Q-1 Name one important beverage crop and specify the geographical conditions required for its growth.
Answer: Tea is also an important beverage crop introduced in India, along with coffee. The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates. It requires deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter. Tea bushes require warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year. Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender leaves.
Q-2 Name one staple crop of India and the regions where it is produced.
Answer: Cotton is one of the staple crops of India. Major cotton-producing states are – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Q-3 Enlist the various institutional reform programmes introduced by the government in the interest of farmers.
Answer:
- Abolition of zamindari.
- Consolidation of smallholdings.
- Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire, and disease.
- Establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies, Kissan Credit Card and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme, and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest.
- Announcement regarding Minimum support prices to ensure farmers did not suffer if the pres crashed due to bumper crops.
- Subsidy on agricultural inputs and resources such as power and fertilisers.
Q-4: The land under cultivation has got reduced day by day. Can you imagine its consequences?
Answer:
- India shall no longer be self-sufficient in its requirements of food grains.
- Landless labourers will outweigh the ranks of unskilled – unemployed workers in India.
- More farmers will switch over to the cultivation of high-value crops.
Q-5 Suggest the initiative taken by the government to ensure the increase in agricultural production.
Answer: Organic farming is much in vogue today because it is practiced without factor made chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides. Hence, it does not affect the environment in a negative manner. Indian farmers should diversify their cropping pattern from cereals to high-value crops. This will increase incomes and reduce environmental degradation simultaneously. Because fruits, medicinal herbs, flowers, vegetables, bio-diesel crops like jatropha and jojoba need much less irrigation than rice or sugarcane. India’s diverse climate can be harnessed to grow a wide range of high-value crops.
Q-6 How did the partition of the country in 1947 affect the jute industry?
Answer: Jute: It is known as the golden fibre. Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year. High temperature is required during the time of growth. It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets, and other artifacts. Due to its high cost, it is losing the market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly the nylon.
Q-7 Describe the geographical conditions required for the growth of rice.
Answer: This Kharif crop requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and high humidity with annual rainfall over 100 cm. In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation. Rice is grown in the plains of north and northeastern India, coastal areas, and the deltaic regions. Development of a dense network of canal irrigation and tubewells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan.