1. WHAT IS AGRICULTURE?

ANS) The word 'agriculture' has been derived from two Latin words,
'ager' meaning 'land' and 'culture' meaning 'cultivation'. Agriculture
is thus, defined as the cultivation of the soil in order to grow crops
and rear livestock. The essential purpose of agriculture is the
production of food from land for human or animal consumption.
India is primarily an agricultural country as two- thirds of its
population depends on agriculture. Agriculture is the mainstay and
the backbone of India's economy.

2. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE?

1. It provides food for our expanding population & fodder for livestock.
2. It provides raw material to agrobased industries like Sugarcane to
Sugarmill.
3. It provides market to industrial goods such as fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
4. It accounts for large amount of India's export.
5. It provides employment to millions of people.

3. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE?

(i) Environmental; (ii) Economic; (iii) Institutional; and (iv) Technological.
I. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
1. Unreliable Rainfall: Indian agriculture is dependent to a large extent on
the monsoons, which are uncertain, irregular and unequally distributed.
Nearly 55 per cent of the net sown area continues to depend on rainfall
rather than irrigation.
2. Lack of Irrigation Facilities: India has the largest irrigated area of the
cultivated land. Yet a large per cent of the net sown area lacks irrigation
facilities and is dependent on monsoon. The failure of monsoon or too
much rainfall leads to crop failure.
3. Soil Erosion: Soil erosion is not only a major cause for decreasing soil
fertility but also results in loss of valuable crop land. The indiscriminate
cutting of trees, overgrazing, faulty landuse practices.
4. Methods of Cultivation: Old and inefficient methods and techniques of
farming, inadequate irrigation facilities and inability of the farmers to
purchase good quality seeds and modern equipment because of paucity of
funds and lack of latest know-how and inputs.
II. INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
1. Small And Fragmented Landholdings: Majority of landholdings in India
are very small. These small and fragmented holdings cannot promote
modern agriculture.
2. Exploitation of Farmers: Land tenure system is another important reason
for low productivity in India. Under the Zamindari system, the cultivator
was only a tenant who could be turned out of the land. Even though
Zamindari system has been abolished but its effects have not been
completely wiped out.
III. ECONOMIC FACTORS
1. Subsistence Agriculture: Subsistence type of agriculture is mainly
practised in India. This is because the per capita cultivable land is a mere
one-fourth hectare and the farm produce is just enough to sustain the
farmer.
2. Human Elements: Farmers are poor, debt-ridden and uneducated. They
do not follow the modern techniques of farming, nor can they purchase
modern equipment. Due to the lack of marketing facilities and non-
availability of loans or fair rate of interest, the farmers are not able to invest
the requisite resources in agriculture. They have no security against failure
of crops; neither do they have capital to invest in agriculture.
3. Challenges Posed by Globalisation:
This had a huge impact on Indian agriculture. Firstly, the withdrawal of the
government's role in promoting agriculture, led to removing subsidies from
government to the farmers.
Indian farmers are facing a big challenge from international competition.
Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
(i) The cost of production of crops is increasing because of government
reduction of subsidy on fertilizers.
(ii) The reduction of import duty on agricultural products have proved
harmful to the farmers.
(iii) The cost of agricultural crops in Indian market is increasing, while that
of international markets is decreasing.
IV. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
Old and Inefficient Techniques: Most of the farmers in India use old and
inefficient techniques of farming. Wooden ploughs and bullocks are still
used by a large number of farmers. Mechanisation is limited. Farmers
continue to use traditional methods of irrigation. With such methods, one-
third of the cropped area only could be provided irrigation facilities.

4. WHAT ARE THE REFORMS IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE?

Government has set up Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR),
Agriculture Universities, Veterinary services and animal breeding
centres, Kisan Call Centre etc.

5. WHAT IS THE GREEN REVOLUTION?

The Green Revolution - It refer to drastic increase in the production of
food grains (wheat) during the 1960 - 70.
Elements of New Agriculture Strategy:
1. Use of Large Capital and technological inputs.
2. Use of Modern scientific methods of farming.
3. Use of High Yeilding Varieties of seeds.
4. Use of Irrigation facilities.
5 Use of chemical fertilizer & pesticides.
IMPACT OF GREEN REVOLUTION:
Positive Impact
1. It helped to change agriculture from subsistence to commercial
2. It made India self-sufficient in food grains.
3. It created more employment.
4. It gave higher profits to farmers so villages also prospered.
Adverse Impact- causes land degradation due overuse fertilizers, pesticides.
loss of biodiversity.

6. WHAT IS NATIONAL AGRICULTURE POLICY?

1. It aims over 4% p.a. growth rate.
2. Private sector to promote contract farming & land leasing.
3. High priority to Animal Husbandry, poultry, dairy & aquaculture.
4. Restriction on movement of agri commodities be removed.
5. Rural electrification to be intensified & promote crop insurance.

7. WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF FARMING IN INDIA?

ANS) Subsistence farming, commercial farming, shifting agriculture,
intensive farming, extensive farming, plantation farming , mixed
farming, organic farming, co-operative farming.

8. WHAT IS SUBSISTENCE FARMING?

Majority of farmers in India practise subsistence farming. It is
characterised by small and scattered landholdings and use of primitive
tools, like hoe and digging sticks by family members. As the farmers are
poor, they do not use fertilizers and high yielding variety of seeds in
their fields. Facilities like electricity and irrigation are generally not
available to them. These result in low productivity. Most of the food
production is consumed by the farmers and their families. Where
facilities like irrigation and electricity are available, farming has
improved. Subsistence agriculture has given way to commercial
agriculture in many places
Key features are:
a) Land holding are small and scattered.
b) Farmers use traditional method of farming.
c) Output is low and it is consumed within family.
d) Mostly farmers grow food crop which is never surplus.
 9. WHAT IS COMMERCIAL FARMING?
Commercial farming, also known as agribusiness is a system of
agriculture that involves cultivation of crops and livestock rearing for
sale in the market. The crops grown are called cash crops. They include
sugarcane, tobacco, fibre crops and oilseeds. This type of agriculture
involves the use of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical
fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides to obtain higher productivity. The
degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies in different parts of the
country. For example, rice is a commercial crop in Punjab and Haryana,
but it is a subsistence crop in Odisha.

Commercial farming has shown good results in Punjab, Haryana,

Western UP, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. In most other States there are
small landholdings. Therefore, commercial farming cannot be
popularised throughout the country. However, the Government is now
trying to change the situation through consolidation of such
landholdings.

It is usually practised in areas where plenty of land is available and

market economy is well developed.
Key features:
a) Landholding are large.
b) Farmers use modern method of farming.
c) Output is high and sold in the market.
d) Farmers grow the crops which is surplus and sold.

10. WHAT IS SHIFTING AGRICULTURE?

ANS) Shifting Agriculture, also known as 'slash and burn method', is a
primitive agricultural practice in which a patch of forest is cleared, trees
are felled and stumps are set on fire. The cleared patch is then cultivated
for a few years until the fertility of the soil is reduced. Then the farmer
moves to a fresh piece of land and the same process is repeated. This
 type of farming is dependent upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil
and suitability of other environmental conditions.
a) A patch of forest land is cleared by burning, ash is spread.
b) Seeds are sown. Ploughing & other farm activity is not done.
c) After 2/3 year when soil fertility is lost, field is left.
d) Another patch of land is cleared & process is repeated.
Dry paddy, buckwheat, maize, millets and vegetables are the crops
commonly grown in this type of farming.
This type of cultivation is known by different names in different regions of
India like Jhum in Assam, Ponam in Kerala, Podu in Andhra Pradesh, Koman
or Bringg in Odisha, Khil in the Himalayan region, Kuruwa in Jharkhand and
Bewar, Masha, Penda and Hera in various parts of Madhya Pradesh. As far
as possible government has tried to discourage this type of cultivation due
to its wasteful nature and adverse effects on the environment.

Intercropping is used in many areas as an alternative to shifting cultivation.

Intercropping refers to the practice of growing two or more crops next to
each other at the same time in a way that they do not compete with each
other for space, nutrients, water and sunlight. For example, intercropping
involves planting one crop with deep roots along with another having
shallow roots.

Besides, the government is promoting timber tree plantations to discourage

the practice of shifting cultivation. In the areas where this type of
cultivation is practised, large scale plantation of fast-growing timber
varieties is followed. This helps in restoration of land and creation of
wealth for the land owners. Besides, it reduces fallow cycles, and thereby,
reduces the practise of shifting cultivation.

11. WHAT IS INTENSIVE FARMING?

This is the system of farming under which small farms are cultivated
intensively using large inputs of manual labour, manures and fertilizers.
Since it is a labour-intensive system, it is practised in those areas where
 the density of population is high. Emphasis is laid on increasing the per
hectare yield by using good quality seeds, rich manure and fertilizers
and water supply through irrigation. Usually more than one crop is
cultivated on the same field and the land is under one crop or the other
throughout the year. This type of agriculture is practised in the irrigated
areas of the plains of northern India and the coastal areas of South India.
The main crops grown are rice and wheat.

Key features are:

a) Small farms are intensively cultivated.
b) Multicropping-more than 1 crop is grown.
c) Rich manure, good fertilizer, good seeds & irrigation is used.
d) It is labour intensive system.

12. WHAT IS EXTENSIVE FARMING?

This type of farming is practised on farms of large size with the help of
machines and the input of labour per unit area is low. Crop
specialisation is one of the major characteristics of this type of farming,
i.e., the farmer specialises in a couple of major commercial crops. The
emphasis is laid on increased production. Since the productivity is based
on natural fertility of soil, climate and terrain of the area, it is practised
on large farms to achieve higher yields. The total crop production is high
due to large land holding but low in terms of per unit production.

The main crops grown are rice, wheat, sugarcane, etc. This type of
farming is almost absent in India except some rich farmers of Punjab,
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Key feature are.
a) Farms are large in size.
b) Usually, one grown on large scale.
c) Natural fertility of soil so environment friendly.
d) It is capital intensive system so large machines are used.

13. WHAT IS PLANTATION FARMING?

Plantations are large tracts of land or estates used for cultivation of a
single agricultural crop like tea, coffee, rubber or spices. A plantation is
usually a monoculture over a large area and does not include naturally
occurring plants. Such type of farming is labour intensive with huge
capital investment, involving modern and scientific techniques.
Plantations were introduced in India by the Europeans. The plantation
crops usually cater to the export market and earn foreign exchange.
Plantation farming is carried on in some parts of India, like the hills of
south India and north-east India where tea, coffee and rubber are
cultivated in states of Kerala, Karnataka, parts of north Bengal and
Assam lowlands.
- Key features are: -
a) One crop in large field is grown scientifically.
b) Chemical fertilizers & pesticides are used.
c) Commercial crops are grown such as tea or coffee plantations.
d) Latest technique and heavy capital is invested.

14. WHAT IS MIXED FARMING?

Cultivation of crops and raising of animals simultaneously is called
mixed farming. Subsidiary occupations like fruit and vegetable
gardening or poultry-farming may also be practised. Two or more
crops are grown together. In such cases, a number of crops, with
varying maturing periods, are sown at the same time. The crop
maturing early is generally harvested before the growth of the long
maturing crop. Mixed farming ensures a steady income for the
farmers because if the agriculture fails due to adverse climate or any
other reason, they can look back to the other means like cattle raising
for income.
- Key features are:
a) Crops and animals both are raised together.
b) Two or more crops are grown together.
c) Rotation of crops is practised.
d) It ensures steady income to farmers