Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy. Two-thirds of India's population is engaged in agricultural activities, and agriculture is a primary activity that produces most of the food we consume. Besides food grains, it produces raw materials for industries, such as cotton, jute, sugarcane and oilseeds, and India is a major producer of several crops in the world. The chapter studies the different types of farming in India, the major crops grown in different regions, and the technological and institutional reforms in Indian agriculture.
Agriculture in India is a complex and diverse activity, shaped by the variety of climates, soils and relief. India has three cropping seasons, the rabi, the kharif and the zaid, and a wide range of crops is grown across the country. The chapter examines the geographical conditions required for the cultivation of each crop and the major producing regions. The map-based questions on the distribution of crops are important for the board examination.
For the board examination, students must understand the difference between the types of farming, the cropping seasons, the conditions for the cultivation of major crops, the problems of Indian agriculture, and the reforms, both technological and institutional, that have been introduced. The concepts of food security and the contribution of agriculture to the national economy are also important themes.
Agriculture in India is mainly of two types: subsistence farming and commercial farming. Subsistence farming is practised to meet the needs of the farmer's family, with low levels of technology and household labour. It can be further classified into primitive subsistence farming, which is practised in remote and hilly regions with the help of primitive tools like the hoe and the dao, and intensive subsistence farming, which is practised in the areas of high population pressure on land, using high doses of biochemical inputs and better irrigation.
In primitive subsistence farming, the farming methods are simple, and it includes shifting cultivation, known as slash and burn agriculture. In this method, a plot of land is cleared by felling trees and burning the vegetation, cultivated for a few years, and then abandoned for a new plot. This practice is known by different names in different parts of India, such as jhumming in the northeastern states, bewar, mashan, penda and beera in Madhya Pradesh, and podu in Odisha.
Commercial farming is practised to sell the produce in the market. It involves the use of high doses of modern inputs like high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides to obtain higher productivity. Plantation is a type of commercial farming in which a single crop is grown on a large area, such as tea, coffee, rubber and banana. The plantation requires a large amount of labour and capital, and the output is used as raw material in the industries.
India has three distinct cropping seasons, based on the rhythm of the monsoon. The kharif season coincides with the southwest monsoon, and the crops are sown at the beginning of the monsoon and harvested in September-October. The major kharif crops are rice, maize, millet, cotton, jute, groundnut and moong. The rabi season is the winter season, when the crops are sown in October-December and harvested in April-June. The major rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.
The zaid season is the summer season, between the rabi and the kharif, when the crops like watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops are grown. The rabi crops are grown with the help of irrigation, as the monsoon has ended by then. The cropping pattern in India is closely related to the rainfall, the temperature and the availability of irrigation, and the choice of crops is determined by the physical conditions and the economic conditions of the farmers.
The major food crops of India are rice and wheat. Rice is the staple food crop of the country, grown in the plains of north and northeastern India, the coastal areas and the deltaic regions, where rainfall is above 100 cm. Wheat is the second most important cereal, grown in the rabi season, in the north and northwestern parts of the country, mainly in the Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
India grows a wide variety of crops. Among the food grains, rice and wheat are the major cereals, and millets such as jowar, bajra and ragi are important coarse grains grown in the drier regions. Jowar is grown in the Deccan plateau, in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and it is used both as food and fodder. Bajra is grown in the sandy soils of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Ragi is grown in the dry regions of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and it is very rich in iron, calcium and other micro-nutrients.
India is the largest producer of pulses in the world. The pulses include gram, tur (arhar), moong, masur, peas and beans, and they are grown in the drier parts of the country, as they need less moisture. The pulses are important for protein, and they also help in maintaining soil fertility by fixing nitrogen in the soil.
India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in the world, after Brazil. Sugarcane is grown in the tropical and subtropical regions, in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab. Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugarcane. Sugarcane is a cash crop, and it provides the raw material for the sugar and the jaggery (gur) industries. Oilseeds, such as groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum, soyabean and sunflower, are grown in many parts of India, and India is the largest producer of oilseeds in the world.
The growth of agriculture has enabled India to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. India's food security is based on the adequate production of food grains, the buffer stock maintained by the Food Corporation of India, and the public distribution system through the ration shops. The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, with the introduction of high yielding varieties of seeds, the use of fertilisers and irrigation, transformed Indian agriculture and enabled the country to feed its growing population.
The Green Revolution was concentrated in the north-western parts of India, and it was made possible by the combined inputs of irrigation, HYV seeds and chemical fertilisers. However, the Green Revolution also had problems: it increased the gap between the rich and the poor farmers, it led to the degradation of the soil and the depletion of groundwater in the affected regions, and the small and marginal farmers could not afford the new technology. The institutional reforms, such as the land reforms, the abolition of the zamindari system, and the consolidation of land holdings, aimed to address some of these problems.
The technological reforms in Indian agriculture include the use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, better implements, irrigation, and the use of modern information and communication technology, such as the Kisan Call Centre and the farmer advisory services. The institutional reforms include the provision of agricultural credit through the cooperative societies and the banks, the crop insurance schemes, the minimum support prices, and the setting up of the agriculture markets (mandis). These reforms, combined with the contribution of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the agricultural universities, have helped in the growth of Indian agriculture.
The institutional reforms in Indian agriculture were introduced to bring about social justice and to increase agricultural production. The first and most important reform was the abolition of the zamindari system, which removed the intermediary landlords and gave the land to the actual cultivators. The consolidation of land holdings, the provision of agricultural credit, the establishment of the cooperative societies, the agriculture insurance, the subsidies and the minimum support prices are some of the important institutional measures.
The growth of agriculture in India has been supported by the cooperative movement, such as the Amul cooperative in Gujarat, which has helped the farmers to get a better price for their produce. The Kisan Credit Card scheme provides short-term credit to the farmers, and the crop insurance schemes protect them against the failure of the crops. The Government of India has also announced the minimum support prices for the major crops, which assures the farmers of a minimum price for their produce.
However, Indian agriculture still faces many problems. The dependence on the monsoon makes the agriculture risky, as the failure of the monsoon causes droughts and crop failures. The small and fragmented land holdings, the lack of adequate irrigation facilities, the shortage of credit, and the indebtedness of the farmers are serious problems. The farmers' suicides in the recent years, especially in the drought-prone regions, reflect the deep crisis of Indian agriculture. The agricultural marketing is also underdeveloped, and the middlemen take a large share of the profits. The chapter stresses the need for sustainable agriculture, better credit and marketing facilities, and the support of the government for the small and marginal farmers.
| Season | Sowing Time | Harvesting Time | Major Crops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kharif | Beginning of monsoon (June-July) | September-October | Rice, maize, millet, cotton, jute, groundnut, moong |
| Rabi | October-December | April-June | Wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard |
| Zaid | Summer season | Summer | Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder |
| Crop | Type | Conditions | Major Producing Regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice | Kharif staple food | High temperature, high humidity, rainfall above 100 cm | Plains of north and northeast India, coastal and deltaic regions |
| Wheat | Rabi cereal | Cool climate in growing season, bright sunshine at harvest | Punjab, Haryana, western U.P., parts of Rajasthan and M.P. |
| Sugarcane | Cash crop | Tropical and subtropical, hot and humid | U.P. (largest), Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu |
| Jowar | Coarse grain | Dry regions, less moisture | Deccan plateau, Maharashtra, Karnataka, A.P. |
| Bajra | Coarse grain | Sandy soils, dry climate | Rajasthan, U.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat |
| Ragi | Coarse grain | Dry regions | Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, A.P., Uttarakhand |
Agriculture is the lifeblood of the Indian economy, engaging two-thirds of the population and providing food security for the nation. The chapter has surveyed the diversity of Indian agriculture, from subsistence and shifting cultivation to intensive commercial and plantation farming, and the three cropping seasons that follow the rhythm of the monsoon. India's major crops, including rice, wheat, millets, pulses, sugarcane and oilseeds, are grown across a wide range of climatic and soil conditions, making the country one of the world's leading agricultural producers. The Green Revolution and the technological and institutional reforms have enabled self-sufficiency in food grains, yet Indian agriculture still faces serious problems of monsoon dependence, small holdings, indebtedness and poor marketing. The way forward lies in sustainable farming practices, adequate credit and infrastructure, and above all, the welfare of the small and marginal farmers who form the backbone of the nation's food security.