AGRICULTURAL LAND USE IN INDIA

 Contribution of land in agricultural output

 More : compared to other sectors.
 Lack of access to land : responsible for poverty in rural areas.

 Quality of land
 Directly impacts the productivity of agriculture.
 Fertility = Production

 Land : denotes social status

 Rural areas : land ownership has social value.
 Serves as security for credit, natural hazards
CROPPING SEASONS IN INDIA
 Agriculture in Southern India

 This distinction : does not exist in southern parts

of the country.

 WHY? : temp. is high enough to grow tropical

crops during any period in the year due to soil
moisture.

 Same crops can be grown thrice in an agricultural

year
 TYPES OF FARMING : SOURCE OF MOISTURE

1. IRRIGATED FARMING 2. RAINFED FARMING

 Doesn’t depends upon rainfall.  Depends upon rainfall.

 Division : On the basis of objective  Division : Adequacy of soil moisture
 (i) Protective & (ii) Productive  (i) Dryland & (ii) Wetland

PROTECTIVE IRRIGATION PRODUCTIVE IRRIGATION

 To protect the crops from adverse  To provide sufficient soil moisture in

effects of soil moisture deficiency the cropping season to achieve high
 Irrigation acts as a : productivity
supplementary source of water  Water input per unit area of cultivated
over and above the rainfall. land is higher than protective irrigation
 2. RAINFED FARMING

DRYLAND FARMING WETLAND FARMING

 Receives more than 75cm annual

 Confined to the regions having annual
rainfall.
rainfall less than 75 cm
 Such regions may face flood and
 Involves : soil moisture conservation
soil erosion hazards
& rainwater harvesting practices
 Water intensive crops - rice, jute
 Drought resistant crops - ragi, bajra,
and sugarcane are grown
moong, gram and guar are grown
 Practices aquaculture in the
freshwater bodies.
 FOOD GRAINS

 Dominant crops.
 Occupy : 2/3rd of total cropped area in the
country.
 Division : Basis of structure
1. Cereals
2. Pulses.
 CEREALS

 Occupies : 54% of total cropped.

 India : Ranks 3rd & produces 11% cereals
of the world.
 India produces a variety of cereals :
 (i) Fine grains : rice, wheat
 (ii) Coarse grains : jowar, bajra, maize, ragi
 RICE
 Climate : Requires Tropical humid weather.
 In Southern states and West Bengal : climatic conditions allow the cultivation of rice
twice or thrice in an agricultural year.
 In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’. –
 But in Himalayas and northwestern parts : it is grown as a kharif crop during
southwest Monsoon season.
 Distribution : -
 Leading producers : W. Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab
 Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal & Kerala : high
yield of rice.
 Yield of this crop is very low in : Madhya Pradesh, Odisha & Chhattisgarh.
 WHEAT
 Introduction : 2nd most important cereal crop after rice.
 Climate : crop of temperate zone.
 Cultivated during rabi season in india.
 Mostly grown in irrigated conditions.
 Distribution : - Leading producers : Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and
Rajasthan.
 Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir : growing wheat under
rainfed conditions have low yield.
 India’s share : India produces 12.8% of total wheat production of world (2017).
 Covers : 14% of the total cropped area.
 JOWAR

 Introduction : Among these, Jowar or sorghum alone accounts 5.3% of total

cropped area.
 Climate : Sown in both kharif and rabi seasons in southern states.
 But it is a kharif crop in northern India where it is mostly grown as a fodder crop.
 Distribution : Main food crop in semi-arid areas of central & southern India.
 Maharashtra : alone produces more than half of the total jowar production of the
country.
 Other leading producers : Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.
 BAJRA
 Climate : Sown in hot and dry climatic conditions in northwestern and western parts of
the country.
 It is cultivated alone as well as part of mixed cropping.
 Distribution : - Occupies about 5.2% of total cropped area in the country.
 Leading producers : Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana
 Being a rained crop : yield level of this crop is low in Rajasthan and fluctuates a lot
from year to year.
 In Haryana & Gujarat : Yield of this crop has increased during recent years due to
introduction of drought resistant varieties and expansion of irrigation under it.
 MAIZE

 Maize : food as well as fodder crop grown under semi-

arid climatic conditions and over inferior soils.
 Distribution : Covers 3.6% of total cropped area.
 It is sown all over India except Punjab and eastern and
north-eastern regions.
 Leading producers : Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, U.P, etc
 PULSES
 Rich sources of proteins.
 Being Legume crops : increases soil’s fertility through nitrogen
fixation.
 Occupy.
 Being the rainfed crops of drylan11% of the total cropped areads,
the yields of pulses are low and fluctuate from year to year.
 Main pulses cultivated in India :- (a) Gram & (b) Tur
 GRAM

 Climate : Cultivated in subtropical areas.

 Cultivated during Rabi season in : central, western and northwestern parts.
 Just one or two light showers or irrigations are required to grow this crop
successfully.
 Distribution : It has been displaced from the cropping pattern by wheat in
Haryana, Punjab and northern Rajasthan following the green revolution.
 Main producers : Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan
 TUR

 Also known as red gram or pigeon pea.

 Covers 2% of total cropped area.
 Maharashtra : alone contributes about one-third of the total
production of tur.
 Leading producer : Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh.
 OILSEEDS

 Produced for extracting edible oils.

 Major oilseeds growing regions : Drylands of Malwa plateau,
Marathwada, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, etc.
 Covers 14% of total cropped area.
 Main Oilseed Crops : Groundnut, rapeseed and mustard,
soyabean and sunflower.
 GROUNDNUT

 India : produces about 18.8% of the total groundnut production in

the world (2018).
 It is largely a rained kharif crop of drylands.
 But in southern India, it is cultivated during rabi season as well.
 Covers 3.6% of total cropped area.
 Leading producers : Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
 RAPESEED & MUSTARD

 Comprise several oilseeds as rai, sarson, toria and taramira.

 Cultivated during rabi season in N-W & central parts of India.
 About 2/3rd of the cultivated area under these crops is irrigated.
 Covers 2.5% of total cropped area.
 Rajasthan : contributes about 1/3rd production.
 Yields of these crops are comparatively high in Haryana and
Rajasthan.
 SOYABEAN : Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra : produces 90%
 SUNFLOWER CULTIVATION : Concentrated in : Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana and adjoining areas of Maharashtra
 It is a minor crop in northern parts of the country where its yield is high due to
irrigation.
 FIBRE CROPS :-
 Provides us fiber for preparing cloth, bags, sacks and a number of other items.
 Main Fiber Crops : Cotton & Jute.
 COTTON
 Tropical crop grown in kharif season.
 Requires clear sky during flowering stage.
 Covers 4.7% of total cropped area.
 India ranks 2nd after China in production
 India grows both short staple (Indian) cotton as well as long staple (American) cotton
called ‘Narma’.
 3 cotton growing areas:-
(i) North-West : Punjab, Haryana & N. Rajasthan (ii) West : Gujarat & Maharashtra
(iii) South : Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu in south.
 Leading producers : Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana
 JUTE

 Used for making : coarse cloth, bags, sacks and decorative

items.
 Cash crop in : West Bengal and adjoining eastern parts of
the country.
 India lost large jute growing areas to East Pakistan
(Bangladesh) during partition.
 India : produces 3/5th of jute of the world.
 West Bengal : accounts for 3/4th of the production in the
country
 SUGARCANE

 Crop of tropical areas.

 Uttar Pradesh : produces about 2/5th of sugarcane.
 W. India : spread over Maharashtra & Gujarat.
 S. India : tracts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Andhra
Pradesh.
 India : 2nd largest producer of sugarcane after Brazil in 2018.
 Accounts for 19.7% of the world production.
 Other leading producers : Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu &
Andhra Pradesh.
 TEA

 Black tea leaves : fermented,

 Green tea leaves : unfermented.
 In India : tea plantation started in 1840s in Brahmaputra valley
of Assam.
 Later on, its plantation was introduced in the sub-Himalayan
region of West Bengal.
 Ranks 2nd among tea exporting countries.
 Leading producers : Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu
 COFFEE

 Tropical plantation crop.

 3 varieties of coffee : Arabica, Robusta and liberica.
 India mostly grows superior quality coffee, Arabica : which is
in great demand in International market.
 India produces only 3.17% coffee of the world and ranks 8th.
 Cultivated in the highlands of : Western Ghats in Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
 Karnataka : 2/3rd production