries.

• Genetic engineering is recognized as a powerful supplement in inventing new hybrid

varieties of seeds that can increase production and make farming more profitable.

In fact, organic farming is much in vogue today because it is practiced without factory-made
chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides and promotes organic farming.

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