Social Sciences: Class 10 (Part 1) — Chapter 4: Agriculture

Practised on small patches of land with primitive tools like hoe, dao, and digging sticks, using family/community labour. It depends on monsoon, natural fertility of the soil, and environmental suitability.

• Also known as slash and burn agriculture.
• When soil fertility decreases, farmers shift to a fresh patch of land, allowing nature to replenish fertility.
• Known as Jhumming in North-Eastern states (Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland), Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar (Chhattisgarh) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• International names: Milpa (Mexico/Central America), Conuco (Venezuela), Roca (Brazil), Masole (Central Africa), Ladang (Indonesia), Ray (Vietnam).
• Local Indian names: Bewar or Dahiya (MP), Podu or Penda (Andhra Pradesh), Pama Dabi / Koman / Bringa (Odisha), Kumari (Western Ghats), Valre / Waltre (SE Rajasthan), Khil (Himalayan belt), Kuruwa (Jharkhand).

Practised in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour-intensive, using high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation to obtain higher yields. Landholdings are small and uneconomical due to the right of inheritance.

Characterised by the use of higher doses of modern inputs like HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides, and pesticides to obtain higher productivity.

• The degree of commercialisation varies by region (e.g., rice is commercial in Punjab/Haryana but subsistence in Odisha).
• Plantation: A type of commercial farming where a single crop is grown on a large area using capital-intensive inputs and migrant labour. Examples: tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana.

• Sowing: Winter (October to December).
• Harvesting: Summer (April to June).
• Crops: Wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard.
• Regions: Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh.
• Factors: Availability of precipitation from western temperate cyclones; success of the Green Revolution.

• Sowing: Onset of monsoon (June-July).
• Harvesting: September-October.
• Crops: Paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut, soyabean.
• Regions: Assam, West Bengal, coastal Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra.
• Paddy Crops: In Assam, West Bengal, and Odisha, three crops of paddy are grown in a year: Aus, Aman, and Boro.

• Duration: Short season during summer months between Rabi and Kharif.
• Crops: Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder crops. Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow.

• Rice: Staple food crop. India is the 2nd largest producer after China. Requires high temperature (above $25^\circ\text{C}$), high humidity, and annual rainfall above $100\text{ cm}$.
• Wheat: Second most important cereal crop. Requires a cool growing season, bright sunshine at ripening, and $50\text{ to } 75\text{ cm}$ of annual rainfall. Grown in Ganga-Satluj plains and Deccan black soil region.
• Millets: Coarse grains with high nutritional value. Ragi (rich in iron, calcium), Jowar (rain-fed, mostly in Maharashtra, Karnataka), Bajra (grows on sandy and shallow black soils).
• Maize: Used as both food and fodder. Requires temperature between $21^\circ\text{C} \text{ to } 27^\circ\text{C}$ and grows well in old alluvial soil.
• Pulses: India is the largest producer and consumer. Major source of protein in vegetarian diets. Leguminous crops (except arhar) that restore soil fertility by fixing nitrogen. Examples: tur, urad, moong, masur, peas, gram.

• Sugarcane: Tropical and subtropical crop. Grows in hot and humid climates with temperature of $21^\circ\text{C} \text{ to } 27^\circ\text{C}$ and rainfall of $75\text{ cm} - 100\text{ cm}$. India is the 2nd largest producer after Brazil.
• Oil Seeds: Cover $12\%$ of total cropped area. Groundnut (Kharif crop, Gujarat is leading producer), mustard, coconut, sesamum, soyabean, castor, linseed, sunflower.
• Tea: Plantation agriculture and beverage crop. Grows well in tropical/subtropical climates with deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus. Requires warm, moist, frost-free climate and frequent showers. Labor-intensive.
• Coffee: Indian coffee is known for quality. The Arabica variety from Yemen is grown mainly in Nilgiri (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu).
• Horticulture Crops: India is the 2nd largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Produces tropical and temperate fruits (e.g., mangoes, oranges, bananas, grapes, apples).

• Rubber: Equatorial crop requiring moist/humid climate, rainfall $> 200\text{ cm}$, and temperature $> 25^\circ\text{C}$. Grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman & Nicobar, Garo hills.
• Fibre Crops: Cotton, jute, hemp, and natural silk. Rearing of silkworms is called sericulture.
• Cotton: Kharif crop. Grows in drier parts of black cotton soil of Deccan plateau. Requires high temperature, light rainfall, $210$ frost-free days, and bright sunshine.
• Jute: Known as the golden fibre. Grows on well-drained fertile soils of flood plains. Requires high temperature during growth.

• Institutional Reforms: Collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation, and abolition of zamindari. Land reform was the focus of the First Five Year Plan.
• Technological Reforms: Green Revolution (package technology) and White Revolution (Operation Flood) in the 1960s-1970s.
• Comprehensive Land Development Programme (1980s-1990s): Crop insurance against natural calamities, establishment of Grameen banks and cooperative societies for low-interest loans.
• Farmer Support Schemes: Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS), special weather bulletins, and Minimum Support Price (MSP) announcements.

Initiated by Vinoba Bhave, Gandhiji's spiritual heir. Known as the Blood-less Revolution.

• Bhoodan: Shri Ram Chandra Reddy offered $80$ acres of land to landless villagers in Pochampally, Telangana.
• Gramdan: Zamindars offered entire villages to landless peasants.