ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank Chapter 10 Agriculture in India 1: Introduction

ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank Chapter 10 Agriculture in India 1: Introduction

Questions Based on Agriculture in India – I

I. Short Answer Questions:

Question 1.
What is meant by the term ‘agriculture’?
Answer:
The use of land in order to grow crops and rear livestock is called agriculture.

Question 2.
Why is agriculture said to be the backbone of the Indian economy?
Answer:
India is basically an agricultural country. Majority of its people are dependent on agriculture. India’s rural economy is still based on agriculture and agro-based industries. Agro-based industries include cotton textiles, tobacco, jute sugar, etc.

India earn a substantial foreign exchange by the export of agricultural commodities like cotton, tea, cashewnuts, spices, oilseeds, etc. to industrialised country.
Agriculture, being a good source of income, prevent the migration of rural population to urban areas to some extent.

Question 3.
Mention any two problems of agriculture in India.
Answer:
Indian agriculture is chiefly of subsistence type where a large manual labour is employed to work on farms to grow just enough food for the needs of the family and a very little is left to sell in the market.

A major part of the Indian soil has been impoverished because it has been under plough for the last 4000 years or 5000 years.

Question 4.
Why is Government of India promoting use of organic fertilisers?
Answer:
The Government of India launched a National Project on Organic Farming during the Tenth Five-Year Plan. The aim of the project is to reduce the burden on chemical fertilisers, to ensure effective utilisation of farm resources and to increase the yield of organic food whose demand is growing in the world market.

Question 5.
How is agriculture a consumer of industrial products?
Answer:
Use of modem technology in the agriculture, it has been created the demand for industrial products such as tractors, threshers, pesticides, fertilizers, etc. That is why agriculture is gradually becoming a considerable consumer of various industrial products.

Question 6.
Mention any two problems faced by the farmers on account of small landholdings.
Answer:
Owing to small landholdings the farmers face following problems:

• Farmers are not interested in improving the land, to make it more fertile.
• They are not willing to use new method or new technology in such a small land.
• Being small and marginal farmers, they are not in a position to use expensive high yielding seeds and agricultural machines on their small holdings.

Question 7.
What is meant by the term ‘subsistence agriculture’?
Answer:
The type of agriculture in which the farmer grows a variety of crops only to maintain his family.

Question 8.
Mention the advantages of commercial farming.
Answer:
The advantages of commercial farming are as follows:

• Since this type of farming is being performed in spacious land, so it gives consequently a considerable output, also.
• Farmers use modem scientific methods of farming as it to enhance the quality and quantity of the crops, bilaterally.
• Commercial farming keeps the farmers better off as they grow the crops for market.

Question 9.
Where is intensive commercial farming done in India?
Answer:
In India, intensive commercial farming is practised in the irrigated regions of Northern Plains and the coastal areas of South India.

Question 10.
What type of farming is practised in areas where population is sparse and land is in plenty. Name one area where such type of farming is practised.
Answer:
Extensive Farming is practised on farms of large size with the help of machines and the input of labour per unit area is low. The emphasis is laid on increased production. The main crops grown are, rice, wheat and sugarcane.
This type of farming is practised in the Terai region of Sub- Himalayas and in parts of North-Western India.

Question 11.
Name three measures taken to solve the problems faced by the Indian agriculture.
Answer:
India is an agricultural country. So, it is a traditional occupation faced by many problems due to growing exhaustive crops like wheat and rice regularly and old agricultural implements and methods which are responsible for the poverty of Indian farmers.

Three measures to solve the problems are as follows:

1. Consolidation of small landholdings in order to produce better crops by legislation to stop subdivision of landholdings of the agricultural land.
2. Better irrigation facilities through canals, tube wells, sprinkless and drip irrigation and left irrigation schemes in hilly areas.
3. Announcement of minimum support prices fixed by the Government to provide adequate returns to the farmers.

II. Distinguish between the following types of farming:

Question 1.
Extensive and Intensive.
Answer:
Differences between Intensive and Extensive agriculture:

Intensive	Extensive
(i) Landholdings are small here.	Landholdings are large here.
(ii) Needs large capital.	Land may be left fallow.
(iii) Labour is cheap.	Labour is expensive.
(iv) Yield per hectre here is high.	Yield may not be very high.
(v) It is practised mostly in thickly populated countries.	It is Practised in the Terai region.
(vi) Needs more fertilizers and machines.

Question 2.
Commercial and Subsistence.
Answer:

Commercial farming	Subsistence farming
(i) Farmers grow crops for the market.	Farmers grow a large variety of crops just enough to maintain their family.
(ii) This type of farming is done in large land holdings.	This type of farming is done in small land holdings.
(iii) Farming is done with machines and modem scientific methods are used.	Farming is done by hands using traditional methods.
(iv) Extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides.	Very little use of fertilizers and pesiticides.
(v) This type of farming is practised in areas of sparse population.	This type of faming is practised in areas of dense population.

Question 3.
Plantation and mixed.
Answer:

Plantation farming	Mixed farming
(i) Farming in which only one crop is grown in the whole plantation period is known as plantation farming. For example, tea and rubber plantation etc.	(i) Farming that includes some other subsidiary occupation is known as mixed farming for example farming including poultry farming, cattle, breeding, fruit and vegetable gardening etc.
(ii) No such facility is available in plantation farming.	(ii) There is another way of obtaining income when crops are not ready that is livestock animals.

III. Structured Questions:

Question 1.
With reference to the problems being faced by Indian agriculture, answer the following questions:
(a) Explain briefly the environmental factors which affect Indian agriculture?
Answer:
Environmental Factors which effects the Indian agriculture are :
1. Unreliable Rainfall :
Indian agriculture is dependent to a large extent on the monsoons, which are uncertain, irregular and unequally distributed. Nearly 55 percent of the net sown area continues to depend on rainfall rather than irrigation.

2. Lack of Irrigation Facilities :
India has the largest irrigated area of the cultivated land. In 1951, 22 million hectares were under irrigation. By 2008-09, it increased to 63.2 million hectares. But still about 55 percent of the net cropped area lacks irrigation facilities and is dependent on monsoon.

3. Soil Erosion :
Soil erosion is not only a major cause for decreasing soil fertility but also results in loss of valuable crop land. The indiscriminate cutting of trees, overgrazing, faulty land use practices have greatly accelerated the process of soil erosion and soil degradation. Loss of soil fertility is responsible for the low crop yields.

4. Methods of Cultivation :
Because of old and insufficient methods and techniques of farming, inadequate irrigation facilities and inability of the farmers to purchase good quality seeds and modem equipment because of paucity of funds and lack of latest knowhow and inputs.

5. Faulty Cultivation of Crops :
In India, agriculture is practised by repetitive cultivation of the main two food crops-rice and wheat. These two crops deplete the soil fertility.

6. Reduction in Net Sown Area :
In the recent decades, there has been a gradual shift from cultivation of food crops to cultivation of fruits, vegetables, oil-seeds and industrial crops. This has resulted in the reduction of net sown area under cereals and pulses. Further, the competition for land between agriculture and non-agricultural uses, such as housing, etc., has resulted in decline in the net sown area. This has led to a decline in food production.

(b) What is the impact of the globalisation on Indian agriculture?
Answer:
Challenges posed by Globalisation :
Globalisation has thrown open Indian markets to the world. Now foreign products including agricultural products can easily be imported to India and India can export its products to other countries. Consequently, Indian farmers are facing a big challenge from international competition. This is because:

1. The yields per hectare of major crops in the developed countries are much higher than that of India.

2. The prices of most farm products in the international markets are declining whereas in the Indian markets these are increasing. The prices are declining in the international market due to :

• Use of sophisticated farm machinery which has led to the reduction in the cost of production ;
• Rapid progress in the field of biotechnology, which has made available highly productive seeds to the farmers.
• Heavy subsidies given to the farmers in the developed countries, which result in low production cost.

3. Reduction in import duties on agricultural products have proved detrimental to agriculture in India.

(c) Mention any three remedial steps taken by the government to boost agricultural production?
Answer:
The Government of India has taken a number of steps like establishment of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), agricultural universities, veterinary services and animal breeding centres, horticulture development, research and development in the field of meteorology and weather forecast, and setting up of Kisan call centres to address the queries and grievances of the farmers.

Besides above following measures are also taken :
1. Various land reforms have been introduced. Zamindari and all intermediaries were completely abolished by the end of the First Five-Year Plan. According to an estimate, about
173 million acres of land were acquired from the intermediaries and consequently about two crore tenants were brought into direct relationship with the government.

2. Consolidation of fragmented agricultural landholdings has been an integral part of the land reforms policy of the Indian government. Legislations have been passed in most of the States to prevent subdivision and fragmentation of lands beyond a certain limit.

3. Creation of irrigation infrastructure and its optimum utilisation has been given greater importance. For this, an Accelerated Irrigation Benefit programme has been started to ensure completion of irrigation projects. The other main elements of the strategy to extend irrigation benefits to more areas include promotion o.f better management practices, installation of sprinklers and drip irrigation systems in water scarce and drought prone areas, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater and farmer’s participation in irrigation water systems.

(d) What solutions are offered against irregular monsoons as far as farming is concerned?
Answer:
Different solution are offered against irregular monsoons which are as follows:

• Irrigation facilities are provided in many areas by constructing canals.
• Several dams have been constructed to check floods.
• Recently, the Government of India is planning to interconnect the rivers of India in order to divert the water of flooded river to the water starved river.

Question 2.
(a) How is shifting cultivation carried out?
(b) Where is it practised in India? What steps is the government taking to discourage it?
(c) What are its disadvantages?
(d) What is mixed farming? Mention two advantages of mixed farming?
Answer:
(a) It is a primitive agricultural practice in which a patch of forest is cleared, trees are felled and stumps set on fire. The cleared patch is then cultivated for a few years until the fertility of the soil is seriously reduced.

(b) In India shifting cultivation is practised in some hilly regions of North-East India and in the Himalayan region. These regions include hill slopes in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
As far as possible government has tried to discourage this type of cultivation due to its wasteful nature and adverse effects on the environment.

(c) It is a great threat to the environment. It accelerates soil erosion and causes floods and silting in the lower reaches of reverine flood plains. Also it burning increases the level of greenhouse gases.

(d) Cultivation of crops and rearing of animals done together on the same farm is called mixed farming. Subsidiary occupations like fruit and vegetable gardening or poultry-farming may also be practised. Two or more crops are grown together. In such cases, a number of crops having varying maturing periods are sown at the same time. The crop maturing early is generally harvested before growth of the long maturing crop.
The main advantages of mixed farming are:

• Two or more crops are grown together.
• Crops and animals are raised simultaneously.
• Rotation of crops is practised.
• It ensures steady income to the farmers.

ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank