8 Agriculture in India

Topics Covered
Types of crops Food crops Cash crops Development offarmingRearing livestock

Occupation' means the work that a person does regularly. Most people work so that they
etc. Write two or three
can earnmoney for the things they need-food, shelter, clothes,
in these blanks:
occupations of the members of your family or of people whom you know,
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It is
occupations in India. A major one is agriculture or farming.
an
There are several
farmers growa variety of crops.
ancient and traditional occupation in India. Indian

TYPES OF CROPS
There are two types of crops:
food crops-grown for food, either to be Rice
Wheat

by the farmer or to sell

used IAMillet

to sell
cash crops-grown by the farmer only

Crops are cultivated in:

fields-small areas of land for crops like
wheat, rice or mustard

plantations-large areas to grow plants and

OF
trees like tea or cOconuts ARABIAN
8ENCAL
SEA
trees
orchards-farms that only grow truit
like mango or apple trees
FOOD CROPS
Rice and wheat are staple (main) food for
the INDIAN oCEAN

some places where they

are
most Indians. In main food crops of India
Map showing the
diet.
8rown, millets are part of the 59
 Rice DIJYou
Know
Rice needs a warm, humid of rice
climate and thousands of varieties

There a r e
plenty of water. The main
rice-growin8 Some have long grains;
others have small

areas are There are als0 varieties

parts of the northern plain, the or round grains.
Assam Valley, parts of the brown or black
yellow,
plateau region that have red,
varieties have a
scent which
and the coastal areas of east and west
grains. Many
India. In the east and the south, where there makes them popular.
Is
enough water, farmers grow two or three rice is
of grown,
in the year. In the north and the west only one crop
Ce
during the monsoon. Maize

Wheat
Wheat
This winter crop needs a cool, dry climate. Punjab,
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are India's main wheat
growing states, though it is also grown in other areas. Rice
Millets
It is the staple food of the people of this region.
A variety of grains-talk about
Millets their colours and sizes

Millets are food crops with small grains. Bajra, jowar and ragi are millets. They grow
in the drier regions of the country and form a part of the diet of people living there.
Other food crops are potatoes, pulses (daals), maize (corn), fruit and vegetables.
Coconut
CASH CROPS . Cotton
Jute

Sugar cane, cotton, jute and tea are some cash Oilseeds
Sugar cane
crops grown by many Indian farmers. Oilseeds E Tea

like groundnut (peanuts), mustard and sunflower

are also important cash crops

oilseeds
BAY
1RABIAN
Seeds from which oil is extracted are called SEA OF
BENGA
oilseeds. This oil is used for cooking or for
making soap and other products. Machines are
used to press the oil out of the seeds. The leftover
matter is used to feed cattle. The most widespread
oilseeds are peanuts. Oil is also extracted from INDIAN

the seeds of sunflower and mustard plants. Oilseeds

Map showing theOCEAN
main cash crops
of India
are grown in many places like the Deccan Piateau
and the drier areas
in the Nest.
50
cotton
Cotton grows well in black soil and in a warm,
dry climate which helps the cotton bolls to ripen
and burst. Cotton fabric is made from the fibres of
the cotton boll. The chief cotton-growing areas are
Punjab, Haryana, Maharas htra, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Sugar cane
A ripe cotton boll, ready to be
Sugar cane needs a warm climate and enough picked
water. Sugar is made from sugar cane juice. Most of India's sugar cane comes from
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Jute
Jute needs a hot, damp climate. The fibre from the jute plant is used for making
bags, carpets, fabric, ropes, etc. Jute grows mostly in West Bengal. Some is also
grown in Assam, Bihar and Odisha.

Tea
Tea needs a warm, humid climate. The tea plant cannot grow in standing water-
the water needs to drain away-so it is usually grown on hill slopes. Assam and
West Bengal are the main tea-producing states. Some tea is also grown in the hilly
regions of the south.

Coconut
Coconut requires a high temperature and plenty of
rainfall all the year round. Every part of the coconut Discuss
tree-the trunk, leaves, shells, fibre and fruit-can Which of these food or cash
be used in different ways. Most of the coconuts crops crops are used in your home?
in India are grown in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.

DEVELOPMENT OF FARMING
A farmer does the following things to get good crops:
The soil is made ready for planting by ploughing (digging and turning over).
The farmer sows good quality seeds so
thatthe
crop is healthy.
 Sufficient water is needed to irrigate (water) the rops.
The farmer adds fertilizer to make the
plants grow wen irrigating
by irrigating them and
During the growing period, the farmer cares for the crops by
protecting them from pests.
When the crops are ripe, the farmer harvests then.
next crop thne larmer
again for the
drvesting the crop, the whole cvcle starts

will grow in the same fields.

Irrigation
Land preparation Seed sowing

Crop growth
Harvesting Fertilizing
is there an
he flow chart shows the stages in growing good crops
-

why
arrow from 'harvesting' to "land preparation?
traditional
was done in the
formany centuries, this process of growing crops
natural fertilizers-animal
way. tarmers ploughed fields using animals. They used
on the rains to
manure or compost-to help plant growth. They usually depended
irrigate their crops.
In many parts of India, these traditional methods are still used. However, in the
20th century there were some changes in the way farming is done

Food grains produced in India were not always sutfficient to feed a growing
population. In the mid-20th century, there was the 'Green Revolution'. New
seeds that could produce more food per crop were developed. These needed
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. More and more farmers used these, so India
was able to produce enough food grains for its needs.

I n many places, farmers now use machines to do some work. For example,
tractors are used to plough the land.

Preparing land for sowing using animals (left); a tractor (right)

62
. In some places Canals have been dug to help farmers. They carry river water to
dry areas.

Television and the Internet provide information about seeds and prices of crops
to farmers, which is very helpful for them.

Though the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides helped to produce more

abundant crops, many people feel that such

chemicals are not good for the health. For
this reason, a lot of people are going back
Thfnkand Answer
to the traditional methods of farming. These Why is organic farming considered
to be better for health than farming
are called organic methods -they do not use
with artificial chemicals?
chemicals.

REARING LIVESTOCK
Livestock' means the animals that are kept
on a farm. In India the main animals kept on
farms are cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep and
pigs. Cows and buffaloes are kept for their
milk. India is the topmost milk producer in
the world. Other animals are kept for their
meat. There also large poultry farms, which
Buffaloes being fed on a farm
supply chicken and eggs to the market.
Farming provides an occupation to millions of Indians and supplies food and other
useful things to the people of the country.

Values and Life Skills

Farmers can have problems that people who live in towns often do not realize. For
example, if the rains are poor, or if there are floods, crops are ruined and the farmers
get no income. How can we try to understand the various difficulties that farmers face?

REMEMBER
1. Important food crops grown in India are rice, wheat and millets.
2. Some cash crops grown in India are oilseeds, cotton, sugar cane, jute, tea and coconut.
5. Many farmers use traditional methods, but since the 20th century there have been
changes in farming methods.
4. People are again realizing the importance of organic, or natural, farming.
5. Livestock of different types is also kept on farms.

63
 WORDS
the seeds
Boll the part of the cotton plant that contains
Plough to dig and turn over the soil in a field
will grow
that crops
Irrigate Supply water to an area of land so

Fertilizer a substance added to soil to make plants grow wel the soil
mixed With to
over o r
Manure waste matter from animals that is spread

help plants grow be added to soil to hel

that can
of decayed plants, food,
etc.
Compost a mixture

plants grow
artificial chemicals
Organic farming methods that do not use

EXERCISES
A. Match the following:
A B
1. food grains a. every part is useful
2. wheat b. winter crop
3. cotton C. carpets, ropes, sacks
4. jute d. rice, wheat and millets
5. coconut e. burst boll

B. Fill in the blanks in this flow diagram.

Ploughing- Plant gro

Harvesting
C. Write true or false.
Correct the false sentences in your notebook.
1 After oilseeds are crushed,
the leftover material is thrown
awavy-
Oilseeds are grown in the Deccan Flateau and the
dry western areas of
3 Manure and compost are chemical fertilizers. India
4. Many people feel that organic farming is better for health

5. India is the topmost producer of milk.

 1. Crop table

tn tent and nma}ps m this chapter to

complete the following
Climate it needs Where it
table in your notebook.
Crop
grows Food/Cash crop
Rice

Assam, West Bengal, hills oí South India

Cool and dry
Jute
Millets
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
Warm and dry
Sugar Cane

E. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the difterence between a food crop and a cash crop?
What are the difierent types of crops grown in fields, plantations and orchards
3. Explain the importance of ploughing, irrigating and fertilizing to get good crops.
4. Write a briet paragraph on the Green Revolution.
5. How do tractors and canals help the farmer?
6. Name the livestock kept by Indian farmers.

THINGS TO DO

A. Picture study
the following:
Look at the two maps in this chapter and answer

. Which crops are grown in your state

neighbouring states
. Which crops are grown in

B. On your own made from plants, like jute

read about that are

of things that you have collection in class.

Make a collection
food grains, etc. Display your
Dags, samples of cotton cloth,

C. In a
group is made.
Cooking oils and the oilseed from which it
home
is used at
F i n d out what cooking oil to make a bar graph.
information from all the groups
s e this least in the class
most or
Which oil is used

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