CHAPTER 4 - AGRICULTURE (GEOGRAPHY SOCIAL SCIENCE CLASS 10)

1. Name one important beverage crop and specify the geographical conditions required for its growth.

Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture. It is also an important beverage crop introduced in India initially by the British. Today, most of the tea plantations are owned by Indians. The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates endowed with deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter. Tea bushes require warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year. Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender leaves. Tea is a labour-intensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour. Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness. Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country. In 2008 India was the third largest producer of tea after China and Turkey.

2. Name one staple crop of India and the regions where it is produced.
Rice and wheat are the staple crops in India.

Rice: It is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in India. Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China. It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm. In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation. Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions. Development of dense network of canal irrigation and tube wells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.

Wheat: This is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country. This rabi crop requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening. It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing season. There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Sutlej plains in the northwest and black soil region of the Deccan. The major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

3. Enlist the various institutional reform programmes introduced by the government in the interest of farmers.

Agriculture has been practised in India for thousands of years. Sustained uses of land without compatible techno-institutional changes have hindered the pace of agricultural development. Although sources of irrigation had developed most of the farmers in large parts of the country still depend upon monsoon and natural fertility in order to carry on their agriculture. For a growing population, this poses a serious challenge. Agriculture which provides livelihood for more than 60 per cent of its population, needs some serious technical and institutional reforms. Thus, collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari, etc. were given priority to bring about institutional reforms in the country after Independence. ‘Land reform’ was the main focus of our First Five Year Plan. The right of inheritance had already led to fragmentation of land holdings necessitating consolidation of holdings. institutional reforms. 

The laws of land reforms were enacted but the law of implementation was lacking or lukewarm. The Government of India embarked upon introducing agricultural reforms to improve Indian agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s. The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were some of the strategies initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture. But, this led to the concentration of development in few selected areas. Therefore, in the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development programme was initiated, which included both institutional and technical reforms. Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest were some important steps in this direction. Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other schemes introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers. Moreover, special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers were introduced on the radio and television. The government also announces minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.

4. The land under cultivation has got reduced day by day. Can you imagine its consequences?

Due to the increasing population, the land under cultivation is decreasing day by day and apart from the increasing population, poor quality of land, land degradation, and shifting of agricultural land to secondary activities and human settlements are also reducing the land under cultivation day by day.

Consequences of reduction of agricultural land: (i)India will turn in to food deficit from food surplus country. (ii)India will face shortage of raw material for its agriculture based industries. (iii)The poor farmers will become poorer and it will also lead to sharp rise in prices of the agricultural items.

5.  Suggest the initiative taken by the government to ensure the increase in agricultural production.

Minimum Support Price policy, provision for crop insurance, subsidy on agricultural inputs and resources such as power and fertilizers, Grameen Banks, Kissan Credit Card and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme are also some of the reforms bought by Indian Government.

6.  Describe the impact of globalisation on Indian agriculture.

Globalisation is not a new phenomenon. It was there at the time of colonisation. In the nineteenth century when European trader came to India, at that time too, Indian spices were exported to different countries of the world and farmers of south India were encouraged to grow these crops. Till today it is one of the important items of export from India.

During the British period cotton belts of India attracted the British and ultimately cotton was exported to Britain as a raw material for their textile industries. Cotton textile industry in Manchester and Liverpool flourished due to the availability of good quality cotton from India.

The Champaran movement which started in 1917 in Bihar. This was started because farmers of that region were forced to grow indigo on their land because it was necessary for the textile industries which were located in Britain. Indigo was used as a dye for the textile industries because those days chemical dyes were not used. Therefore, farmers were unable to grow food grains to sustain their families.

Under globalisation, particularly after 1990, the farmers in India have been exposed to new challenges. Despite being an important producer of rice, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, jute and spices our agricultural products are not able to compete with the developed countries because of the highly subsidised agriculture in those countries.

Today, Indian agriculture finds itself at the crossroads. To make agriculture successful and profitable, proper thrust should be given to the improvement of the condition of marginal and small farmers. The green revolution promised much. But today it’s under controversies. It is being alleged that it has caused land degradation due to overuse of chemicals, drying aquifers and vanishing biodiversity. The keyword today is “gene revolution”. Which includes genetic engineering.

7. Group discussion on the necessity of literacy among farmers.

Approximately 23-25% of farmers were mid-age (31-45 years) and 30-34% of farmers were illiterate, while 32-35% had completed their primary education, 21-29% had completed their secondary school education, and only 2-7% had graduated. 

Literacy among farmers helps to farm in the following ways:

It helps in assessing the suitability of the crop according to soil and climate. Helps in reducing the input cost of farming. Helps in assessing the feasibility of integrated farming. It helps in getting good prices for agricultural produce from the market.