Classify intensive subsistence agriculture into two categories practised in the world. How are they different from each other ? Explain.


Classification of intensive subsistence agriculture :-

i. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation.

ii. Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by crops other than paddy.

Difference :-

Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation:

i.Dominance of the rice crop.

ii. Farmers work with the help of family labour leading to intensive use of

land.

iii. The yield per unit area is high.

iv. Per labour productivity is low.

Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by crops other then paddy:

i.Due to difference in relief, climate soil and other geographical factors it is not practical to grow paddy in many parts of monsoon Asia.

ii. Not used manual labour.

iii. The yield per unit area is not high.

iv. Per labour productivity is high.

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Explain any five common problems of Indian agriculture.


Problems of Indian Agriculture

(i) Dependence on Erratic Monsoon- Irrigation covers only about 33 percent of the cultivated area in India. The crop production in rest of the cultivated land directly depends on rainfall. Poor performance of south-west Monsoon also adversely affects the supply of canal water for irrigation.

(ii) Low productivity- The yield of the crops in the country is low in comparison to the international level. Per hectare output of most of the crops such as rice, wheat, cotton and oilseeds in India is much lower than that of U.S.A., Russia and Japan. The vast rainfed areas of the country, particularly drylands which mostly grow coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds have very low yields.

(iii) Small Farm size and Fragmentation of Landholdings- More than 60 percent of the ownership holdings have a size smaller than one (ha). Furthermore, about 40 percent of the farmers have operational holding size smaller than 0.5 hectare (ha). In India, the land holdings are mostly fragmented.

(iv) Lack of commercialization- A large number of farmers produce crops for self-consumption. These farmers do not have enough land resources to produce more than their requirement.

(v) Vast under -Employment- There is a massive under-employment in the agricultural sector in India, particularly in the un-irrigated tracts. In these areas, there is a seasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8 months. Even in the cropping season work is not available throughout, as agricultural operations are not labour intensive.

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Describe any five major problems related to Indian Agriculture.


Problems of Indian Agriculture

(i) Dependence on Erratic Monsoon- Irrigation covers only about 33 per cent of the cultivated area in India. The crop production in rest of the cultivated land directly depends on rainfall. Poor performance of south-west Monsoon also adversely affects the supply of canal water for irrigation.

(ii) Low productivity- The yield of the crops in the country is low in comparison to the international level. Per hectare output of most of the crops such as rice, wheat, cotton and oilseeds in India is much lower than that of U.S.A., Russia and Japan. The vast rain fed areas of the country, particularly dry lands which mostly grow coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds have very low yields.

(iii) Small Farm size and Fragmentation of Landholdings- More than 60 per cent of the ownership holdings have a size smaller than one (ha). Furthermore, about 40 per cent of the farmers have operational holding size smaller than 0.5 hectare (ha). In India, the land holdings are mostly fragmented.

(iv) Lack of commercialization- A large number of farmers produce crops for self-consumption. These farmers do not have enough land resources to produce more than their requirement.

(v) Vast under -Employment- There is a massive under-employment in the agricultural sector in India, particularly in the un-irrigated tracts. In these areas, there is a seasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8 months. Even in the cropping season work is not available throughout, as agricultural operations are not labour intensive.

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Explain the importance of foodgrains in the Indian agricultural economy. Describe any three characteristics of rice cultivation.


Importance of Food grains in Indian agricultural economy:

(i)These crops occupy about two-third of total cropped area in the country.

(ii) Food grains are dominant crops in all parts of the country  whether they have subsistence or commercial agricultural economy.

Characteristics of Rice Cultivation:

(i) Though, it is considered to be a crop of tropical humid areas, it has about 3,000 varieties which are grown in different agro-climatic regions.

(ii) These are successfully grown from sea level to about 2,000 m altitude and from humid areas in eastern India to dry but irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, western U.P. and northern Rajasthan.

(iii) But in Himalayas and northwestern parts of the country, it is grown as a kharif crop during southwest Monsoon season.

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Fragmentation of land holdings’ and ‘Degradation of cultivable land’ are the serious problems of Indian agriculture. Suggest and explain measures to overcome these problems. 


Breaking arable land into smaller pieces is called fragmentation of land.

A] Because of fragmentation of land, the average land holding becomes very small. That makes agriculture uneconomical. Following measures can be taken to overcome this problem:

a. Proper implementation of land reforms will help reconsolidate and equally redistribute the land among people.

b. Increasing population is responsible for the division of land. If we control the population growth and divert some population to other sectors such as manufacturing, fragmentation of land can be checked.

B] Degradation of land is caused by wrong techniques of irrigation, over use of fertilisers and deforestation. Land degradation can be checked by taking the following measures:

a. Farmers can shift from old irrigation techniques such as flood irrigation to drip irrigation or water sprinklers. It will avoid waterlogging in fields.

b. Check the overuse of chemical fertilisers such as urea and pesticides. Increase in the use of organic fertilisers and biofertilisers or cultivating leguminous crops improves the quality of land.

 

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