CBSE Class 10 Social Science Agriculture Notes Set 05

Why agriculture matters

India is an agrarian country: a large share of its people depend on farming for food and income, and many industries depend on farm produce as raw material. Farming also supports exports such as tea, coffee, spices and rice.

Types of farming

1. Primitive subsistence farming: small patches of land, simple tools such as the hoe, dao and digging stick, family labour, and dependence on monsoon rain and natural soil fertility. Slash and burn (shifting) cultivation is a form of it. Farmers clear a patch of forest, burn it, grow crops, and move on when fertility falls. It is called jhumming in the North-East, and by other names elsewhere in India.

2. Intensive subsistence farming: practised where population pressure on land is high. It is labour intensive and uses high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation to get a high yield from a small holding. Division of land by inheritance keeps holdings small.

3. Commercial farming: uses modern inputs such as high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides to raise productivity. Plantation farming is a type of commercial farming in which one crop (tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana) is grown over a large area, with the produce supplying industries.

Cropping seasons

1. Rabi: sown in winter (October to December) and harvested in summer (April to June). Examples: wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard.

2. Kharif: grown with the onset of the monsoon and harvested in September-October. Examples: paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, cotton, jute.

3. Zaid: a short season between rabi and kharif in the summer months. Examples: watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops.

Major crops at a glance

1. Rice (kharif, staple): needs temperature above 25°C, high humidity and annual rainfall above 100 cm; grown in the plains of the north and north-east, coastal areas and deltas.

2. Wheat (rabi): needs a cool growing season, bright sunshine at ripening and 50-75 cm rainfall; main areas are the Ganga-Satluj plains and the black soil region of the Deccan.

3. Millets (jowar, bajra, ragi): coarse grains that grow in drier regions. Jowar is rain-fed and Maharashtra is a leading producer; bajra grows on sandy soil and Rajasthan is a leading producer; ragi grows on red, black and sandy soils and Karnataka is the largest producer.

4. Maize: needs 21-27°C and grows well on old alluvial soil.

5. Sugarcane: tropical and sub-tropical crop needing hot and humid climate with 75-100 cm rainfall. India is among the world's largest producers.

6. Tea: needs warm, moist, frost-free days with frequent showers and well-drained, humus-rich soil. Grown in Assam, the hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

7. Coffee: needs a hilly area with well-drained soil; grown mainly in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

8. Rubber: needs moist, humid climate with temperature above 25°C and rainfall above 200 cm; grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

9. Cotton: a kharif crop of black soil needing about 100 cm rainfall and about 210 frost-free days; grown in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

10. Jute: called the golden fibre; needs well-drained fertile soil and high temperature during growth; grown in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya. High cost and competition from synthetic fibres have reduced its market.

Reforms in agriculture

Technical reforms include better seeds, fertilisers, water pumps and weather bulletins. Institutional reforms include consolidation of holdings, abolition of the zamindari system, cheap credit through banks and cooperatives, crop insurance and Kisan Credit Cards. Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan-Gramdan movement tried to persuade landowners to give land voluntarily to the landless.

Worked examples

Example 1. Why is jute losing its market? Jute is costly compared with synthetic fibres and packaging materials, especially nylon. Its main uses are gunny bags, mats, ropes and carpets, where cheaper substitutes now compete.

Example 2. Distinguish rabi and kharif crops. Rabi crops are sown in winter and harvested in summer, for example wheat and gram. Kharif crops are sown with the monsoon and harvested in autumn, for example paddy and maize.

Example 3. Name two beverage crops and their needs. Tea needs warm, moist, frost-free weather and humus-rich, well-drained soil. Coffee needs a cool climate and hilly, well-drained land.

Quick Check Questions