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Unit IIIUnit IIIUnit IIIUnit IIIUnit IIIChapter 5

LAND RESOURCES

AND AGRICULTURE

You must have observed that the land aroundyou is put to different uses. Some land isoccupied by rivers, some may have trees andon some parts roads and buildings have beenbuilt. Different types of lands are suited todifferent uses. Human beings thus, use landas a resource for production as well as residenceand recreation. Thus, the building of yourschool, roads on which you travel, parks inwhich you play, fields in which crops are grownand the pastures where animals graze representdifferent uses to which land is put.

Land Use CategoriesLand Use CategoriesLand Use CategoriesLand Use CategoriesLand Use Categories

Land-use records are maintained by landrevenue department. The land use categoriesadd up to reporting area, which is somewhatdifferent from the geographical area. TheSurvey of India is responsible for measuringgeographical area of administrative units inIndia. Have you ever used a map prepared bySurvey of India? The difference between the twoconcepts are that while the former changessomewhat depending on the estimates of theland revenue records, the latter does not changeand stays fixed as per Survey of Indiameasurements. You may be familiar with landuse categories as they are also included in yourSocial Science textbook of Class X.

The land-use categories as maintained inthe Land Revenue Records are as follows :

(i) Forests : It is important to note thatarea under actual forest cover isdifferent from area classified as forest.The latter is the area which theGovernment has identified anddemarcated for forest growth. The landrevenue records are consistent withthe latter definition. Thus, there maybe an increase in this category withoutany increase in the actual forest cover.

(ii) Land put to Non-agricultural Uses :Land under settlements (rural andurban), infrastructure (roads, canals,etc.), industries, shops, etc. areincluded in this category. An expansionin the secondary and tertiary activities

would lead to an increase in thiscategory of land-use.

(iii) Barren and Wastelands : The landwhich may be classified as awasteland such as barren hillyterrains, desert lands, ravines, etc.normally cannot be brought undercultivation with the availabletechnology.

(iv) Area under Permanent Pastures andGrazing Lands : Most of this type landis owned by the village ‘Panchayat’ orthe Government. Only a smallproportion of this land is privatelyowned. The land owned by the villagepanchayat comes under ‘CommonProperty Resources’.

(v) Area under Miscellaneous TreeCrops and Groves(Not included isNet sown Area) : The land underorchards and fruit trees are includedin this category. Much of this land isprivately owned.

(vi) Culturable Waste-Land : Any landwhich is left fallow (uncultivated) formore than five years is included in thiscategory. It can be brought undercultivation after improving it throughreclamation practices.

(vii) Current Fallow : This is the landwhich is left without cultivation for oneor less than one agricultural year.Fallowing is a cultural practice adoptedfor giving the land rest. The landrecoups the lost fertility through naturalprocesses.

(viii) Fallow other than Current Fallow :This is also a cultivable land which isleft uncultivated for more than a yearbut less than five years. If the land isleft uncultivated for more than fiveyears, it would be categorised asculturable wasteland.

(ix) Net Area Sown : The physicalextent of land on which crops aresown and harvested is known as netsown area.

Land-use Changes in IndiaLand-use Changes in IndiaLand-use Changes in IndiaLand-use Changes in IndiaLand-use Changes in India

Land-use in a region, to a large extent, isinfluenced by the nature of economicactivities carried out in that region. However,while economic activities change over time,land, like many other natural resources, isfixed in terms of its area. At this stage, oneneeds to appreciate three types of changesthat an economy undergoes, which affectland-use.

(i) The size of the economy (measuredin terms of value for all the goods andservices produced in the economy)grows over time as a result ofincreasing population, change inincome levels, available technologyand associated factors. As a result, thepressure on land will increase withtime and marginal lands would comeunder use.

(ii) Secondly, the composition of theeconomy would undergo a change overtime. In other words, the secondary andthe tertiary sectors usually grow muchfaster than the primary sector, specificallythe agricultural sector. This type ofchange is common in developingcountries like India. This process wouldresult in a gradual shift of land fromagricultural uses to non-agriculturaluses. You would observe that suchchanges are sharp around large urbanareas. The agricultural land is being usedfor building purposes.

(iii) Thirdly, though the contribution of theagricultural activities reduces over time,the pressure on land for agriculturalactivities does not decline. The reasonsfor continued pressure on agriculturalland are:

(a) In developing countries, theshare of population dependenton agriculture usually declinesmuch more slowly compared tothe decline in the sector’s sharein GDP.

(b) The number of people that theagricultural sector has to feed isincreasing day by day.

Land Resources and Agriculture 41

42 India : People and Economy

Compare the change in shares of primary, secondaryand tertiary sectors in GDP between 1960-61 and 1999-2000 with the changes of land-use between 1960-61and 2002-03 using Appendix (viii) tables 1 and 2.

India has undergone major changes withinthe economy over the past four or five decades,and this has influenced the land-use changesin the country. These changes between 1960-61 and 2002-03 have been shown in Fig. 5.1.There are two points that you need to rememberbefore you derive some meaning from thisfigure. Firstly, the percentages shown in thefigure have been derived with respect to thereporting area. Secondly, since even thereporting area has been relatively constant overthe years, a decline in one category usuallyleads to an increase in some other category.

Three categories have undergoneincreases, while four have registered declines.Share of area under forest, area under non-agricultural uses and current fallow lands haveshown an increase. The following observationscan be made about these increases:

(i) The rate of increase is the highest in caseof area under non-agricultural uses. Thisis due to the changing structure ofIndian economy, which is increasinglydepending on the contribution from

industrial and services sectors andexpansion of related infrastructuralfacilities. Also, an expansion of areaunder both urban and rural settlementshas added to the increase. Thus, the areaunder non-agricultural uses isincreasing at the expense of wastelandsand agricultural land.

(ii) The increase in the share under forest,as explained before, can be accountedfor by increase in the demarcated areaunder forest rather than an actualincrease in the forest cover in the country.

(iii) The increase in the current fallow cannotbe explained from informationpertaining to only two points. The trendof current fallow fluctuates a great dealover years, depending on the variabilityof rainfall and cropping cycles.

The four categories that have registered adecline are barren and wasteland, culturablewasteland, area under pastures and tree cropsand net area sown.

The following explanations can be givenfor the declining trends:

(i) As the pressure on land increased, bothfrom the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the wastelands andculturable wastelands have witnesseddecline over time.

(ii) The decline in net area sown is a recent

Note : Categories (iv) and (v) of Section I have been clubbed together in the graph.

Fig. 5.1


phenomenon that started in the latenineties, before which it was registeringa slow increase. There are indicationsthat most of the decline has occurreddue to the increases in area under non-agricultural use. (Note : the expansionof building activity on agricultural landin your village and city).

(iii) The decline in land under pastures andgrazing lands can be explained bypressure from agricultural land. Illegalencroachment due to expansion ofcultivation on common pasture lands islargely responsible for this decline.

What is the difference between actual increase andrate of increase? Work out the actual increase andrate of increases for all the land use categories between1960-61 and 2002-03 from the data given in the Appendix(viii) (Table 1). Explain the results.

Note for Teacher

For calculating actual increase, the difference of theland-use categories should be worked out over the twoperiods.

For deriving the rate of increase, simple growth rate i.e.(difference of values between the two time points i.e.value of terminal year minus base year / base year or1960-61 value) should be used, e.g.

100Net sown Area in 2002-03 Net sown Area in 1960-61

Net sown Area in 1960-61

Common PrCommon PrCommon PrCommon PrCommon Properoperoperoperoperty Rty Rty Rty Rty Resouresouresouresouresourcescescescesces

Land, according to its ownership can broadlybe classified under two broad heads – privateland and common property resources (CPRs).While the former is owned by an individual or agroup of individuals, the latter is owned by thestate meant for the use of the community. CPRsprovide fodder for the livestock and fuel for thehouseholds along with other minor forestproducts like fruits, nuts, fibre, medicinalplants, etc. In rural areas, such land is ofparticular relevance for the livelihood of thelandless and marginal farmers and other

weaker sections since many of them depend onincome from their livestock due to the fact thatthey have limited access to land. CPRs also areimportant for women as most of the fodder andfuel collection is done by them in rural areas.They have to devote long hours in collecting fueland fodder from a degraded area of CPR.

CPRs can be defined as community’s naturalresource, where every member has the right ofaccess and usage with specified obligations,without anybody having property rights overthem. Community forests, pasture lands, villagewater bodies and other public spaces where agroup larger than a household or family unitexercises rights of use and carries responsibilityof management are examples of CPRs.

Agricultural Land Use in IndiaAgricultural Land Use in IndiaAgricultural Land Use in IndiaAgricultural Land Use in IndiaAgricultural Land Use in India

Land resource is more crucial to thelivelihood of the people depending onagriculture:

(i) Agriculture is a purely land basedactivity unlike secondary and tertiaryactivities. In other words, contributionof land in agricultural output is morecompared to its contribution in theoutputs in the other sectors. Thus, lackof access to land is directly correlatedwith incidence of poverty in rural areas.

(ii) Quality of land has a direct bearing onthe productivity of agriculture, which isnot true for other activities.

(iii) In rural areas, aside from its value as aproductive factor, land ownership has asocial value and serves as a security forcredit, natural hazards or lifecontingencies, and also adds to the socialstatus.

An estimation of the total stock ofagricultural land resources (i.e. total cultivableland can be arrived at by adding up net sownarea, all fallow lands and culturable wasteland.It may be observed from Table 5.1 that over theyears, there has been a marginal decline in theavailable total stock of cultivable land as apercentage to total reporting area. There hasbeen a greater decline of cultivated land, in spiteof a corresponding decline of cultivablewasteland.


It is clear from the above discussion thatthe scope for bringing in additional land undernet sown area in India is limited. There is, thus,an urgent need to evolve and adopt land-savingtechnologies. Such technologies can be classifiedunder two heads – those which raise the yieldof any particular crop per unit area of land andthose which increase the total output per unitarea of land from all crops grown over oneagricultural year by increasing land-useintensity. The advantage of the latter kind oftechnology is that along with increasing outputfrom limited land, it also increases the demandfor labour significantly. For a land scarce butlabour abundant country like India, a highcropping intensity is desirable not only for fullerutilisation of land resource, but also forreducing unemployment in the rural economy.

The cropping intensity (CI) is calculated asfollows :

100GCACropping Intensity in percentage

NSA

Cropping Seasons in India

There are three distinct cropseasons in the northern andinterior parts of country, namelykharif, rabi and zaid. The kharifseason largely coincides withSouthwest Monsoon under whichthe cultivation of tropical cropssuch as rice, cotton, jute, jowar,bajra and tur is possible. The rabiseason begins with the onset ofwinter in October-November andends in March-April. The lowtemperature conditions during

this season facilitate the cultivation of temperateand subtropical crops such as wheat, gram andmustard. Zaid is a short duration summercropping season beginning after harvesting ofrabi crops. The cultivation of watermelons,cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops duringthis season is done on irrigated lands. However,this type of distinction in the cropping seasondoes not exist in southern parts of the country.Here, the temperature is high enough to growtropical crops during any period in the yearprovided the soil moisture is available.Therefore, in this region same crops can begrown thrice in an agricultural year providedthere is sufficient soil moisture.

Types of Farming

On the basis of main source of moisture forcrops, the farming can be classified as irrigatedand rainfed (barani). There is difference in thenature of irrigated farming as well based onobjective of irrigation, i.e. protective orproductive. The objective of protective irrigationis to protect the crops from adverse effects of soil

Agricultural Land-use As a percentage of As a percentage to Reporting Area Total Cultivated land

Categories 1960-61 2002-03 1960-61 2002-03

Culturable Wasteland 6.23 4.41 10.61 7.52

Fallow other than Current Fallow 3.5 3.82 5.96 6.51

Current Fallow 3.73 7.03 6.35 11.98

Net Area Sown 45.26 43.41 77.08 73.99

Total Cultivable Land 58.72 58.67 100.00 100.00

Table 5.1 : Composition of Total Cultivable Land

Cropping Season Major Crops Cultivated

Northern States Southern States

Kharif Rice, Cotton, Bajra, Rice, Maize, Ragi,June-September Maize, Jowar, Tur Jowar, Groundnut

Rabi Wheat, Gram, Rapeseeds Rice, Maize, Ragi,October – March and Mustard, Barley Groundnut, Jowar

Zaid Vegetables, Fruits, Rice, Vegetables, April–June Fodder Fodder

Table 5.2 : Cropping Seasons in India


moisture deficiency which often means thatirrigation acts as a supplementary source of waterover and above the rainfall. The strategy of thiskind of irrigation is to provide soil moisture tomaximum possible area. Productive irrigation ismeant to provide sufficient soil moisture in thecropping season to achieve high productivity. Insuch irrigation the water input per unit area ofcultivated land is higher than protective irrigation.Rainfed farming is further classified on the basisof adequacy of soil moisture during croppingseason into dryland and wetland farming. InIndia, the dryland farming is largely confinedto the regions having annual rainfall less than 75cm. These regions grow hardy and droughtresistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gramand guar (fodder crops) and practise variousmeasures of soil moisture conservation and rainwater harvesting. In wetland farming, therainfall is in excess of soil moisture requirementof plants during rainy season. Such regions mayface flood and soil erosion hazards. These areasgrow various water intensive crops such as rice,jute and sugarcane and practise aquaculture inthe fresh water bodies.

CrCrCrCrCropping Popping Popping Popping Popping Paaaaatterntterntterntternttern

Foodgrains

The importance of foodgrains in Indianagricultural economy may be gauged from thefact these crops occupy about two-third of totalcropped area in the country. Foodgrains aredominant crops in all parts of the countrywhether they have subsistence or commercialagricultural economy. On the basis of thestructure of grain the foodgrains are classifiedas cereals and pulses.

Cereals

The cereals occupy about 54 per cent of totalcropped area in India. The country producesabout 11 per cent cereals of the world and ranksthird in production after China and U.S.A. Indiaproduces a variety of cereals, which areclassified as fine grains (rice, wheat) and coarsegrains (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi), etc. Accountof important cereals has been given in thefollowing paragraphs :

Rice

Rice is a staple food for the overwhelmingmajority of population in India. Though, it isconsidered to be a crop of tropical humid areas,it has about 3,000 varieties which are grown indifferent agro-climatic regions. These aresuccessfully grown from sea level to about2,000 m altitude and from humid areas ineastern India to dry but irrigated areas ofPunjab, Haryana, western U.P. and northernRajasthan. In southern states and West Bengalthe climatic conditions allow the cultivation oftwo or three crops of rice in an agricultural year.In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of ricecalled ‘aus ’, ‘aman ’ and ‘boro ’. But inHimalayas and northwestern parts of thecountry, it is grown as a kharif crop duringsouthwest Monsoon season.

India contributes 22 per cent of riceproduction in the world and ranks second afterChina. About one-fourth of the total croppedarea in the country is under rice cultivation.West Bengal, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, AndhraPradesh and Tamil Nadu were five leading riceproducing states in the country in 2002-03. Theyield level of rice is high in Punjab, Tamil Nadu,Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal andKerala. In the first four of these states almostthe entire land under rice cultivation is irrigated.Punjab and Haryana are not traditional rice

growing areas. Rice cultivation in the irrigatedareas of Punjab and Haryana was introducedin 1970s following the Green Revolution.Genetically improved varieties of seed, relativelyhigh usage of fertilisers and pesticides and lowerlevels of susceptibility of the crop to pests due to

Fig. 5.2 : Rice transplantation in southern parts of India


Fig. 5.3 : India – Distribution of Rice


dry climatic conditions are responsible for higheryield of rice in this region. The yield of this cropis very low in rainfed areas of Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

Wheat

Wheat is the second most important cereal cropin India after rice. India produces about 12 percent of total wheat production of world. It isprimarily a crop of temperate zone. Hence, itscultivation in India is done during winter i.e.rabi season. About 85 per cent of total areaunder this crop is concentrated in north andcentral regions of the country i.e. Indo-GangeticPlain, Malwa Plateau and Himalayas up to2,700 m altitude. Being a rabi crop, it is mostlygrown under irrigated conditions. But it is arainfed crop in Himalayan highlands and partsof Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh.

About 14 per cent of the total cropped areain the country is under wheat cultivation. UttarPradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh are five leading wheatproducing states. The yield level of wheat isvery high (above 4,000 k.g. per ha) in Punjaband Haryana whereas, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and Bihar have moderate yields. Thestates like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradeshand Jammu and Kashmir growing wheat underrainfed conditions have low yield.

Jowar

The coarse cereals together occupy about16.50 per cent of total cropped area in thecountry. Among these, jowar or sorghum aloneaccounts for about 5.3 per cent of totalcropped area. It is main food crop in semi-aridareas of central and southern India.Maharashtra alone produces more than halfof the total jowar production of the country.Other leading producer states of jowar areKarnataka, Madhya Pradesh and AndhraPradesh. It is sown in both kharif and rabiseasons in southern states. But it is a kharifcrop in northern India where it is mostly grownas a fodder crop. South of Vindhyachal it is arainfed crop and its yield level is very low inthis region.

Bajra

Bajra is sown in hot and dry climatic conditionsin northwestern and western parts of thecountry. It is a hardy crop which resists frequentdry spells and drought in this region. It iscultivated alone as well as part of mixedcropping. This coarse cereal occupies about 5.2per cent of total cropped area in the country.Leading producers of bajra are the states ofMaharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthanand Haryana. Being a rainfed crop, the yield levelof this crop is low in Rajasthan and fluctuates alot from year to year. Yield of this crop hasincreased during recent years in Haryana andGujarat due to introduction of drought resistantvarieties and expansion of irrigation under it.

Maize

Maize is a food as well as fodder crop grownunder semi-arid climatic conditions and overinferior soils. This crop occupies only about3.6 per cent of total cropped area. Maizecultivation is not concentrated in any specificregion. It is sown all over India except easternand north-eastern regions. The leadingproducers of maize are the states of MadhyaPradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Yield level ofmaize is higher than other coarse cereals. It ishigh in southern states and declines towardscentral parts.

Pulses

Pulses are a very important ingredient ofvegetarian food as these are rich sources ofproteins. These are legume crops whichincrease the natural fertility of soils throughnitrogen fixation. India is a leading producer ofpulses and accounts for about one-fifth of thetotal production of pulses in the world. Thecultivation of pulses in the country is largelyconcentrated in the drylands of Deccan andcentral plateaus and northwestern parts of thecountry. Pulses occupy about 11 per cent ofthe total cropped area in the country. Being therainfed crops of drylands, the yields of pulsesare low and fluctuate from year to year. Gramand tur are the main pulses cultivated in India.


Fig. 5.4 : India – Distribution of Wheat


Gram

Gram is cultivated in subtropical areas. It ismostly a rainfed crop cultivated during rabiseason in central, western and northwestern partsof the country. Just one or two light showers orirrigations are required to grow this cropsuccessfully. It has been displaced from thecropping pattern by wheat in Haryana, Punjaband northern Rajasthan following the greenrevolution. At present, gram covers only about2.8 per cent of the total cropped area in thecountry. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthanare the main producers of this pulse crop. Theyield of this crop continues to be low and fluctuatesfrom year to year even in irrigated areas.

Tur (Arhar)

Tur is the second important pulse crop in thecountry. It is also known as red gram or pigeonpea. It is cultivated over marginal lands andunder rainfed conditions in the dry areas ofcentral and southern states of the country. Thiscrop occupies only about 2 per cent of totalcropped area of India. Maharashtra alonecontributes about one-third of the totalproduction of tur. Other leading producer statesare Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat andMadhya Pradesh. Per hectare output of this cropis very low and its performance is inconsistent.

Differentiate between different foodgrains. Mix grains ofvarious kinds and separate cereals from pulses. Also,separate fine from coarse cereals.

Oilseeds

The oilseeds are produced for extracting edibleoils. Drylands of Malwa plateau, Marathwada,Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and Rayalseemaregion of Andhra Pradesh and Karnatakaplateau are oilseeds growing regions of India.These crops together occupy about 14 per centof total cropped area in the country.Groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, soyabeanand sunflower are the main oilseed crops grownin India.

Groundnut

India produces about 17 per cent the total ofgroundnut production in the world. It is largelya rainfed kharif crop of drylands. But insouthern India, it is cultivated during rabiseason as well. It covers about 3.6 per cent oftotal cropped area in the country. Gujarat, TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka andMaharashtra are the leading producers. Yieldof groundnut is comparatively high in TamilNadu where it is partly irrigated. But its yieldis low in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Rapeseed and Mustard

Rapeseed and mustard comprise several oilseedsas rai, sarson, toria and taramira. These aresubtropical crops cultivated during rabi seasonin north-western and central parts of India.These are frost sensitive crops and their yieldsfluctuate from year to year. But with theexpansion of irrigation and improvement in seedtechnology, their yields have improved andstabilised to some extent. About two-third of thecultivated area under these crops is irrigated.These oilseeds together occupy only 2.5 per centof total cropped area in the country. Rajasthancontributes about one-third production whileother leading producers are Uttar Pradesh,Haryana, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.Yields of these crops are comparatively high inHaryana and Rajasthan.

Other Oilseeds

Soyabean and sunflower are other importantoilseeds grown in India. Soyabean is mostlygrown in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Fig. 5.5 : Farmers sowing soyabean seeds in Amravati,Maharashtra


Fig. 5.6 : India – Distribution of Cotton and Jute


These two states together produce about 90 percent of total output of soyabean in the country.Sunflower cultivation is concentrated inKarnataka, Andhra Pradesh and adjoiningareas of Maharashtra. It is a minor crop innorthern parts of the country where its yield ishigh due to irrigation.

Fibre Crops

These crops provide us fibre for preparing cloth,bags, sacks and a number of other items.Cotton and jute are two main fibre crops grownin India.

Cotton

Cotton is a tropical crop grown in kharif seasonin semi-arid areas of the country. India lost alarge proportion of cotton growing area toPakistan during partition. However, its acreagehas increased considerably during the last 50years. India grows both short staple (Indian)cotton as well as long staple (American) cottoncalled ‘narma’ in north-western parts of thecountry. Cotton requires clear sky duringflowering stage.

in south. Leading producers of this crop areMaharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,Punjab and Haryana. Per hectare output ofcotton is high under irrigated conditions innorth-western region of the country. Its yieldis very low in Maharashtra where it is grownunder rainfed conditions.

Jute

Jute is used for making coarse cloth, bags, sacksand decorative items. It is a cash crop in WestBengal and adjoining eastern parts of thecountry. India lost large jute growing areas toEast Pakistan (Bangladesh) during partition. Atpresent, India produces about three-fifth of juteproduction of the world. West Bengal accountsfor about three-fourth of the production in thecountry. Bihar and Assam are other jute growingareas. Being concentrated only in a few states,this crop accounts for only about 0.5 per cent oftotal cropped area in the country.

Other Crops

Sugarcane, tea and coffee are other importantcrops grown in India.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a crop of tropical areas. Underrainfed conditions, it is cultivated in sub-humidand humid climates. But it is largely an irrigatedcrop in India. In Indo-Gangetic plain, itscultivation is largely concentrated in UttarPradesh. Sugarcane growing area in western Indiais spread over Maharashtra and Gujarat. In

India ranks fourth in the world in theproduction of cotton after China, U.S.A. andPakistan and accounts for about 8.3 per centof production of cotton in the world. Cottonoccupies about 4.7 per cent of total croppedarea in the country. There are three cottongrowing areas, i.e. parts of Punjab, Haryana andnorthern Rajasthan in north-west, Gujarat andMaharashtra in the west and plateaus ofAndhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Fig. 5.7 : Cotton Cultivation

Fig. 5.8 : Sugarcane Cultivation


Fig. 5.9 : India – Distribution of Sugarcane


southern India, it is cultivated in irrigated tractsof Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

India is the second largest producer ofsugarcane after Brazil. It accounts for about23 per cent of the world production ofsugarcane. But it occupies only 2.4 per cent oftotal cropped area in the country. Uttar Pradeshproduces about two-fifth of sugarcane of thecountry. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Naduand Andhra Pradesh are other leadingproducers of this crop where yield level ofsugarcane is high. Its yield is low in northernIndia.

Tea

Tea is a plantation crop used as beverage. Blacktea leaves are fermented whereas green tea leavesare unfermented. Tea leaves have rich content ofcaffeine and tannin. It is an indigenous crop ofhills in northern China. It is grown overundulating topography of hilly areas and well-drained soils in humid and sub-humid tropicsand sub-tropics. In India, tea plantation startedin 1840s in Brahmaputra valley of Assam whichstill is a major tea growing area in the country.Later on, its plantation was introduced in thesub-Himalayan region of West Bengal (Darjiling,Jalpaiguri and Cooch Bihar districts). Tea is alsocultivated on the lower slopes of Nilgiri andCardamom hills in Western Ghats. India is a

after Sri Lanka and China. Assam accounts forabout 53.2 per cent of the total cropped areaand contributes more than half of totalproduction of tea in the country. West Bengaland Tamil Nadu are the other leading producersof tea.

Coffee

Coffee is a tropical plantation crop. Its seedsare roasted, ground and are used for preparinga beverage. There are three varieties of coffeei.e. arabica, robusta and liberica. India mostlygrows superior quality coffee, arabica, whichis in great demand in International market. ButIndia produces only about 4.3 per cent coffeeof the world and ranks sixth after Brazil,Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Mexico.Coffee is cultivated in the highlands of WesternGhats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.Karnataka alone accounts for more than two-third of total production of coffee in the country.

Agricultural Development in IndiaAgricultural Development in IndiaAgricultural Development in IndiaAgricultural Development in IndiaAgricultural Development in India

Agriculture continues to be an important sectorof Indian economy. In 2001 about 53 per centpopulation of the country was dependent on it.The importance of agricultural sector in Indiacan be gauged from the fact that about 57 percent of its land is devoted to crop cultivation,whereas, in the world, the corresponding shareis only about 12 per cent. In spite of this, thereis tremendous pressure on agricultural landin India, which is reflected from the fact thatthe land-human ratio in the country is only 0.31ha which is almost half of that of the world as awhole (0.59 ha). Despite various constraints,Indian agriculture has marched a long waysince Independence.

Strategy of Development

Indian agricultural economy was largelysubsistence in nature before Independence. Ithad dismal performance in the first half oftwentieth century. This period witnessed severedroughts and famines. During partition aboutone-third of the irrigated land in undividedIndia went to Pakistan. This reduced theproportion of irrigated area in Independent

Fig. 5.10 : Tea Farming

leading producer of tea and accounts for about28 per cent of total production in the world.India’s share in the international market of teahas declined substantially. At present, it ranksthird among tea exporting countries in the world


Fig. 5.11 : India – Distribution of Tea and Coffee


India. After Independence, the immediate goalof the Government was to increase foodgrainsproduction by (i) switching over from cashcrops to food crops; (ii) intensification ofcropping over already cultivated land; and (iii)increasing cultivated area by bringing cultivableand fallow land under plough. Initially, thisstrategy helped in increasing foodgrainsproduction. But agricultural productionstagnated during late 1950s. To overcome thisproblem, Intensive Agricultural DistrictProgramme (IADP) and Intensive AgriculturalArea Programme (IAAP) were launched. But twoconsecutive droughts during mid-1960sresulted in food crisis in the country.Consequently, the foodgrains were importedfrom other countries.

New seed varieties of wheat (Mexico) andrice (Philippines) known as high yieldingvarieties (HYVs) were available for cultivationby mid-1960s. India took advantage of this andintroduced package technology comprisingHYVs, along with chemical fertilizers in irrigatedareas of Punjab, Haryana, Western UttarPradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Assuredsupply of soil moisture through irrigation wasa basic pre-requisite for the success of this newagricultural technology. This strategy ofagricultural development paid dividendsinstantly and increased the foodgrainsproduction at very fast rate. This spurt ofagricultural growth came to be known as‘Green Revolution’. This also gave fillip to thedevelopment of a large number of agro-inputs,agro-processing industries and small-scaleindustries. This strategy of agriculturaldevelopment made the country self-reliant infoodgrain production. But green revolution wasinitially confined to irrigated areas only. Thisled to regional disparities in agriculturaldevelopment in the country till the seventies,after which the technology spread to the Easternand Central parts of the country.

The Planning Commission of Indiafocused its attention on the problems ofagriculture in rainfed areas in 1980s. Itinitiated agro-climatic planning in 1988 toinduce regionally balanced agriculturaldevelopment in the country. It also emphasised

the need for diversification of agriculture andharnessing of resources for development ofdairy farming, poultry, horticulture, livestockrearing and aquaculture.

Initiation of the policy of liberalisation andfree market economy in 1990s is likely toinfluence the course of development of Indianagriculture. Lack of development of ruralinfrastructure, withdrawal of subsidies andprice support, and impediments in availing ofthe rural credits may lead to inter-regional andinter-personal disparities in rural areas.

Growth of Agricultural Output and Technology

There has been a significant increase inagricultural output and improvement intechnology during the last fifty years.

• Production and yield of many cropssuch as rice and wheat has increased atan impressive rate. Among the othercrops, the production of sugarcane,oilseeds and cotton has also increasedappreciably. India ranks first in theproduction of pulses, tea, jute, cattleand milk. It is the second largestproducer of rice, wheat, groundnut,sugarcane and vegetables.

• Expansion of irrigation has played a verycrucial role in enhancing agriculturaloutput in the country. It provided basisfor introduction of modern agriculturaltechnology such as high yielding varietiesof seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides andfarm machinery. The net irrigated area inthe country has increased from 20.85 to54.66 million ha over the period 1950-51to 2000-01. Over these 50 years, areairrigated more than once in an agriculturalyear has increased from 1.71 to 20.46million ha.

• Modern agricultural technology hasdiffused very fast in various areas of thecountry. Consumption of chemicalfertilizers has increased by 15 times sincemid-sixties. In 2001-02, per hectareconsumption of chemical fertilizers in Indiawas 91 kg which was equal to its averageconsumption in the world (90 kg). But inthe irrigated areas of Punjab and Haryana,


Low productivity

The yield of the crops in the country is low incomparison to the international level. Perhectare output of most of the crops such asrice, wheat, cotton and oilseeds in India ismuch lower than that of U.S.A., Russia andJapan. Because of the very high pressure onthe land resources, the labour productivityin Indian agriculture is also very low incomparison to international level. The vastrainfed areas of the country, particularlydrylands which mostly grow coarse cereals,pulses and oilseeds have very low yields.

Why is agricultural productivity low in dryregions?

Constraints of Financial Resources andIndebtedness

The inputs of modern agriculture are veryexpensive. This resource intensive approach hasbecome unmanageable for marginal and smallfarmers as they have very meagre or no savingto invest in agriculture. To tide over thesedifficulties, most of such farmers have resortedto availing credit from various institutions andmoney lenders. Crop failures and low returnsfrom agriculture have forced them to fall in thetrap of indebtedness.

What are the implications of severeindebtedness? Do you feel that the recentincidents of farmers’ suicides in differentstates of the country are the result ofindebtedness?

Lack of Land Reforms

Indian peasantry had been exploited for along time as there had been unequaldistribution of land. Among the threerevenue systems operational during Britishperiod i.e. Mahalwari, R yotwari andZamindari, the last one was most exploitativefor the peasants. After independence, landreforms were accorded priority, but these

the consumption of chemical fertilizers perunit area is three to four times higher thanthat of the national average. Since the highyielding varieties are highly susceptible topests and diseases, the use of pesticideshas increased significantly since 1960s.

Fig. 5.12 : Roto Till Drill - A modern agricultural equipment

PrPrPrPrProboboboboblems lems lems lems lems ofofofofof Indian Ag Indian Ag Indian Ag Indian Ag Indian AgriculturriculturriculturriculturricultureeeeeThe nature of problems faced by Indianagriculture varies according to agro-ecologicaland historical experiences of its different regions.Hence, most of the agricultural problems in thecountry are region specific. Yet, there are someproblems which are common and range fromphysical constraints to institutional hindrances.A detailed discussion on these problems follows:

Dependence on Erratic Monsoon

Irrigation covers only about 33 per cent of thecultivated area in India. The crop productionin rest of the cultivated land directly dependson rainfall. Poor performance of south-westMonsoon also adversely affects the supply ofcanal water for irrigation. On the other hand,the rainfall in Rajasthan and other droughtprone areas is too meagre and highly unreliable.Even the areas receiving high annual rainfallexperience considerable fluctuations. Thismakes them vulnerable to both droughts andfloods. Drought is a common phenomenon inthe low rainfall areas which may also experienceoccasional floods. The flash floods in drylandsof Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan in2006 are examples of this phenomenon.Droughts and floods continue to be twin menacein Indian agriculture.


reforms were not implemented effectively dueto lack of strong political will. Most of the stategovernments avoided taking politically toughdecisions which went against strong politicallobbies of landlords. Lack of implementationof land reforms has resulted in continuationof inequitous distribution of cultivable landwhich is detrimental to agriculturaldevelopment.

Small Farm Size and Fragmentation ofLandholdings

There are a large number of marginal and smallfarmers in the country. More than 60 per centof the ownership holdings have a size smallerthan one (ha). Furthermore, about 40 per centof the farmers have operational holding sizesmaller than 0.5 hectare (ha). The average size

of land holding is shrinking further underincreasing population pressure. Furthermore,in India, the land holdings are mostlyfragmented. There are some states whereconsolidation of holding has not been carriedout even once. Even the states where it has beencarried out once, second consolidation isrequired as land holdings have fragmentedagain in the process of division of land amongthe owners of next generations. The small sizefragmented landholdings are uneconomic.

Lack of Commercialisation

A large number of farmers produce crops forself-consumption. These farmers do not haveenough land resources to produce more thantheir requirement. Most of the small andmarginal farmers grow foodgrains, which are

What changes have you noticed inagricultural sector and croppingpattern? Discuss in the class.


EXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISES

1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.

(i) Which one of the following is NOT a land-use category?

(a) Fallow land (c) Net Area Sown

(b) Marginal land (d) Culturable Wasteland

(ii) What one of the following is the main reason due to which share of foresthas shown an increase in the last forty years?

(a) Extensive and efficient efforts of afforestation

(b) Increase in community forest land

(c) Increase in notified area allocated for forest growth

(d) Better peoples’ participation in managing forest area.

(iii) Which one of the following is the main form of degradation in irrigatedareas?

(a) Gully erosion (c) Salinisation of soils

(b) Wind erosion (d) Siltation of land

meant for their own family consumption.Modernisation and commercialisation ofagriculture have however, taken place in theirrigated areas.

Vast Under-employment

There is a massive under-employment in theagricultural sector in India, particularly in theun-irrigated tracts. In these areas, there is aseasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8months. Even in the cropping season work isnot available throughout, as agriculturaloperations are not labour intensive. Hence, thepeople engaged in agriculture do not have theopportunity to work round the year.

Degradation of Cultivable Land

One of the serious problems that arises out offaulty strategy of irrigation and agriculturaldevelopment is degradation of land resources.This is serious because it may lead todepletion of soil fertility. The situation isparticularly alarming in irrigated areas. A large

tract of agricultural land has lost its fertilitydue to alkalisation and salinisation of soils andwaterlogging. Alkalinity and salinity havealready affected about 8 million ha land.Another 7 million ha land in the country haslost its fertility due to waterlogging. Excessiveuse of chemicals such as insecticides andpesticides has led to their concentration in toxicamounts in the soil profile. Leguminous cropshave been displaced from the cropping patternin the irrigated areas and duration of fallowhas substantially reduced owing to multiplecropping. This has obliterated the process ofnatural fertilization such as nitrogen fixation.Rainfed areas in humid and semi-arid tropicsalso experience degradation of several typeslike soil erosion by water and wind erosionwhich are often induced by human activities.

Prepare a list of agricultural problems in your ownregion. How similar or different are these problemscompared to the problems mentioned in this chapter?


(iv) Which one of the following crops is not cultivated under dryland farming?

(a) Ragi (c) Groundnut

(b) Jowar (d) Sugarcane

(v) In which of the following group of countries of the world, HYVs of wheatand rice were developed?

(a) Japan and Australia (c) Mexico and Philippines

(b) U.S.A. and Japan (d) Mexico and Singapore

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Differentiate between barren and wasteland and culturable wasteland.

(ii) How would you distinguish between net sown area and gross croppedarea?

(iii) Why is the strategy of increasing cropping intensity important in acountry like India?

(iv) How do you measure total cultivable land?

(v) What is the difference between dryland and wetland farming?

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) What are the different types of environmental problems of land resourcesin India?

(ii) What are the important strategies for agricultural development followedin the post-independence period in India?

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