10 Geography

Ch.4 Agriculture

Notes

Cropping Patterns

Kharif Season Rabi Season Zaid Season

Crops are sown with the Crops are sown in winter Crops sown in the short
onset of monsoon from October to December season between Kharif and
Rabi
Harvested from September- Harvested from April to It is a short summer season
October June
Eg. Paddy, Eg. Wheat, barley, Eg. Watermelon,
maize,jowar,bajra peas,gram,mustard muskmelon,cucumber

Major Crops

Name of the crop Climatic condition Areas Features

&season
Rice (kharif season) High temperature – Plains of north and *Most important
above 25°c, high north eastern cereal crop.
humidity with India,coastal areas *Staple food crop of
rainfall above and deltaic regions. majority of people in
100cm. With the help of India.
dense network of *India is the seond
canals and largest producer of
tubewells,it is grown rice in the world
in Punjab,Haryana after China.
and western U.P.
Wheat(Rabi) Requires cool 2 important wheat Second most
growing season and growing zones important cereal
bright sunshine at *Ganga-Satluj basin crop of India.
the time of ripening. in the north and north Main food crop of
Rainfall-50-75cm. west north and north
*black soil reion of western India
the Deccan.
Punjab,Haryana,U.P.,
Bihar,Rajasthan.M.P
Millets(jowar,bajra *Jowar,bajra, ragi
ragi) are the important
millets grown in
India.
*they are called
coarse grains and
have high nutritional
value.
jowar Rain fed crop,mostly Maharashtra, *It is the third most
grown in the moist Karnataka, Andhra important food crop
areas whichhardly Pradesh,Madhya of India.(area and
need any irrigation. Pradesh. production wise)
bajra Grows well in sandy Rajasthan,Uttar
soils and shallow Pradesh,Maharashtra,
black soil. Gujarat and Haryana
ragi Is a crop of dry Karnataka, Tamil *Ragi is rich in
regions and grows Nadu, Himachal iron,calcium
well on red, Pradesh, Uttrakhand, micronutrients and
blacksandy, loamy Sikkim, Jharkhand roughage.
and shallow black and Arunachal
soils. Pradesh.

Maize(Kharif) Requires Karnataka, Uttar *It is used as both

temperature between Pradesh, Bihar(in food and fodder crop
21°C to 27°C in old rabi season *Use of modern
alluvial soil. also)Andhra Pradesh, inputs –HYV seeds
Telangana ,Madhya and irrigation helped
Pradesh. in increasing
production.
Pulses(arhar,urad Need less moisture Madhya Pradesh, *India is the largest
,moong-Kharif) and can survive even Uttar Pradesh, producer as well as
(masur,peas,gram— in dry condition Rajasthan, consumer of pulses
Rabi) Maharashtra, *It is a major source
Karnataka of protein
*Being leguminous
crop,helps in
restoring fertility of
soil and fixing
nitrogen from
air(except arhar)
Sugarcane *Tropical and a Uttar Pradesh *India is the second
Sub-tropical crop ,Maharashtra, Tamil largest producer of
*Grows well in hot Nadu, Andhra sugarcane in the
and humid climate Pradesh, Telangana, world after Brazil.
*Temperature21°C - Bihar Punjab, *can be grown in a
27°C, Rainfall Haryana. variety of soils
75cm.-100cm *requires manual
*Irrigation is labour.
required in the
regions of low
rainfall.
Tea *Grows well in the Major areas are *It is a plantation
tropical and sub- *Assam, hills of crop.
tropical climate’ Darjeeling and *The most
*Deep and fertile Jalpaiguri districts of important
well drained soil West Bengal. Tamil beverage crop
rich in humus and Nadu and Kerala. introduced by the
organic matter. * Himachal British in India.
*Requirs warm and Pradesh,U *It is a labour
moist , frost free ttrakhand,Meghalaya intensive industry,
climate all through Andhra Pradesh and requires cheap and
the year. Tripura. abundant labour.
*Frequent showers *It is processed
evenly distributed within the tea garden
throughout the year to ensure its
for the continuous freshness.
growth of tender * In 2014, India was
leaves. the largest producer
of tea after China.
Coffee *Initially its *In 2014, India
cultivation was produced s 3.5 % of
started in the Baba the world coffee
Budan hills. production.
*Also grown in the *Indian coffee is
Nilgiri hills in known in the world
Karnataka, Kerala for its good quality.
and Tamil Nadu. *Arabica variety
brought from
Yemen is produced I
in the country.
Rubber *I t is an equatorial * Mainly grown in *It is an important
crop, Kerala,Tamil Nadu, industrial raw
*Under special Karnataka etc, material.
conditions ,it is *India ranked fourth
grown in tropical in world in the
and sub-tropical production of
areas. natural
*Requires moist and rubber.(2012-2013)
humid climate with
rainfall over 200cm.
Temperature over
25°C.
Cotton (Kharif Cotton grows well in Major cotton *Most important
crop) the : producing states are fibre crop of India.
*drier parts of the Maharashtra, *India is believed to
black cotton soil of Gujarat, Madhya be the original home
the Deccan Plateau Pradesh, Karnataka, of the cotton plant.
*requires high etc. *India ranked
temperature second (after China)
*light rainfall in the production of
*210 frost free days cotton.(2014)
*bright sunshine for
its growth
*requires6 to 8
months to mature.
Jute *grows well on well West Bengal, Bihar, *Also known as
drained fertile soils Assam, Odisha, golden fibre.
in the flood plains Meghalaya *Used in making
where soils are gunny bags, mats,
renewed every year ropes yarn, carpets,
*high temperature other artefacts.
required during the *Due to its high cost
time of growth. ,it is losing market
to synthetic
Fibre, particularly
nylon.