Agriculture in India: A Review

Dear Sehpaathians,

Today we are here with one of the important topics that has been quite popular for SSC Exam. Sehpaathians, you will definitely find some questions in the exam from Agriculture in India

Agriculture is the science of cultivating the soil, harvesting crops, and raising livestock and also as the science or art of the production of plants and animals useful to man and in varying degrees the preparation of such products for man’s use and their disposal.

Cropping Seasons in India :

Kharif Crops of India:

• Sown in summers between May and July, and harvested after the rains, in September and October.

• Eg: Rice, Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane, Tobacco, Groundnut, Pulses, etc.

Rabi Crops of India

• Sown at the beginning of winter and harvested before the onset of the summer season, between Feb and April.

• Eg: Wheat, barley, oil seeds, gram, potatoes, etc.

Zayad Crops

• They are raised between April and June.

• E.g. : Melon, watermelon, cucumber, toris, leafy and other vegetables.

Cash Crops of India (Commercial Crops) :

• Grown mainly for the market, only a small portion of the product is consumed by the farmers themselves (cotton, sugarcane etc.)

Mineral Resources of India:

Coal Resources in India :

West Bengal (Raniganj, Burdwan, Bankura, Purulio, Birbhum, Jalpaigudi, Darjeeling), Jharkhand (Jharia, Giridih, Kharhawadi, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Kamapura, Rampur, Palamau), Orissa (Rampur, Hindgir, Talcher, Samba!), Madbyo Pradesh and Chhatisgarh (Rewa, Pench valley, Umaria, Korba, Sohagpur, Mand river area, Kanha valley, Betul), etc. Power sector is the largest consumer of coal in India followed by steel industry, cement industry, etc.

Manganese :

Orissa, Maharashtra (Nagpur, Bhandara, Ratnagiri), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat, Chhindawara), Karnataka(Keonjhar, Bonai, Kalahandi), Andhra Pradesh (Kadur, Garibadi).

Jharkhand (Hazaribagh, Giridih, Kodarma), Bihar (Goya, Bhagalpur), Andhra Pradesh (Guntur, Vizag, Kurnool), Rajasthan (Bhilwara, Udaipur, Jaipur).

Copper Minerals :

Madhya Pradesh Pradesh (Balaghat), Rajasthan (Khetri), Jharkhand (Singhbhum, Masobani, Surda), Karnataka (Chitradurg,Hassan)

Mica Minerals :

Jharkhand (Hazaribagh, Giridih, Kodarma), Bihar (Goya, Bhagalpur), Andhra Pradesh (Guntur, Vizag, Kurnool), Rajasthan (Bhilwara, Udaipur, Jaipur).

Petroleum Resource in India :

Assam(Digboi, Naharkatiya, Badarpur, Masinpur and Pallharia), Gujarat, (Ankleshwar, Khambat, Kalol), Mumbai High, Bassein (south of Mumbai High), etc. Recently oil has been discovered in Cauvery basin, Krishna and Godavary basin, Khambat basin, etc.

Iron Resources :

India possesses Haematite, a very high-grade iron ore. In Madhya Pradesh (Bailadila, Jabalpur), Goa (North Goa), Karnataka (Bababudan hills, Chikmagalur, Hospet), Jharkhand (Singhbhum, Naomundi), Andhra Pradesh, Orissa.

India is the fifth largest exporter of iron ore in the world. Japan is the biggest buyer accounting for about 3/4th of India’s total exports. Major ports handling iron ore export are Vishakhapatnam, Paradip, Marmagao and Mangalore.

Bauxite Resources :

Chief ore for producing aluminium. In Orissa (Kalahandi, Koraput, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Sambalpur), Jharkhand (Lohardaga, Gumla), Madhya Pradesh (Jabalpur, Mandla, Shandol, Kami, Balaghat), Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu.

Gold Resources in India :

Karnataka (Kolar, Hutti, Raichur), Andhra Pradesh (Ramgiri and Yeppamanna goldfields in Chittor and Anantapur districts).

Silver, Zinc & Lead :

Rajasthan (Zawar mines near Udaipur), Andhra Pradesh (Mysore, Chitradurg), Karnataka (Kolar mines).

Uranium Resources in India :

Jharkhand (Jaduguda), Rajasthan (Ajmer), Andhra Pradesh (Nellore, Nalgonda), Karnataka (Gulbarga).

Thorium Resources in India :

Kerala coast (From Monazite sand), rocks of Aravallis in Rajasthan.