AGRICULTURE

Importance of Agriculture• Agriculture, for decades, had been associated with the production of basic food crops.

• At present, agriculture besides farming includes forestry, fruit cultivation, dairy, poultry, mushroom, bee keeping, arbitrary, etc. Today, marketing, processing, distribution of agricultural products etc. are all accepted as a part of modern agriculture.

• Thus, agriculture may be defined as the production, processing, marketing and distribution of crops and livestock products.

•Agriculture plays a crucial role in the life of an economy.

•It is the backbone of our economic system.

•Agriculture not only provides food and raw material but also employment opportunities to a very large proportion of population. 

•The following facts clearly highlight the importance of agriculture in this country.

Types Of FarmingDepending upon the geographical

conditions, demand of produce, labour and level of technology, farming is divided into TWO main types:• SUBSISTENCE FARMING

•COMMERCIAL FARMING

Subsistence Farming1. Practised to meet the needs of the

farmer’s family2. Low levels of technology and small

amount of labor is used3. Output of subsistence farming is used

for the existence of the farmer’s family

Subsistence Farming

Primitive subsistence

farming

Intensive Subsistence

Farming

Intensive Subsistence Farming• In very densely populated countries

like India and China, farmers use their small land holdings to produce enough for their own consumption, while the little remaining produce is used for exchange against other goods.

• The cultivators use simple tools to produce the crop.

• These farmers try to obtain maximum yield from the available lands by intensifying cultivation techniques, including the preparation of paddy fields which can be used year after year.

• Such fields are found in densely populated parts of India. They may also intensify by using manure, artificial irrigation and animal waste as fertilizer.

Shifting

cultivation

Nomadic Herdi

ng

Primitive Subsistence Farming

A plot of land is cleared by felling the trees and the trees are burnt.

The ashes are mixed with the soil to make the soil fertile.

Crops like maize, yarn, potatoes and cassava are grown.

Shifting Cultivation

After one or two times of crop, the soil loses its fertility.

The land is abandoned and the cultivator moves to a new plot

Shifting Cultivation is

otherwise called“Slash and Burn

Agriculture.”JHUMMING

NOMADIC HERDINGHerders move from one

place to another with their animals for fodder and water.

Sheep, camel, yak and goats are most commonly reared.Practised in the semi arid and arid regions of Sahara. Examples are the nomadic Bhotiyas and Gujjars of the Himalayas.

• Crops are grown, animals are reared for sale in market.• The area of cultivation is very large.

• Most of the work is done by machines.• Amount of human labour is very less.

COMMERCIAL FARMING

• Single crop of tea, coffee, sugarcane, cashew, rubber, banana, cotton are grown.

Plantations

Plantation Agriculture- Basic Concept

Coffee in Brazil

Plantations require large amount of labour and capital.

Product of a plantation is processed in the farm itself or in the nearby factories.

A well developed transport system is essential for plantation type of farming.

Major plantations of the world are found in the tropical regions of the world.

Examples are-:Rubber in Malaysia, & Tea in India and Sri Lanka.

Made By ARJUN SOOTA