AP Board 10th Class Social History Notes 4th Lesson Agriculture
→ India is an agriculturally important country. It is an age-old economic activity in our country.
→ At present in different part of India, four types of farming systems are practised. They are
- Primitive Subsistence Farming.
- Intensive Subsistence Farming.
- Commercial Farming.
- Plantation Farming.
→ Various type of food and fibre crops, vegetables and fruits spices and con-diments, etc., constitute some of the important crops grown in the country. India has three cropping seasons. They are Rabi, Kharif and Zaid.
→ Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks and family or community labour.
→ Intensive subsistence farming is practised in areas of high population pres-sure,on land. It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemi¬cal inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.
→ Commercial Farming – The main characteristic of this type of farming is the use of higher doses of modem inputs, e.g. High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.
→ Plantation Farming – It is primarily carried out for commercial purposes. In big fields, a significant volume of a single crop is grown. Plantations grow a variety of crops, including tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, cotton etc.
→ Agriculture has been practised in India for thousands of years. Sustained uses of land without compatible techno-institutional changes have hindered the pace of agricultural development.
→ Agriculture which provides livelihood for more than 60 percent of its popu: lation, needs some serious technical and institutional reforms.
→ Collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari, etc., were given priority to bring about institutional reforms in the country after Independence.
→ The laws of land reforms were enacted but the implementation was lacking or lukewarm. The Goveniment of India embarked upon introducing agriculture reforms to improve Indian agriculture in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
→ A comprehensive land development programme was initiated, which in-cluded both institutional and technical reforms. Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, establishment of Grameena banks for providing loans to the fsinners.
→ Some Zamindars, owners of many villages offered to distribute some villages among the landless. It was known as Gramdan. However, many landowners chose to provide some part of their land to the poor farmers due to fear of land ceiling.
→ Green Revolution : Green revolution means rapid increase in agricultural production by the use of seeds of high yielding variety, chemical fertilizers and new technology.
→ White Revolution : A white revolution was initiated in India with the ambition of increasing milk production and making the country one of the largest producers of milk in the world.
→ Primitive Subsistence Farming : Primitive subsistence farming is also called shifting cultivation. In this farming, a patch of land is cleared by slashing the vegetation and then the slashed plants are burnt. The ash obtained from burning plants is mixed with the soil and crops are grown.
→ Intensive Subsistence Farming : In Intensive Subsistence Farming, the farmer cultivates a Subsistence small plot of land using simple tools and more labour.
→ Commercial Farming : This type of farming uses higher doses of modern inputs such as High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides to obtain higher productivity.
→ Horticulture : It comprise mainly fruits, vegetables, ornamental aromatic, Culture Crops plantation and medicinal plants.
→ Fibre Crops : Fibre crops are the crops grown for the production of fibres like paper, cloth, or rope. Example: cotton, jute.
→ Millets : It refers to a number of inferior grains, which serve as food grains for the poorer sections of the society and whose straw makes a valuable cattle fodder.
→ Plantation agriculture : It is a kind of commercial farming that focuses on a single crop, such as tea, coffee, sugarcane etc. This form of farming is mainly found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
→ Collectivisation : It was the policy that involved forced consolidation of the various individual peasant house holds into collective farms.