Indian Geography

Economic geography

Agriculture
Mines and
minerals

Importance of Agriculture
in
India
Agriculture (+
fisheries + livestock
+ forest) contribute
13.9% to Indias
GDP (2013-14)
Indias ~ 51%
population
depended on agri +
allied activities

Features of Indian agriculture

Subsistence agriculture rain-fed agriculture
Mixed agriculture (agro+ livestock/ fishery/
poultry)
Non-mechanized
Low per/person productivity
Division of land throughout generations
land fragmentation
Food crop cultivation dominant

Features of Indian agriculture

Low agro-investment
Poor forward and backward linkages
Under-developed food-processing
industry
Poor agro-infrastructure: Coldstorages, refrigerated vans etc.

Indias targets

Make Agri. profitable

Improve Productivity
Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture Efficiency

Agriculture efficiency = agri output /

agri input
But Indias agriculture is subsistence,
output not monetized
Input not monetized family members
as labourers

Agriculture Productivity

Agriculture Productivity = weight/area

or Qt/ ha or Called yield
India half or 1/3th of highest
productivity in the world (except
sugarcane and wheat)

Pattern in Indias productivity

1) High productivity areas:

High investment in input- machinery,
HYV, irrigation
PN-HN, Kaveri basin, Kashmir
2) Good potential areas:
Fertile land, good rainfall, cheap
labour
Lower Gangetic plains, eastern coast

Pattern in Indias productivity

3) Low productivity areas:

Bad soil, low rainfall, frequent
droughts, difficult terrain (mountains/
plateaus) or deserts
High crop failure, agrarian poverty
Techniques: Dryland agriculture,
watershed management

To increase Productivity

Improve
CI
seeds

Nutrition

irrigatio
n

Fin.

Nutrition
Soil
conservati
on
Chemical

Organic

Water-use
efficiency
conventiona
l
Canal, Tube
well

Nonconventiona
l
Watershed,
rainwater
harv.

Forward
Links

Marketing

Cold
storages

Transportati
on

Food-Proc.
Indu.

3 things to consider: productivity

3 things to consider while improving

productivity
1) Conservation of natural resources
Judicious use of Chemical inputs
Fertilizers, pesticides, artificial
hormones

3 things to consider: productivity

2) Character of Indian agriculture must

not be destroyed (labour intensive)
unemployment
- Modernization should not be at preharvest side (sowing, weeding etc)
- Modernization needed at post-harvest
side. I.e. storage, food-processing,
marketing, transportation, agroresearch

3 things to consider: productivity

3) No blind race to achieve high

productivity
Target to achieve optimum and
sustainable target of productivity
Not to achieve highest productivity it
will exhaust our natural resources

Crop

Mkt

SOIL

Ag
ri

Fin.
M/C

Wate
r
Nutri
.

Agriculture-season in India
3 main seasons of
cultivation in India
1) Kharif
2) Rabi
3) Zaid

Major crops
Kharif crops
Monsoon
season
All crops
except Rabi
crops
Rice,
sugarcane,

Rabi crops
Winter
season
Wheat,
gram,
linseed, pea
and Mustard

Zaid crops
Dry summer
season
Vegetables
and fruits

Rice
Major staple food
India- largest area under
rice in the world
temp =21-25 deg, warm
conditions
Water intensive crop
Grown in wetter parts
Productivity is low
compared to wheat

Techniques to cultivate Rice

Japanese
transplantation
technique
Peninsular India
less water intensive
dry-upland rice
New SRI technique

Rice
60-70% from late
summer rice
Aman, Sali, Afghani
Peninsular plateau
autumn rice Ours
East India summer
rice Boro and
Palua

Wheat
Rabi crop
Temp: 17-20 deg
Not water intensive
crop
Sub-tropical crop
Productivity highest
in India- after green
revolution

Wheat producing areas

Western
disturbances help
wheat ripening
Wheat is grown in
winter in India
North and northwestern part

Pulses

Lentils and grams

Major source of
vegetable protein

crop
Moong
Arahar (Tuar)
Urad (Black

Area of
cultivation
Eastern Indian
coast (max
area)
North India and
MP
South India

Problems: pulse cultivation

After Green revolution, cultivation of

rice and wheat promoted
High MSP on grains
Pulsed pushed to marginal lands
Pulse production declined / stagnant
High pulse import

Govt. schemes for pulse cultivation

Introduction of Dryland agriculture

program to encourage pulse cultivation
RKVY 60k pulse village prog.
National Food security Mission include
pulses
Target: 4 mT pulse production

Millets
Need less rainfall (dry
crops)
Entirely grown under
subsistence farming
Grown for fodder crops
Very nutritious and
affordable
Important for Nutrition
security
But least preferred

Jawar (Sorghum)
Jawar 3th most
imp crop after rice
and wheat
Kharif + Rabi Crop
Suitable for rainfed
areas
Require around 30
cm rainfall dry
situation
MH, MP, KN, AP

Bajra
Kharif crop
40-50 cm rainfall +
warm climate
Bright sunlight after
light shower
MH, GJ, UP = Bajara

Ragi
Drier part rainfed
crop
20-30 deg temp
KN largest producer
(more than 50%)

Cotton
Dry crop not much
rain needed
But adequate and
timely supply of water
to roots
Black soil- highly water
retentive- keep roots
moist
Dry regions of black soil

Cotton: producing areas

Traditional cotton
areas
Western India
But high profitability
shift to PN and
Kaveri basin regions
Over-irrigation in dry
seasons soil
salinity

Textile industries in India

One of the most important industry in

India
Labour intensive
Backward linkages with agriculture
During British era, Bombay developed
1st center for textile industries
Mumbai, Amaravati, Vardha-pune,
Satara-Nagpur

MH region

Black soil cotton producing regions

Mumbai port (import of machinery
and coal + export of textile)
Cheap labour from surrounding
regions
Finance from rich Parsis and Gujarati
merchants
Mumbai- agglomeration inertia more
development

Shift to Gujarat

Mumbai- congestion, strong labour

union
Ahmedabad located at heart of
cotton growing regions
Ahmedabad emerging market,
cheap labour supply
More impetus After development of
Kandla
Ahmedabad, Bharuch, Vadodara,

Shift to Tamil Nadu

Earlier Inadequate amount of raw

materials
After development of railway, supply
of raw material
Lack of coal power. Development of
HEP
Coimbatore, Salem, Tuticorin,
Pondicherry

Q. Tamil Nadu is a leading

producer of mill-made cotton
yarn in the country. What could
be the reason?
1. Black cotton soil is the
predominant type of the soil
in the state
2. Rich pool of skilled labour is
available
Which of the above is/are

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2010

a)
b)
c)
d)

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Ans. B)
Dominant soil type in TN is red
soil

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2010

Soil in TN

Q. A state in India has following

characteristics:
1. Northern part is arid, semiarid
2. Its central part produces
cotton
3. Cultivation of cash crops is
predominant over food crops

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2011

a)
b)
c)
d)

Andhra Pradesh
Gujarat
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu

Ans. b)
Predominant crops in GJ: cotton,
tobacco, ground nut, castor
seed

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2011

Q. Analyse the factors for highly

centralised cotton textile
industry in India. (5)
Factors:
1) Raw material
2) Energy source
3) Cheap labour
4) Finance
5) Market

Question
UPSC
Mains
2013

Sugarcane
Water intensive
cash-crop
Reliable cash crop
than cotton

Sugar cane areas

Traditional
sugarcane areasNorthern plains
North India- subtropical variety low
sugar content Sugar factories shut
in winter season

Sugar cane areas

From northern
Plains, Shift to
1) south India
2) PN-HN
3) Western India

Sugar cane areas: South India

Tropical variety coastal areas; humidity
High sugar content, high yield
Sugar factories open year around
Skilled disciplined labour
Sugarcane need effective post-harvest
management
Better work in cooperative sector
South India organized cooperative sector

Q. Do you agree that there is a

growing trend of opening new
sugar mills in southern states of
India? Discuss with justification.
(5)

Question
UPSC
Mains
2013

Oil-seeds
Ground nut, sunflower, mustard,
palm-oil, soya-oil
Low productivity
issue similar to
pulses and millets

Oil-seed

Oil content

Ground nut
Sesame

40-50% oil
45-50% oil

Rape seed
25-45% oil
and Mustard
(Rabi)
Linseed (Rabi) 35-45% oil
Castor seed

50%

Producing
states
GJ, AP, TN
GJ (India is
the largest)
UP, RJ, PN
(India is the
largest)
MP, UP and
Bihar
GJ (2/3th), AP

Problems: oil-seeds

Traditionally low productivity in oilseed production

Input intensive + price volatility
Farmers aversion to cultivate oil-seeds
Important for vegetable fat
Import from SE Asian countries
Highest import bill in food-basket

Govt. promotion : oil-seeds

Mission on Oil-seed and oil-palm

Increase oil-seed production 4.5% per
year
But yet not matched with edible oil
demand
Govt. introduced Yellow Revolution to
promote oil-seed cultivation

Tea
Need high rainfall
>200cm
Tea- roots cannot
tolerate water-logging
Grown on slopes
1) Himalayan slopes
2) Nilgiri
India largest producer
70% domestically
consumed

Tea: plantation
Introduction by
British
India- largest
producer
Labour intensive
sector
Important for
women employment

Q. Whereas British planters has

developed tea gardens all along
shiwaliks and lesser Himalayas
from Assam to Himachal
Pradesh, in effect they did not
succeed beyond Darjeeling
area. Explain. (10)

Question
UPSC
Mains
2014

1) Disappearance of lesser him in

east
2) Steep-slope absence of
soil/fertile soil
3) Heights low temp (frost)
4) Low population density
5) Difficult terrain transportation
issues
6) Far away from ports (Kolkata or
Chittagong)

Question
UPSC
Mains
2014

Jute
Grown in high
rainfall and humid
areas
Water-intensive crop
Traditional area
Hugli basin
Shifted to Godavari
basin

Retting of Jute

Jute

Once it was called golden fiber

highest FOREX earner crop in India
Germany- synthetic fiber demand
declined
Today not so important
Need more research and innovation to
promote jute
Ecological than synthetic fiber

Spices
India was known for
its spices since
ancient times
Slopes of western
Ghats (largest- KR)
Assam (Cardamom)
RJ (chili)
AP (turmeric)

Spices in KR

Largest producer of Pepper,

Cardamom, Ginger, areca-nut
Hot, Humid climate (200-250 cm
rainfall)
1000-1200m height of Western Ghats
loamy lateritic soils
KN, TN are other important spice
producer states

Q. Following are the

characteristics of an area in
India
1. Hot and Humid climate
2. Annual rainfall 200 cm
3. Hill slopes up to an altitude
of 1100m
4. Annual range of temperature
15 deg to 30 deg

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2010

Which one of the following crops

are you most likely to find in the
area described above?
a) Mustard
b) Cotton
c) Pepper
d) Virginia tobacco
Ans. C)

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2010

Q. The lower Gangetic plains is

characterized by humid climate with
high temperature throughout the
year. Which one the following pairs
of crops is most suitable for this
region?
a) Paddy and cotton
b) Wheat and Jute
c) Paddy and Jute
d) Wheat and cotton

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2011

Ans. C)
Paddy and Jute

Question
UPSC
Prelims
2011

Seed Mission
Seed Mission (12th Plan) by Min. of agri
For major 45 crops
To increase production of certified quality seeds
To enhance the seed replacement rate (SRR).
To upgrade quality of farm saved seeds
To establish a seed reserve at regional levels
to meet requirement during natural calamities
Up-gradation of public sector seed producing
agencies.

Seed Bill, 2004

To Replace seed act, 1966
To regulate production, distribution
and sale of seeds
All varieties of seeds for sale have to
be registered.
The seeds are required to meet certain
prescribed minimum standards.

Seed Bill, 2004

Transgenic varieties of seeds can be
registered only after clearance under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
If a registered variety of seed fails to
perform, the farmer can claim
compensation from the producer or dealer.
Setting up a compensation committee that
shall hear and decide these cases.