SUBJECT: GEOGRAPHY GRADE 10

Agriculture – Notes.

1. Distinguish between subsistence farming and commercial farming.

Subsistence farming Commercial farming

The farming practice in which crops are The farming practice, in which the
raised for personal consumption, it is farmer grows crops for the purpose of
known as subsistence farming trade, it is called commercial farming
Nature Labor intensive Capital intensive

Area It is practiced in small area. It is practiced in large area.

It is enhanced through the use of It is enhanced through higher doses of

Productivity
manures and natural fertility of soil. modern inputs.

Crops grown Food grains, fruits and vegetables Cash crops and cereals

Method of It depends on monsoon and primitive It uses modern irrigation methods like
irrigation methods. tube wells and canals.

Cultivation Traditional methods are used. Machines are used.

2. Explain the features of Intensive subsistence farming.
1. Intensive subsistence farming is practiced in areas of high population pressure on land
2. It is labor-intensive farming where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for
obtaining higher production.
3. This type of farming is practiced in the states of U.P., Haryana, Bihar, etc.
4. The ‘right of inheritance’ leading to the division of land among successive generations has
rendered landholding size uneconomical.
5. The farmers continue to take maximum output from the limited land in the absence of
alternative source of livelihood.

3. Briefly explain how plantation has an interface of agriculture and industry?

• Plantation is a type of farming in which single crop is grown on a large area.

• Plantation is an agricultural activity that produces raw material for various industries like
tea, coffee, sugarcane etc.

• It is a link between agricultural and industrial sectors.

4. Discuss the main features of Rabi, Kharif and Zaid crops.
Rabi
• Rabi crops are sown in
winter from October to
December.
• Harvested in summer
from April to June.
• Important rabi crops
are wheat, barley, peas,
gram and mustard.
• Rabi crops are mainly
grown in Punjab,
Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Uttaranchal
and Uttar Pradesh
Kharif
• Kharif crops are sown
with the onset of
monsoon.
• Harvested in
September-October.
• Important crops grown
during this season are
paddy, maize, jowar,
bajra, tur (arhar),
moong, urad, cotton,
jute, groundnut and
soya bean.
• Kharif crops are grown
in Assam, West Bengal,
coastal regions of
Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala
and Maharashtra
Zaid
• In between the rabi and
the kharif seasons,
there is a short season
during the summer
months known as the
Zaid season.
• Some of the crops
produced during ‘zaid’
are watermelon,
muskmelon, cucumber,
vegetables and fodder
crops.
• Sugarcane takes almost
a year to grow.

5. Give the reasons for success of rabi crops in North-Western India.

Rabi cultivation is successful in North-Western India because of

1. Availability of rainfall during winter due to western disturbances.

2. Successful implementation of Green Revolution.
 6. Explain the importance of pulses in agricultural pattern in India.

1. Pulses need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions

2. They are mostly grown in rotation with other crops because as leguminous crops.

3. They fix nitrogen from air with soil and restore soil fertility. So pulses cultivation is very
important in India.

7. What term is used for grouping of small land holdings with bigger ones?

The term used for grouping of small land holdings with bigger ones is consolidation of
land holdings.
8. Name the two most important staple food crops in India. Mention the geographical
conditions required for their growth.
The two most important staple food crops in India are rice and wheat.
The geographical conditions required for the growth of rice are as follows.

• It requires high temperature—above 25°C.

• It requires high humidity for its growth.
• It requires annual rainfall above 100 cm.

• The geographical conditions required for the growth of wheat are as follows.
• It is a rabi crop and needs cool growing season.
• It requires bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
• It also requires 50 to 70 cm of annual rainfall, well distributed over the growing
season

9. Irrigation has changed the cropping pattern of many regions, with farmers shifting to
water-intensive and commercial crops.

• Due to the success of the Green Revolution in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and
parts of Rajasthan, these states have started growing rabi crops like wheat, barley, peas and
gram.
• Paddy has become an important crop of Punjab and Haryana. In states like Assam, West
Bengal and Orissa, three crops of paddy are grown in a year. They are Aus, Aman and
Boro.
• The development of canal irrigation and tube wells has made it possible to grow rice in
areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and parts of
Rajasthan.
• The use of modem inputs like HYV (High Yielding Variety) seeds, fertilizers and
irrigation has contributed to high production of maize
10. Explain rubber cultivation in India under the following heads.
(a) Importance
(b) Geographical conditions
(c) Any two rubber-producing states

• Importance: Rubber is an important industrial raw material.

• Geographical conditions: It is an equitable crop, which is grown in tropical and
subtropical areas.
• It requires moist and humid climate with temperature above 25°C and rainfall above
200 cm.
• Two rubber-producing states: It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Garo hills of Meghalaya

11. Various initiatives taken by the central and state governments to ensure the increase in
agricultural production after independence. Explain.

Various initiatives taken by the central and state governments to ensure the increase in
agricultural production after independence are as follows.

• Collectivism, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari, etc. were

given priority to bring about institutional reforms in the country after independence.
• Land reforms were the main focus of the First Five Year Plan.
• The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution
(Operation Flood) were some of the strategies initiated to improve Indian agriculture.
• Minimum Support Price Policy, provisions for crop insaurance, subsidy on agricultural
inputs and resources such as power and fertilisers.
• Grameen banks, Kissan Credit Card (KCC) and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme
are some of the reforms brought by the government.
Q 14 Maps

1. Distribution of crops (Major Producing States)

2. Distribution of Rice- Page 37 (Text Book)

3. Distribution of Wheat- Page 39 (Text Book)

 MAJOR CROPS OF INDIA

Sl.No. Crop Geographical requirement Areas of Production

1. Rice-Kharif Crop Staple Crop in India, Kharif Plains of north and north-
crop, requires25º C eastern India, coastal areas
temperature, and high humidity and the deltaic regions.
with annual rainfall above 100 West Bengal, Andhra
cm. Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala.

2. Wheat-Rabi Crop Temperature 15º C-20º C 50- Ganga-Satluj plains in the

75 cm annual rainfall, cool northwest Black soil region
growing season and bright of the Deccan Punjab,
Sunshine at the time of Haryana, Uttar, Pradesh
ripening.

3. i) Jowar, i) Rain-fed crop – grown in i)Maharashtra, Karnataka,

moist areas Andhra Pradesh ii) Rajasthan,
ii) sandy soils and shallow Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
ii) bajra black soil. iii) Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
iii) Crop of dry regions and Himachal Pradesh
grows well on red, black,
iii) ragi sandy, loamy and shallow
black soils

4. Sugarcane source Tropical as well as a Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,

of sugar, gur subtropical crop. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
(jaggary), It grows well in hot and humid
khandsari and climate with a temperature of
molasses. 21°C to 27°C and an annual
rainfall between 75cm. and
100cm

5. Tea - Beverage Grows in tropical and Assam, West Bengal, Tamil

crop subtropical climates, require Nadu and Kerala.
warm and moist frost-free
climate all through the year,
fertile well drained soil,
Temperature 20º C to 30º C.
Rainfall 150-300cm.

6. Coffee - Beverage Temperature 15º C to 28º C Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil

crop Rainfall 150-200cm Nadu.
7. Cotton - Fibre Black soil, high Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Crop temperature,210 frost free days Madhya Pradesh,
and bright sunshine for its
growth.

8. Jute- ‘Golden Grows well on well drained West Bengal, Bihar, Assam,
Fibre’ fertile soils in the floodplains Odisha
where soil is renewed every
year, High temperature during
its growth.

9. Maize - Food and kharif crop which requires Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Fodder Crop temperature between 21°C to Uttar Pradesh,
27°C and grows well in old
alluvial soil.