AGRICULTURE

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Population Share in Different Sectors of Economy

• The Indian economy is divided into three broad sectors: agriculture, industry, and services. The population share in each sector varies widely, with the services sector accounting for the largest share of both employment and GVA(Gross Value Added).
• Agriculture: The agriculture sector employs the largest number of people in India, with over 40% of the workforce engaged in this sector. However, its contribution to GVA is relatively low, at around 18%. This is because agriculture is a labor-intensive sector, and productivity is low.
• Industry: The industrial sector employs around 25% of the workforce and contributes around 28% to GVA. This sector includes a wide range of industries, such as manufacturing, construction, and mining.
• Services: The services sector is the largest sector of the Indian economy, employing around 35% of the workforce and contributing around 54% to GVA. This sector includes a wide range of industries, such as IT, finance, healthcare, and tourism.

Primary Sector

• The primary sector is the foundational stage of economic activities involving the extraction of raw materials from nature.
• It includes agriculture, mining, fishing, and forestry as key activities.
• In agriculture, crops and livestock are grown and raised. Mining focuses on valuable mineral extraction. Fishing and forestry involve catching fish and harvesting timber.
• The primary sector is essential as it provides the raw materials for other sectors, supporting the overall economy.

Secondary Sector

• The secondary sector includes manufacturing industries, construction, and utilities like electricity and water supply.
• Manufacturing involves turning raw materials into finished products like cars and electronics.
• Construction focuses on building structures such as houses and roads.
• Utilities provide essential services like electricity and water.
• This sector is crucial for adding value to raw materials and fostering economic development.

Tertiary Sector

• The tertiary sector is all about services. It provides various services to people and businesses.
• This sector includes fields like education, healthcare, hospitality, finance, and transportation.
• The tertiary sector plays a pivotal role in modern economies by providing essential services and employment.
• Its significance often grows with economic development, reflecting the shift toward service-based economies.

Types of Farming

• Subsistence farming is a vital agricultural practice primarily focused on sustaining the basic needs of the farming family. It typically occurs on small-scale farms with limited resources, where a variety of crops, often staples, are cultivated using traditional and less mechanized methods. Surpluses for market sale are minimal, as the main aim is self-sufficiency. Subsistence farming relies on local and traditional agricultural knowledge, and access to modern technology is limited. This form of agriculture plays a crucial role in ensuring food security for rural families, especially in developing regions, and reflects the deep-rooted cultural connection between people and the land. However, subsistence farming faces various challenges, including susceptibility to weather conditions, limited income opportunities, and difficulties in accessing modern agricultural resources.

• Intensive subsistence farming is a labor-intensive agricultural practice primarily aimed at maximizing the yield from a small plot of land. Farmers use high levels of input, including human labor and organic fertilizers, to cultivate crops such as rice and wheat. This method is common in densely populated regions of Asia, where farmers rely on the produce for their family’s sustenance and often practice multiple cropping to optimize land use and productivity.

• Commercial farming is an agricultural approach primarily focused on producing crops and livestock for profit and market sale. This type of farming is typically characterized by large-scale operations, advanced technology, and specialized crop and the use of HYV seeds or livestock choices that cater to the demands of the market. The primary goal of commercial farming is to generate income, making it a key driver of the agricultural sector in many economies, often involving the production of cash crops, like cotton or soybeans, and raising animals for meat or dairy production to meet consumer and industrial demands.

• Plantation farming represents a specialized form of commercial agriculture where a single crop is cultivated on vast expanses of land, often with the aid of capital-intensive inputs and the utilization of migrant laborers. The hallmark of plantation farming is the dedicated focus on growing one crop, typically cash crops like tea, coffee, rubber, or sugarcane. These large-scale operations are primarily aimed at supplying raw materials to industries, making them integral to the manufacturing sector. Plantations are characterized by efficient production processes and extensive land usage, often seen in tropical regions worldwide.

Cropping Seasons/Patterns

• Rabi 
  • Definition: Rabi is the winter cropping season.
  • Sowing Months: Sowing typically occurs from November to December.
  • Reaping Months: Harvesting takes place from April to June.
  • Major Crops: Wheat, barley, mustard, and chickpeas are some of the main crops
• Kharif
  • Definition: Kharif is the summer cropping season.
  • Sowing Months: Sowing is usually done between June and July.
  • Reaping Months: Harvesting happens from September to October.
  • Major Crops: Key crops of the Kharif season include rice, maize, cotton, and soybeans.
• Zaid
  • Definition: Zaid is a short-duration between Kharif and Rabi seasons.
  • Sowing Months: Sowing occurs from March to June.
  • Reaping Months: Harvesting takes place from June to September.
  • Major Crops: Fruits and vegetables like watermelon, cucumber, and muskmelon are common in the Zaid season.

Major Crops of India

• We will now explore the major crops of India. These crops, including rice, wheat, millets, pulses, tea, coffee, sugarcane, oilseeds, cotton, and jute, are crucial to the country’s agriculture and economy. India’s diverse soil types, climates, and cultivation practices make it possible to cultivate a wide variety of both food and non-food crops across different regions. Understanding these major crops is essential to gaining insights into India’s agricultural landscape, which we will delve into next.

Rice

• Here are the key points about rice cultivation in India:
  • Second-largest global rice producer after China.
  • Grown during the Kharif season, requiring high temperatures and significant humidity.
  • Successfully cultivated in areas with over 100 cm of annual rainfall or with irrigation support.
  • Geographically distributed in the plains of the north, northeast, coastal regions, and deltaic areas.
  • Irrigation, including canal networks and tubewells, has expanded rice cultivation to regions with lower rainfall.

Wheat

• Here are key points about wheat cultivation in India:
  • Second most significant cereal crop, particularly vital in the northern and northwestern regions.
  • Rabi crop, needing a cool growing season and ample sunshine during ripening.
  • Requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing period.
  • Two prominent wheat-growing zones: Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and the black soil region of the Deccan.
  • Major wheat-producing states include Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Millets

• Here are the key points about millets in India, condensed to five:
  • Important Millets: Jowar, bajra, and ragi are significant millets known for their high nutritional value.
  • Jowar Significance: Jowar is the third most important food crop and is primarily rain-fed.
  • Major Jowar Producers: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.
  • Bajra Growth Conditions: Bajra thrives on sandy and shallow black soils, making it suitable for arid regions.
  • Major Bajra Producers: Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Haryana.

Maize

• Dual Usage: Maize serves both as a food and fodder crop, making it versatile in its agricultural application.
• Kharif Crop: Maize is predominantly a kharif crop, thriving in temperatures between 21°C to 27°C. It especially grows well in old alluvial soil.
• Rabi Season Exception: In states like Bihar, maize cultivation extends into the rabi season due to favorable local conditions.
• Modern Input Impact: The use of modern agricultural inputs, including high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation, has significantly increased maize production.
• Major Producers: Key maize-producing states in India include Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.

Pulses

• India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses globally.
• Major pulses include tur (arhar), urad, moong (Kharif crops), and masur, peas, and gram (Rabi crops).
• Pulses are adaptable to both Kharif and Rabi seasons, offering flexibility in cultivation.
• These crops are drought-tolerant and contribute to soil fertility restoration by fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
• Major pulse-producing states in India include Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.

Sugarcane

• Sugarcane is adaptable to tropical and subtropical climates with a temperature range of 21°C to 27°C.
• It requires an annual rainfall between 75cm and 100cm, and irrigation in regions with lower rainfall.
• Sugarcane can grow in a variety of soil types and relies on manual labor throughout the cultivation process.
• India is the world’s second-largest sugarcane producer, after Brazil, and it’s the primary source of sugar-related products.
• Major sugarcane-producing states include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab, and Haryana.

OilSeeds

• In 2008, India was the second-largest producer of groundnut and the third-largest producer of rapeseed in the world.
• Oilseed crops cover approximately 12% of India’s total cropped area and are a significant part of the country’s agriculture.
• Main oilseeds grown in India include groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesame (til), soybean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed, and sunflower. These seeds are used for cooking and as raw materials in soap, cosmetics, and ointments.
• Groundnut is a Kharif crop, accounting for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are key groundnut-producing states.
• Linseed and mustard are Rabi crops, while sesame is a Kharif crop in the north and Rabi crop in the south of India. Castor seed is grown in both Rabi and Kharif seasons.

Tea

• Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture, introduced by the British and now predominantly owned by Indians.
• Tea plants thrive in tropical and sub-tropical climates with deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus and organic matter.
• Tea bushes require a warm, moist, and frost-free climate year-round, with consistent rainfall to support the growth of tender leaves.
• The tea industry is labor-intensive, relying on abundant, cost-effective, and skilled labor.
• Major tea-producing states in India include Assam, the hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Other states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, and Tripura also contribute to tea production. 

Coffee

• Indian coffee includes the Arabica variety, originally introduced from Yemen, which is highly sought after globally.
• The cultivation of Arabica coffee began on the Baba Budan Hills and remains confined to the Nilgiri region in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

Horticulture Crops

• India produces both tropical and temperate fruits, including pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal, and potato.
• Notable horticulture crops in India include:
• Mangoes from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
• Oranges from Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya).
• Bananas from Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
• Litchi and Guava from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• Pineapples from Meghalaya.
• Grapes from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
• Apples, pears, apricots, and walnuts from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

• Rubber: Rubber is an equatorial crop, requiring a moist and humid climate with over 200 cm of rainfall and temperatures above 25°C. It is used as an industrial raw material and is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Garo hills of Meghalaya.
• Fiber Crops: Cotton, Jute, Hemp, and Natural Silk are the four major fiber crops in India. Cotton is a Kharif crop, while Jute is known as the “golden fiber.” Cotton requires high temperatures, light rainfall, frost-free days, and bright sunshine for growth. It is mainly grown in the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau.
• Cotton: Cotton is used in making various products, including gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets, and more. Major cotton-producing states include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Jute: Jute requires well-drained fertile soils in flood plains and a high temperature for growth. It is a vital industrial raw material and is primarily produced in major jute-producing states like West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Meghalaya.
• Natural Silk: Natural Silk is obtained from cocoons of silkworms fed on green leaves, and the rearing of silkworms for silk production is known as sericulture.

Technological and Institutional Reforms in Indian Agriculture

• Agriculture’s Significance: Agriculture employs over 60% of India’s population, making it a crucial sector that requires technical and institutional improvements.
• Historical Reforms: Reforms like the Green Revolution and the White Revolution have been instrumental in enhancing agricultural productivity.
• Government Initiatives: The government has introduced various schemes such as the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and the Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) to support farmers.
• Information Dissemination: Special weather bulletins and agricultural programs on radio and television provide valuable information and guidance to farmers.
• Minimum Support Price: The government announces minimum support prices (MSP) and remunerative procurement prices for important crops, preventing the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen.

Contribution of Agriculture to the National, Economy, Employment and Output in India

• Employment: In 2010-11, the farm sector employed approximately 52% of the total workforce in India, highlighting its significance as a source of livelihood.
• GDP Share: While agriculture has been historically significant, its share in the GDP is gradually declining as the Indian economy diversifies into other sectors.
• Government Initiatives: The government has introduced several initiatives to enhance Indian agriculture, including the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services, animal breeding centers, horticulture development, and research and development in meteorology and weather forecasting.