Agriculture Test - 7

The Northern Spring Wheat region (III) of the United States is physically similar to the Canadian Prairies. Spring wheat is the major crop of North Dakota and much of Montana. Barley, durum, flax, sunflowers, oats, and other small grains are also produced.

• Crops are grown in alternate strips of land to check the impact of the winds.
• It is used when a slope is too steep or when there is no alternative method of preventing soil erosion.
  
• Strip cropping helps to stop soil erosion by creating natural dams for water, helping to preserve the strength of the soil.

A plot of land is cleared by felling the trees and burning them. The ashes are then mixed with the soil and crops like maize, yam, potatoes and cassava are grown. After the soil loses its fertility, the land is abandoned and the cultivator moves to a new plot. Shifting cultivation is also known as ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. 

Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October. Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean. 

• Green Revolution is the Intensive plan of the 1960s to increase crop yields in developing countries by introducing higher-yielding strains of plant and new fertilizers
  
• It developed new strains of high yield variety seeds, mainly wheat and rice and also millet and corn.
  
• The green revolution of wheat and rice left pulses becoming the next preference. 
  

Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which areas of land are cultivated for a short time. Then they are left to grow back their natural vegetation, while the farmer moves to another area. Shiting cultivation is particularly practiced on a large scale in north-eastern and central India.

Tertiary – The service sector of the economy

Definition – The service sector is comprised of firms offering ‘intangible goods’ such as entertainment, retail, insurance, tourism and banking. The service sector will make use of manufactured goods, but there is an additional component of offering a service to customers.

 

In a developed economy like the UK, the service sector is the biggest component of the economy, comprising nearly 80% of GDP and a similar ratio of employment. In the US, the service sector comprises 70% of the workforce.

 

In the UK, the main sectors of the service sector include:

• Retail industry
• Computer and I.T. services
• Hotels and tourism services
• Restaurants and Cafes
• Transport – rail, bus, air, sea
• Communication
• Banking services
• Insurance services
• Pension services
• Food and beverage services
• Postal services

 

 

The tertiary industry is that industry which provides services rather than producing good or article. 

Mining is a primary activity. It also includes hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying.

Madhya Pradesh outperformed all states and emerged as India’s Soy State. Madhya Pradesh has 45% share in soyabean production in the country. Hoshangabad, Indore, Betul, Ujjain and Dewas are some of the Soy districts of that state. Soya bean is also called Golden bean which is a species of legume.