Agriculture Test - 6

In intensive subsistence agriculture the farmer cultivates a small plot of land using simple tools and more labour. It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production. Rice is the main crop. Other crops include wheat, maize, pulses and oilseeds.

Organic farming is much in vogue today because it is practised without factory made chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides. Hence, it does not affect environment in a negative manner.

In ‘slash and burn’ agriculture farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. 

This is the second most important cereal crop. It is the main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country. This rabi crop requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening. It requires 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed over the growing season. 

Wheat is a Rabi crop which requires low temperature between 10-15°C at the time of sowing and 21-26°C at the time of harvesting and rainfall less than 100 cm and more than 75 cm rainfall.

It is the staple food in north and northwestern India.

Top producer of wheat is Uttar Pradesh.

India is the largest producer as well as consumer of pulses in the world. Major pulses that are grown in India are tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram. Major pulse producing states in India are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

• This type of farming is practiced in areas of high population pressure on land. It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production. 
  
• In India, the farmers of West Bengal, Kerala, the coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu provide a good example of intensive subsistence wet paddy agriculture .
  

We transform things into resources with the help of nature, technology and institutions. The process of transformation of things involves an inter-dependent relationship between these. Human beings interact with nature through technology and create institutions to accelerate their economic development.

Rice is the staple food crop of a majority of the people in India. Our country is the second largest producer of rice in the world after China. It is the leading crop of West Bengal occupying about three-fourth of its cropped area. 

• Genetic engineering in agriculture has the potential to improve crop yields and to greatly reduce the risk of crops being lost to extreme weather conditions. 
  
• The next generation of genetic engineering, following this, will aim to reduce the threat to crops from natural sources, such as sudden temperature change or extreme drought.