Lesson - 4: Agriculture MCQs for Class-10 Geography

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MCQs for Class-X Geography

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Key Points:

• Primitive Subsistence Farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil. It is a 'slash and burn' agriculture.
• Intensive Subsistence Farming is practiced in areas of high population pressure on land. The right of inheritance led to the division of land among successful generation and has rendered land holding size uneconomical.
• Commercial Farming is the use of higher doses of modern inputs. (e.g. High yield variety HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides).
• Rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha its a subsistence crop.

Plantation:

• In this type of farming a single crop is grown on a large area
• It is capital-intensive and involves a considerable amount of migrant laborers
• Example: Tea ( Assam ), Coffee ( North Bengal ), Rubber ( Kerala ), Sugarcane ( Uttar Pradesh) and Banana ( Kerala ).
• India has three main cropping seasons - Rabi, Kharif and Zaid.

Rabi Crops: 

• Rabi Crops are sown in Winter ( Oct - Dec ) and harvested in summer ( Apr - Jun ).
• Main Rabi crops include wheat , barley, peas, gram and mustard.
• Availability of precipitation during winter months due to the western temperate cyclones helps in the success of these crops.
• The success of the green revolution in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan has also been an important factor in the growth of the Rabi crops.

Kharif Crops:

• Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October.
• Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean.
•  Recently, paddy has also become an important crop of Punjab and Haryana.
• In states like Assam, West Bengal and Odisha, three crops of paddy are grown in a year. These are Aus, Aman and Boro.

Zaid Crops:

• 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.

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Rice: 

• It is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in India.
• Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China. 
• It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm. 
• In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation. 
• Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions. 
• Development of dense network of canal irrigation and tubewells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.

Wheat:

• This is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country. 
• This rabi crop requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening. 
• It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing season.
• There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country – the Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and black soil region of the Deccan. 
• The major wheat-producing states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Millets:

• Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India. Though, these are known as coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value. 
• For example, ragi is very rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage. 
• Jowar is the third most important food crop with respect to area and production. It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation. Major Jowar producing States were Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 2011-12.
• Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil. Major Bajra producing States were: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana in 2011-12.
•  Ragi is a crop of dry regions and grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils. Major ragi producing states are: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh. 

Maize:

• It is a crop which is used both as food and fodder. It is a kharif crop which requires temperature between 21°C to 27°C and grows well in old alluvial soil.
• In some states like Bihar maize is grown in rabi season also. 
• Use of modern inputs such as HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation have contributed to the increasing production of maize. 
• Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

Pulses:

• India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world. These are the major source of protein in a vegetarian diet. 
• Major pulses that are grown in India are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram. 
• Pulses need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions. 
• Being leguminous crops, all these crops except arhar help in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.
• Therefore, these are mostly grown in rotation with other crops. Major pulse producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Sugarcane:

• It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop. It grows well in hot and humid climate with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and an annual rainfall between 75cm. and 100cm. 
• Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall. It can be grown on a variety of soils and needs manual labor from sowing to harvesting. 
• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil. It is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggary), khandsari and molasses. 
• The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.

Oil Seeds: 

• In 2008 India was the second largest producer of groundnut in the world after china. 
• In rape seed production India was third largest producer in the world after Canada and China in 2008. 
• Different oil seeds are grown covering approximately 12 per cent of the total cropped area of the country. 
• Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower. 
• Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums. However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments. 
• Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Gujarat was the largest producer of groundnut followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 2011-12. 
• Linseed and mustard are rabi crops. Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India. Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop. 

Tea:

• Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture. It is also an important beverage crop introduced in India initially by the British. 
• Today, most of the tea plantations are owned by Indians. The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates endowed with deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter. 
• Tea bushes require warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year. Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender leaves. 
• Tea is a labor intensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour. 
• Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness. Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country. 
• In 2008 India was the third largest producer of tea after China and Turkey.

Coffee:

• In 2008 India produced 3.2 per cent of the world coffee production. Indian coffee is known in the world for its good quality. 
• The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country. This variety is in great demand all over the world. Intially its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills and even today its cultivation is confined to the Nilgiri in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Horticulture crops:

• In 2008 India was the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China. 
• India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits. 
• Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya), bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, lichi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, pineapples of Meghalaya, grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra, apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are in great demand the world over. 
• India produces about 13 per cent of the world’s vegetables. It is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato.

Rubber:

• It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas. 
• It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm. and temperature above 25°C. 
• Rubber is an important industrial raw material. It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya. 
• In 2010-11 India ranked fourth among the world’s natural rubber producers. 

Fibre Crops:

• Cotton, jute, hemp and natural silk are the four major fibre crops grown in India. 
• The first three are derived from the crops grown in the soil, the latter is obtained from cocoons of the silkworms fed on green leaves specially mulberry.
• Rearing of silk worms for the production of silk fibre is known as sericulture.

Cotton:

• India is believed to be the original home of the cotton plant. Cotton is one of the main raw materials for cotton textile industry. 
• In 2008 India was second largest producer of cotton after China. 
• Cotton grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. It requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sun-shine for its growth. 
• It is a kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature. 
• Major cotton-producing states are– Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Jute:

• It is known as the golden fibre. Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year. 
• High temperature is required during the time of growth. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Meghalaya are the major jute producing states. 
• It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts. 
• Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly the nylon.

Plans and Policies in Indian Agriculture:

• Agriculture which provides livelihood for more than 60 per cent of its population, needs some serious technical and institutional reforms. ‘Land reform’ was the main focus of our First Five Year Plan. 
• The right of inheritance had already lead to fragmentation of land holdings necessitating consolidation of holdings.  
• The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were some of the strategies initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture. 
• Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest were some important steps in this direction. Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other schemes introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers. 
• Moreover, special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers were introduced on the radio and television. 
• The government also announces minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.
• Mahatma Gandhi declared Vinoba Bhave as his spiritual heir. He also participated in Satyagraha as one of the foremost satyagrahis. He was one of the votaries of Gandhi’s concept of gram swarajya. After Gandhiji’s martyrdom, Vinoba Bhave undertook padyatra to spread Gandhiji’s message covered almost the entire country. Once, when he was delivering a lecture at Pochampalli in Andhra Pradesh, some poor landless villagers demanded some land for their economic well-being. Vinoba Bhave could not promise it to them immediately but assured them to talk to the Government of India regarding provision of land for them if they undertook cooperative farming. Suddenly, Shri Ram Chandra Reddy stood up and offered 80 acres of land to be distributed among 80 land-less villagers. This act was known as ‘Bhoodan’. Later he travelled and introduced his ideas widely all over India. Some zamindars, owners of many villages offered to distribute some villages among the landless. It was known as Gramdan. However, many land-owners chose to provide some part of their land to the poor farmers due to the fear of land ceiling act. This Bhoodan-Gramdan movement initiated by Vinoba Bhave is also known as the Blood-less Revolution.
• Today, Indian agriculture finds itself at the crossroads. To make agriculture successful and profitable, proper thrust should be given to the improvement of the condition of marginal and small farmers. The green revolution promised much. But today it’s under controversies. It is being alleged that it has caused land degradation due to overuse of chemicals, drying aquifers and vanishing biodiversity. The keyword today is “gene revolution”. Which includes genetic engineering. 
• Infact organic farming is much in vogue today because it is practised without factory made chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides. Hence, it does not affect environment in a negative manner. 
• A few economists think that Indian farmers have a bleak future if they continue growing foodgrains on the holdings that grow smaller and smaller as the population rises. India’s rural population is about 600 million which depends upon 250 million (approximate) hectares of agricultural land, an average of less than half a hectare per person.
• Indian farmers should diversify their cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops. This will increase incomes and reduce environmental degradation simultaneously. Because fruits, medicinal herbs, flowers, vegetables, bio-diesel crops like jatropha and jojoba need much less irrigation than rice or sugarcane. India’s diverse climate can be harnessed to grow a wide range of high-value crops.

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