Agriculture of India – As we all know that India is an agricultural country. And every other person of the country makes a living from agriculture or related business. Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of the country. When raw materials are obtained from agriculture by various industries, then it has also contributed significantly in the development of the country.
Features of Indian Agriculture –
Monsoon dependence –
Indian agriculture is called monsoon gambling because only 44% of the total agricultural area of India is irrigated while about 56% is dependent on monsoon kindness. Despite the expansion of irrigation facilities since independence, only one-third of the total agricultural area is provided by irrigation, the rest of the area has to bear the brunt of monsoon. As mentioned above, India is an agricultural country and every other person in the country makes a living from agriculture or related business. In the event of less or more rainfall, our crops are affected, which has a direct effect on every other person in the country. So that the entire economy of the country is affected when its income decreases.
Majority of food crops in total crops –
A major feature of agriculture is the predominance of food crops. Being a country with a population of more than one and a quarter billion, there is a lot of population pressure on India. Therefore, India mainly produces food crops to provide food to this population. In which paddy and wheat are the main crops. Today, food crops are grown on more than 64.8% of the total agricultural area.
Variety of crops –
From Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, India is a large country with a wide variety of climates and soil. Therefore, due to the different climate and soil etc. different types of crops are grown in the country.
Majority of public dependence on agriculture –
Agriculture has been the source of livelihood for most of India’s population. More than 58.2 percent of the total workforce of the country still live their livelihood from the agriculture sector itself. And the village inhabited by about 68.84 percent of the country’s population is the village itself. Therefore, all those populations are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.
Small size of agricultural holdings –
The average holding size in India is very small. Due to the growth of population, it is becoming smaller in size. The average agricultural holdings in India are 1.06 hectares and the per capita land availability is 0.10 hectares.
Low productivity of agricultural crops –
India occupies a prominent position in the production of various crops such as paddy, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and vegetable etc. This production is due to more agricultural area in India. If we talk about productivity per hectare, it is very less in comparison to countries like China, Brazil and America in case of many crops. Most of the Indian farmers are old-fashioned, superstitious, uneducated and conservative in tradition. Moreover, they also have very low risk-taking ability. They usually back off from adopting new technology. By not adopting good seeds, fertilizers and techniques, etc., they believe in orthodoxy. Hence, the low productivity of Indian agriculture is a major feature of its agriculture. By improving this, India can make food available to the growing population.
Orthodox technique of agriculture –
Even today in India, agriculture is mostly done by traditional techniques in which wood plow, pata, khurpa etc. are the main agricultural machinery. Even today, farmers do agricultural work of plowing, etc., and sowing crops for agriculture. Consumption of fertilizers and pesticides is also significantly lower than in developed countries. One of its major factors is the poverty of the farmers and on the other hand the plurality of labor.
Regional Inequality in Food Production –
Agricultural production is different in different regions of the country. If we talk about wheat, then Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are its major producing states, then many states import wheat. Similarly, in the case of sugarcane, cotton, coffee and tea etc. are also seen.
Excess of unemployment in agriculture –
Excess of unemployment is also a major feature in Indian agriculture. And these unemployment are seasonal and hidden. On an average, agricultural workers only get 150 to 180 days of work in a year. On other days, they rush to the cities for employment.
Problematic particular pattern of agriculture –
It is said that the Indian farmer is born in debt and dies in it, the best example of this is farmers’ suicide. Poor seeds, less use of fertilizers, lack of irrigation, soil erosion, diseases and pests, loss of land fertility, illiteracy and poverty etc. Indian farmers cannot overcome this problems and die in poverty.
Types of Indian Agriculture
Subsistence farming –
Most of the farmers of India produce grains for the use of the family themselves. In this method, farmers cultivate small agricultural land with the help of their family members and carriers, using old methods and equipment.
Transferred farming –
This type of agriculture is practiced in India in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, in which dry rice maize millet is cultivated by handmade equipment.
Trading agriculture –
When agriculture is done using new techniques, irrigation, advanced seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural implements, it is called commercial agriculture. This type of agriculture has been started in the assured irrigation department of Punjab Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh. It is also called capitalist agriculture.
Plantation farming –
In India, main tea, coffee, rubber, spices are cultivated under it. This agriculture is mainly done in Assam, the mountainous part of West Bengal, in the south on the hills of Nilgiri Annamalai, Cardamom.
Indian agriculture is divided into three cropping seasons based on weather
Rabi crop –
Rabi crops are called Rabi. These crops require low temperature at the time of sowing and dry and hot environment at the time of ripening.
The crops are generally sown in October-November and harvested in March-April. Major crops include wheat, joe, gram, peas, mustard, rye barseem, potato, lentils, lucerne, etc.
Kharif crop –
It is a rainy crop, these crops require high temperature and humidity at the time of sowing and a dry environment at the time of ripening. Those sown with the onset of southwest monsoon and harvested by September October
This includes jowar, millet, paddy, maize, moong, soybean, cowpea, groundnut, cotton, jute, sugarcane, tobacco, etc.
Zayed crop –
Zayed crop is a short-term summer crop that is sown in the intermediate period of Rabi and Kharif in March to June and crops of this class have good ability to tolerate strong heat and dry winds.
In it, with the help of irrigation, vegetables and melon, cucumber, cucumber, bitter gourd, are cultivated and crops are grown, moong, urad and kulthi pulses. It is classified into two categories.
Zayed Kharif:
- Time to plant seeds: August to September
- Time to harvest crops: December to January
- Main crops: Paddy, Jowar, Rapeseed, Cotton, Oilseeds, etc.
Zayed Rabi:
- seed planting time: February to March
- Harvesting time of crops: April to May
- Major crops: Melon, melon, cucumber, moong, lobia, leafy vegetables, etc.
Trading crops –
Crops whose main purpose of growing is to earn money by doing business. Which farmers either sell in whole or partially use and sell the remaining large portion. The main commercial crops are as follows: –
- Oilseeds: Peanuts, mustard, sesame, flaxseed, egg, & Sunflower.
- Sugar crops: sugarcane, sugar beet.
- fiber crops: jute, mesta, linen and cotton.
- Beverage crops: Tea and coffee.
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