8 - Agriculture

CHAPTER 8 - AGRICULTURE

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction

1. Agriculture - The cultivation of the soil in order to grow crops and rear livestock is
known as agriculture.

2. Importance of Agriculture
a. food: provides food for expanding population and fodder for livestock;
b. capital: generates working capital for non-agricultural development, for
example it supplies raw materials for agro-based industries like textile,
sugar, food processing and vanaspathi;
c. market: provides large part of the market for industrial goods, especially farm
implements, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, etc;
d. export: accounts for 12 % of export;
e. employment: employs 58 % of labour force; and
f. GDP: contributes to 14 % of GDP (gross domestic product).

3. Problems faced by agriculture

a. environmental factors, like
— unreliable rainfall;
— lack of irrigation;
— soil erosion;
— bad methods of cultivation;
— faulty crop cultivation; and
— reduction in net sown area.
b. institutional factors, like
— small and fragmented landholdings; and
— exploitation of farmers.
c. economic factors, like
— subsistence agriculture;
— human elements; and
— globalisation challenges.
d. technological factors, like
— old and inefficient techniques.

4. Globalisation
a. definition: integrating the economy of a country with the world economy.
b. problems faced by India due to globalisation
— yields per hectare of major crops in developed countries is higher;
— reduction in import duties on agricultural products; and
— prices of most farm products in the international market are
declining, while in the Indian market prices are increasing.
c. reasons for decline in prices of farm products in international market
— use of sophisticated farm machinery;
— rapid progress in the field of biotechnology; and
— heavy subsidies given to farmers in developed countries.

5. Solutions to problems faced by farmers : steps taken by the government

a. introduction of the Green Revolution;
b. abolition of intermediates;

1
 8 - Agriculture

c. consolidation of landholdings;
d. good irrigation facilities;
e. minimum price for agricultural commodities;
f. kisan call centres;
g. subsidy on fertilizers;
h. national project on organic farming; and
i. balanced use of fertilizers.

6. Green Revolution
a. definition:
— term used to describe the manifold increase in India's farm
production and productivity,
— particularly in the case of major cereal crops like wheat,
— consequent to the adoption of the New Agricultural Strategy since
the late sixties,
— which enabled Indian economy to transform from food scarcity to
food self-sufficiency.
b. key elements of this strategy
— use of large capital and technological inputs;
— adoption of modern scientific methods of farming;
— use of HYV (high yielding varieties) of seeds;
— extension of irrigation facilities, particularly ground water
resources;
— proper use of chemical fertilizers;
— improvement in marketing and storage facilities;
— use of insecticides and pesticides;
— consolidation of landholdings;
— supply of agricultural credit; and
— rural electrification;
c. impact on Indian agriculture
— market-base: changed from subsistence oriented to commercial and
market oriented;
— self-sufficiency: development of intense agricultural production
system that increased production and paved the way for self-
sufficiency with respect to food grains;
— employment: adoption of new technology created more employment
opportunities in the agricultural sector;
— more returns: enabled farmers to gain increasing returns from
agriculture by greater utilisation of agricultural inputs; and
— rural prosperity: increased rural prosperity.

7. National agricultural policy

a. annual growth rate of 4 %;
b. review of tax structure;
c. protection of plant varieties through legislation; and
d. priority to rural electrification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Types of farming

1. Subsistence farming and Commercial farming

Parameter Subsistence Commercial
land small and scattered large farms

2
 8 - Agriculture

farming methods traditional mechanised

fertilizers, insecticides not used used
other inputs no HYV seeds or irrigation more capital investment
or electricity; depends upon
monsoon, natural soil
fertility and environmental
conditions
type of crop food crops cash crops
productivity very less always high

2. Shifting agriculture
a. other name: slash and burn method;
b. process: patch of forest land is cleared by cutting and burning of stumps; ash
spread on field as manure; after clearance of land, seeds are sown in the
ground; after 2 to 3 years, when fertility is lost, fields are abandoned; another
patch of land cleared and process repeated;
c. inputs: no ploughing or other agricultural practises;
d. menace to the environment: causes soil erosion, floods and silting;
e. yield: low yield per hectare;
f. reason for low yield: dependant on monsoon, natural soil fertility and other
environmental conditions.

3. Intensive agriculture and Extensive agriculture

Parameter Intensive Extensive
size of farm small large
number of crops more than one only one crop (or) mono-
crop (crop specialization)
work done by intensive labour machines
location densely populated regions sparsely populated regions
yield per hectare high low
overall yield low high; surplus for sale
inputs good quality seeds; rich capital intensive
manure and fertilizers;
irrigation

4. Plantation farming
a. land: large tracts of land or estates;
b. number of crops: single crop cultivated;
c. work done by: humans (labour intensive) and modern machinery;
d. inputs: huge capital investment, latest technology, modern scientific methods
of farming, chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides;
e. type of crop: commercial or cash crops.

5. Mixed farming
a. definition: raising of crops and animals simultaneously;
b. crops: two or more crops grown together; crop rotation practised;
c. benefit: steady income to farmers;
d. waste: animal waste used as manure; agricultural waste used as fodder.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kinds of crops

1. Food crops and Cash crops

3
 8 - Agriculture

Parameter Food crops Cash crops

purpose of growth local consumption primarily for sale; not for
grower and family
examples rice, wheat, millets (jowar, sugarcane, oilseeds
bajra and ragi) and pulses (groundnut, mustard and
soyabean), fibres (cotton
and jute), beverages (tea
and coffee), and others (like
tobacco and rubber)

2. Kharif crops, Rabi crops and Zayad crops (zayad or zaid) (memorize JS, OM,
AD and FA)
Parameter Kharif Rabi Zayad Kharif Zayad Rabi
sowing season June-July October- August- February-
November September March
harvesting September- March-April December- April-May
season October January
crops rice, maize, wheat, barley, oilseeds jowar, maize,
millets (jowar, gram, linseed, (groundnut, summer
bajra, ragi), mustard, mustard, vegetables and
sugarcane, potatoes soyabean) fruits
pulses, cotton,
jute

3. Cereals - Grass like plants with starchy edible seeds are known as cereals. For
example, rice, wheat, maize, barley, oats and millets.

4. Millets - Millets refer to a number of inferior grains, which serve as food grains for
the poorer sections of the society and whose straw makes a valuable cattle fodder.
They are dry crops requiring less rainfall and are resistant to drought. They are
coarse grains with peculiar size and texture and with a spherical shape. For
example, jowar, bajra and ragi.

5. Oilseeds - Crops from which oil can be extracted are known as oilseeds. Oilcake is
the residue left over after the extraction of oil from oilseeds, which is used as an
animal fodder and as good manure.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crops

1. Temperature, Rainfall, Soil, Distribution and Season (Kharif K and Rabi R)

Temperature (oC) Rainfall (cm) Soil Distribution

Rice (K) 16 to 20 (early 150 to 300 alluvial soil Tamil Nadu (highest
growing stage), 18 (heavy) with clayey yield), West Bengal,
to 32 (ripening subsoil Punjab, Uttar
stage) Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh
Wheat 10 to 15 (growing 50 to 100 well drained, Uttar Pradesh
(R) stage), 20 to 25 heavy (highest yield),
(harvesting stage) textured soil Punjab, Haryana
with lime,
alluvial and

4
 8 - Agriculture

black soils
Jowar 27 to 32 45 to 100 clayey and Maharashtra,
(K and sandy soil Madhya Pradesh,
R) Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana
Bajra (K 25 to 30 45 to 100 sandy loams, Rajasthan, Uttar
and R) black and Pradesh, Gujarat,
red soils Maharashtra,
Haryana
Ragi (K 20 to 30 45 to 100 red, light Karnataka, Tamil
and R) black and Nadu, Uttarkhand,
sandy loams Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh
Pulses 20 to 25 50 to 75 dry, light Madhya Pradesh,
(K in soil Maharashtra, Uttar
north Pradesh, Rajasthan,
and R in Andhra Pradesh
south)
Sugarca 20 to 30 100 to 150 well drained Uttar Pradesh,
ne (K) alluvial soil Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Haryana
Ground 20 to 25 50 to 100 sandy loams, Telangana (largest),
nut (K) loams and Gujarat, Tamil Nadu
well drained
soils
Mustard 10 to 20 25 to 40 loams, Uttar Pradesh
(R) heavier (largest), Rajasthan,
loams Punjab, Madhya
Pradesh, Haryana
Soyabea 13 to 24 40 to 60 friable Madhya Pradesh
n (K and loamy, acidic (leading), Rajasthan
R) soils and Maharashtra
Cotton 21 to 27 (abundant 50 to 75 (well light, well Gujarat (largest),
(K) sunshine during distributed, no drained Maharashtra, Tamil
early growth, 200 rain at the time alluvial and Nadu, Madhya
frost free days) of ripening) black soils Pradesh, Punjab
Jute (K) 24 to 35 150 to 250 alluvial soil West Bengal, Bihar,
found in Assam, Odisha
flood plains
and deltas of
rivers
Tea 24 to 30 150 to 250 (well light loams Assam Hills, West
distributed with little Bengal (Darjeeling),
rainfall and iron, porous Himachal Pradesh,
humid climate) subsoil Arunachal Pradesh,
which allows Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris
water to and Anamalai Hills)
percolate (highest yield per
hectare)
Coffee 15 to 28 (does not 150 to 200 (well loamy soil Karnataka, Tamil
tolerate frost or distributed) with humus Nadu (Nilgiris),
heat) on well Kerala

5
 8 - Agriculture

drained
hills, red
and laterite
soils

2. Rice
a. types of rice
Parameter Upland rice Lowland rice
location of growth mountains low-lying regions
sown in March - April June
harvested in September - October October
water dependence rainfall only rainfall and irrigation
used locally locally and export
b. methods of cultivation
— dry system: practised in areas without good irrigation but rain;
seeds are sown in rows with drills in heavy rainfall zones; seeds are
scattered with hands in moderate rainfall zones;
— puddle or wet system: practised in places with assured supply of
water; land is thoroughly ploughed; later land is filled with 3 - 5 cm of
standing water; water is maintained until seedlings are established.
c. sowing of seeds
— broadcasting: throwing and scattering of seeds randomly with the
hands, leading to uneven distribution;
— drilling: seeds sown in furrows with drills made of bamboo, leading
to systematic distribution of seeds;
— dibbling: dropping of seeds manually at regular intervals in
furrows with a dibble; a dibble is an implement for making holes in the
ground for seeds or plants.
d. transplanting method
— seedlings planted in nurseries;
— 4 - 5 weeks later, when the saplings attain 25 - 30 cm height, they
are transported to the fields;
— the fields are first flooded with 2 - 3 cm deep water, and then 4 - 6
cm of water till the crop matures.
e. advantages of transplanting
— only healthy plants are picked;
— less seed wastage; and
— higher yield.
f. japanese method
— HYV seeds called japonica are used;
— seedlings are planted in nurseries;
— manure used to increase crop yield;
— crops mature in 85 days;
— high yielding method.
g. harvesting
— fields drained dry;
— sickle (curved knife) used for harvesting;
— labour intensive work;
— stem cut 60 cm below grain to aid in threshing;
— moisture reduced by drying in the sun.
h. threshing
— separates grains from stalks;

6
 8 - Agriculture

— done by beating sheaves against wooden bars;

— done in rice fields itself to reduce the cost of transportation.
i. winnowing
— removes unwanted husk from grains;
— done by pouring grains from a height on a windy day; grains fall to
the ground, and the chaff is blown aside.
j. milling
— removes yellowish husk from grains;
— done by hitting grains in a wooden mortar with a heavy pestle,
yielding a high percentage of broken rice (traditional method), or in
machines (modern method);
— polished rice has a glossy texture, but lacks nutrition as many
vitamins are lost due to excessive rubbing; they are graded and stored
in sacks;
— traditionally, outer husk is removed by parboiling the grains and
drying them before removing the outer cover.
k. information
— rice is the staple diet crop of South India;
— India is the second largest producer of rice.

3. Wheat, Jowar, Bajra, Ragi and Pulses

Sowing Harvesting Related Information
Wheat broadcasting sickles, - needs less
and drilling modern water and not
machines in very fertile soil
many regions to grow and
mostly grows
on plains
Jowar broadcasting crop matures soil -
(mostly) and in 4 - 5 months management is
dibbling important
Bajra - - grown either staple food in
as a pure crop north-West
or a mixed Rajasthan and
crop with Gujarat; stalks
jowar, cotton used to feed
or ragi cattle or for
thatching
purposes;
Ragi broadcasting crop matures transplanted -
and drilling in 3 - 5 months on well
prepared
friable beds
Pulses - - grown in important part
rotation with of Indian diet;
other crops to good source of
restore soil protein
fertility
(leguminous
plant which fix
atmospheric
nitrogen)

7
 8 - Agriculture

4. Sugarcane
a. sowing
— sett method: new canes are planted by taking cuttings from old
plants; the cuttings or setts quickly become established; a few days
later buds sprout out to form new stalks; 4 - 5 stalks grow from each
cutting;
— ratooning: during the first harvest, sugarcane is cut leaving a little
bit of the stalk in soil with roots; the stalk soon puts out new shoots or
ratoons; the second or any successive crop obtained from the roots of
the leftover crop is known as a ratoon;
— seeds: practised where yield is low; planted in furrows and covered
with soil; there is 30 - 45 cm between rows to facilitate hoeing,
weeding, irrigation and harvesting.
b. advantages of ratooning
— saves labour;
— cheaper, as there are no extra inputs; and
— ratoon matures early.
c. disadvantages of ratooning
— thinner cane yield with lower sucrose content; and
— higher risk of pests and diseases.
d. harvesting
— harvested before the cane begins to flower;
— harvested before winter in the North to protect the crop from frost
— crop cut with long curved knife;
— stalk must be cut as near to the ground as possible as the greatest
accumulation of sucrose is towards the base of the stem.
e. processing
— has to be processed within 48 hours of cutting to preserve sugar
content;
— in mills, sugarcane is crushed between rollers and boiled with lime;
the sugarcane juice crystallizes and forms raw brown sugar.
f. uses
— gur and khandsari or brown sugar (two-thirds);
— white sugar (one-third);
— sugarcane juice;
— jaggery; and
— icing sugar (crushed sugar).
g. problems of sugarcane cultivators
— fertilizers: sugarcane is a soil exhausting crop, and therefore a lot
of fertilizers have to be used, which increases the production cost;
— distance: farms are far away from the mills, and a delay of 24
hours between harvesting and crushing reduces sugar content;
— transport: the cost of transportation increases production cost;
— annual crop: as sugarcane is an annual crop, farmers cannot
cultivate any other crop during that time, and this limits their income;
— irrigation: a lot of irrigation has to be provided; and
— prices: prices are fixed by the government, and most of the time
they are not profitable to the farmers.
h. role of government in solving problems
— co-operative societies: set-up to help farmers;

8
 8 - Agriculture

— rural credit banks: provide loans at low rates of interest to buy

farming tools, HYV seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; and
— irrigation: better irrigation means provided.

5. Groundnut, Mustard and Soyabean

Common and most important use - oilcake used as a cattle or animal feed
Information Sowing Harvesting Other uses
Groundnut also known as broadcasting entire plant  cooking oil
peanut or or drilling; self with roots (hydrogenat
monkey nut pollination; removed from ed oil)
flower soil; dried and  manufacture
elongates, packed into of soap,
turns sacks to be sent medical
downward and to mills or emulsions
buries fruit commercial and
where it establishments; margarine
matures; crops take 4 - 5  nuts eaten
mature fruits months to be raw,
are wrinkled ready for roasted,
shells with 1 - harvest salted or
4 seeds per sweetened
pod
Mustard grown as a grows in 4 - 5 months; harvested  oil used as
pure crop or a 1 - 2 weeks before the main crop; cooking
mixed crop collected in heaps in granaries; medium
with wheat, seeds separated by getting them  leaves
gram and trampled under bullock's feet (sarson)
barley eaten as a
vegetable
 manure
Soyabean native food 3 - 4 irrigations during growing  beans eaten
crop of East period; seeds covered with gur as vegetable
Asia; a (jaggery) and rhizobium before  beans made
leguminous sowing; mainly a rain-fed crop at into soya
crop helping in present sauce
crop rotation  soyabean is
a substitute
for animal
protein
 consumed as
soya milk
and tofu
(soya
cheese)
 manufacture
of
margarine
and other
edible
products

6. Cotton, Jute, Tea and Coffee

9
 8 - Agriculture

(for jute alone, there are no varieties, instead economic importance is mentioned)
Sowing Harvesting Varieties
Cotton broadcasting or grows in 6 - 8 name staple
drilling; sown months; harvested length
before onset of when cotton balls superior long > 27
rains; tillage and ripen and burst staple mm
manuring into white, fluffy long staple 24.5 -
required; seedlings and shiny balls of (thinner than 26 mm
must be thinned fibre; harvested in hair; found in
out; ground must 3 - 4 pickings; Punjab)
be regularly hoed yield decreases superior 24 mm
and cleared of with successful medium
weeds; plants pickings staple
must be kept free medium 20 -
of pests staple (main 21.5
variety; found mm
in
Maharashtra)
short staple 19 mm
(found in
South)
Jute fields have to be grows in 8 - 10 economic importance
thoroughly months; high  manufacture of
prepared; sown by winter yield; delay rough quality cloth,
broadcasting or in harvest leads to sacks and other
drilling higher yields of packing material
coarse fibres; 20 -  making utility
25 days later, products like
bark is peeled carpets, rugs, twine,
from the plant by upholstery,
hand and fibre is tarpaulins, etc.
removed from  known as golden
pith; rinsed, fibre, as it generates
washed, dried and huge revenue for the
pressed into balls government
Tea seeds are sown in plucking of leaves; name brief detail
(black tea and nurseries; saplings pruning of bush black 5 step
green tea are are transplanted starts after 2 tea processing
most important within a year, with years to limit green consumed in
to learn, so distance of 1 m on plant height and tea China and the
study them all 4 sides; diameter to 1 m; Far East
thoroughly in cuttings are grown picking is much
the processing in nurseries and more frequent in oolong greenish
section) are known as India; 16 to 20 tea brown; partial
clonal planting; pickings per year; drying and
transplanted when frequent pruning fermentation;
saplings attain a leads to rapid from tea
height of 20 cm production of gardens, a
fresh leaves and high grade
shoots; tea shrub semi-
continues to be fermented
oolong tea is

10
 8 - Agriculture

productive for 50 produced;

years, after which mostly shipped
restocking is to the USA
necessary; picking
needs skill brick inferior and
patience and tea coarser leaves,
judgement; stems and tea-
women are better dust
pickers and are compressed
cheaper; fine into
plucking involves rectangular
plucking of two blocks of brick
tender leaves and tea; normally
a bud or shoot consumed in
from each stem Russia and
Tibet
Coffee seeds or cuttings may begin in the factor 1;2;3
(1 - coffee planted in nursery 3rd year, but locatio lower
robusta, 2 - and then usually done in n elevations;
coffee liberica, 3 transported few the 4th or 5th year lowlands; -
- coffee arabica) months later; after planting; textur more hardy;
----------------------- planted 3 m apart; picking done by e hardy; finest
instant coffee - pruned annually hand by removing and very
coffee robusta to ease picking ripe berries from delicate
and coffee and ensure heavy the stalk; qualit poorer quality;
liberica bearing of coffee indiscriminate y moderate
berries; height of picking of ripe coffee (heavy
tree from 1.5 m to and unripe berries yields);
2.5 m; grown on leads to coffee superior
slopes to prevent beans of inferior quality (best
water stagnation quality, which beans)
-------------------------- fetches low prices diseas survives in
as coffee crops are ------------------------- es arid conditions
susceptible to orange, cardamom and is disease
direct sunlight, and pepper vines resistant;
they are planted are inter-planted disease
under the shade of between the crops resistant;
silver oak and to generate extra susceptible to
jackfruit, which income leaf and other
are cover crops diseases

7. Processing of Cotton
a. ginning: process used to separate the fibres or lint from the seeds and the
fibres or linters which adhere to them;
b. oil: seeds are crushed to yield oil; residue is used as cattle fodder;
c. baling: cotton line (fibre) are baled for transporting them to manufacturing
regions;
d. sliver: fibres are washed and combed to form a rope like mass of fibres known
as sliver;
e. yarn: sliver is fed to spindles, where it is spun to make cotton yarn.

8. Processing of Jute

11
 8 - Agriculture

a. retting: process in which the stem is pulled (harvested), dried, striped of

unwanted leaves, put in water and allowed to rot;
b. method of retting: once done by submerging jute into ponds and streams, now
in special tanks;
c. advantage of retting: softens outer bark and facilitates early removability of
fibre within;
d. scraping of fibre: fleshy part of the stem is eventually decomposed and fibres
are then scraped to remove any remaining pieces of soft vegetable matter;
e. drying: fibres loosely spun and woven and made into sacks, bags, carpets, etc.

9. Processing of Black Tea

a. withering: leaves withered or dried in the sun for a day or two to extract
moisture;
b. rolling: leaves rolled mechanically between steel rollers to break fibres; leaves
dried again or baked lightly over charcoal fires, until they turn reddish
brown;
c. fermentation: leaves allowed to ferment; reduces tannic acid by half; does not
impart its flavour;
d. drying: further fermentation checked by roasting and drying leaves over fire
or in oven until they are black in colour;
e. blending: expert blenders and tea-tasters further blend the various grades of
tea to give it special aroma and make many proprietary brands.

10. Processing of Green Tea

a. drying: not dried in the sun, but in ovens after leaves are steamed in large
vats and crushed in machines;
b. roasting: picked leaves are heated immediately by roasting and then over hot
iron pans;
c. rolling: picked leaves are rolled;
d. no fermentation: leaves as a result remain green when dried, graded and
packed;
e. flavouring: highly flavoured with higher tannin or tannic acid content, and
are therefore stronger stimulants.

11. Processing of Coffee - Wet Parchment Method

fruit covering of beans removed before drying, pulping, fermenting and washing;
dropped in water.

12. Processing of Coffee - Dry Parchment Method

a. sorting and cleaning: harvested cherries are sorted and cleaned to separate
the unripe, overripe and damaged cherries and to remove dirt, soil, twigs and
leaves;
b. drying: coffee cherries spread out in the sun to dry;
c. fermentation: beans fermented by drying in the sun for a week;
d. peeling: after drying, machines peel off the two layers of inner husks;
e. sorting: beans sorted according to size and quality and then packed in sacks
for use;
f. roasting: beans roasted at 99oC and ground into coffee powder, which is used
to make beverage; roasting gives it brown colour and characteristic aroma
and taste.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12