ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank Chapter 11 Agriculture in India 2: Food Crops

ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank Chapter 11 Agriculture in India 2: Food Crops

Questions Based on Agriculture in India – II

Question 1.
What do you understand by the term ‘cereals’?
Answer:
The term ‘cereals’ denotes all types of grass like plants, which have starchy edible seeds.

Question 2.
What are the geographical conditions suitable for the cultivation of rice?
Answer:
Condition essential for cultivation of rice:
Soil:
Rice grows on alluvial soil with a sub-soil of impervious clay. It also grows well in heavy loam but sandy soil is not suitable for the cultivation of rice. The impervious sub-soil layer prevents water from draining away. Terraced hill-slopes are also suitable for the cultivation of rice.

Climate:
Rice requires abundant water for its growth. It can grow in areas where rainfall occurs between a range of 150 cm to 300 cm or there is proper irrigation facility. The farms need to be flooded during the first few weeks.
Rice also needs warm temperature for its proper growth which ranges between 16° C and 20° C during early stages and between 18° C and 32° C during the ripening stage.

Question 3.
What improved method of cultivation can help raise rice production in India?
Answer:
The Japanese method of cultivation can help to raise the rice production in India.

Question 4.
Name the state that produces the highest quantity of rice in India.
Answer:
West Bengal produces the highest quantity of rice in India.

Question 5.
State the advantages of growing rice on low lands.
Answer:
Since the cultivation of rice requires a lot of irrigation and a stagnant storage of water at its initiation. The flat low lands prevent water from draining away. Therefore, flat lowlands are most suitable for rice cultivation.

Question 6.
Write a short not on upland rice.
Answer:
Upland rice:
The upland rice is grown on hilly regions. It is sown in March, April and harvested in September-October. This type of agriculture is dependent on the distribution of rainfall only. The crop is ready in about six months and is used only for local consumption.

Question 7.
What kind of soil is needed for the cultivation of wheat?
Answer:
Clay loam soil or black soils or alluvial soil or triable loam. The ‘ soil should be able to retain moisture.

Question 8.
State two geographical requirements for the growth of wheat in India.
Answer:
Temperature – During growing -10°C -15 °C
During ripening – 25°C – 28°C.
Rainfall – 50 cm -100 cm.

Question 9.
Name two states that grow wheat extensively. What climatic features have helped these states in this respect?
Answer:
Important areas of wheat cultivation in India- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Upper Ganga Basin.
Conditions suitable for the growing of wheat in the above places are.
Temperature: 10°-20°, Rainfall: 50-100 cms,
Soil-loamy, alluvial soil, and it needs winter rainfall.
Two natural factors that help in the cultivation of wheat are:
(a) Fertile loamy clayey and black soil.
(b) Cool climate with moderate rainfall.

Question 10.
Compare the climatic conditions for wheat cultivation with those for rice cultivation.
Answer:
Wheat grows in cool temperatures while rice grows in warm temperature. Wheat needs a temperature of 10°C to 15°C during the growing season and 25° C to 28°C during the ripening stage while rice needs a temperature of 16°C to 20°C during the early growing status and 18°C to 32°C during the ripening stage. Also, wheat requires rainfall ranging between 50 cm to 100 cm during the growing season while rice requires rainfall ranging
between 150 cm to 300 cm.

Question 11.
How are the pulses harvested in India?
Answer:
Pulses are usually rotated with other crops. Being leguminous crops, pulses fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and increase the natural fertility of soil.

Question 12.
Name three states leading in the production of wheat.
Answer:
Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is the leading producer of wheat in India.

Question 13.
What are millets? Why are millets referred to as ‘food grain of the poor’?
Answer:
The term ‘millets’ refers to a number of inferior grains, which serve as foodgrains for the poorer sections of the society and whose straw makes a valuable cattle fodder.The most important millets cultivated in India include jowar (or cholam), bajra (or cumbu)andragi.

Millets are called ‘ food grain for the poor’ as it does not require any extra effort to grow. It can grow well even in high temperatures like in drought conditions, and uses to give an enough yield.

Question 14.
In what way are the millets different from rice?
Answer:
Difference between millets and rice are as follows:
(i) Rice is the most important crop of India and supports half of the Indian population whereas millets provide food for the poor, and stalk and stem are used as fodder for the cattle.

(ii) Deep fertile clayey or friable loams are ideal for the cultivation of rice. Even black lava soil is suitable for its cultivation whereas millets do not have any special requirements as far as soil is concerned but sandy, loamy and clayey deep regur and alluvium are best suited.

(iii) Rice requires an average temperature of about 24° C while millets require temperature ranging from 26° C to 33° C.

(iv) Rice requires about 150 cm to 200 cm rainfall whereas millets require 50 cm to 120 cm rainfall.

Question 15.
In which region is ragi grown in India? Why?
Answer:
Ragi is one of the hardiest crops. It can grow under conditions of very low rainfall and can withstand very severe drought. It is widely grown in areas where the average annual rainfall is 50 cm to 100 cm and temperature varies between 20°C to 30°C. It is mostly grown in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Question 16.
State the climatic conditions suitable for the cultivation of pulses.
Answer:
Soil:
Pulses or Gram can be cultivated in dry and light soil.
Climate:
Pulses or Gram requires high temperatures ranging between 20° to 30°. It can grow well even in low to moderate rainfall between 50 cm to 75 cm.

Question 17.
How does the cultivation of pulses usually help in restoration of fertility of the soil?
Answer:
Pulses are considered good rotation crop for rice because of their high nitrate content which help to restore the fertility of soil.

Question 18.
What kind of soil is needed for the cultivation of millets?
Answer:
As far as soil is concerned millets, do not have any special requirements but loamy sandy ard clayey deep regur and alluvium are best suited.

Question 19.
Mention three differences in the geographical conditions and cultivation of rice and wheat.
Answer:

Rice	Wheat
(i) Alluvial Soil with a sub-soil of impervious clay	(i) Light clay and heavy loamy soil.
(ii) Temp. 18°C-32°C. Average temp. 24°C.	(ii) 10°C-15°C in the growing period. 20°C-25°C in the harvesting period.
(iii) 150 cm-300 cm rainfall.	(iii) 50 cm – 100 cm rainfall.

II. Copy the chart and fill in the details.

Crop	Temperature	Rainfall	Soil	Leading States
Rice	About 24°C	150-200cm	Deep fertile clayey or loamy	West Bengal Tamil Nadu
Wheat	10°C-15° C	50-100 cm	Fertile, friable loamy, alluvial soil	Uttar Pradesh Punjab
Jowar	26°C-33°C	30-100 cm	Medium regur clayey black soils	Maharashtra, Karnataka
Bajra	25°C-35°C	Less than 100 cm	Red or sandy loam and black soil.	Rajasthan, Maharashtra
Ragi	20°C-30°C	50-100 cm	Red, light back and sandy soil, well-drained alluvial soil.	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu.

III. Distinguish between:

Question 1.
Transplantation Method and the Japanese Method of Rice Fanning.
Answer:

Transplantation Method	Japanese Method
(i) InTransplantation method of rice farming, first the seeds are sown in small and well prepared plots.	In Japanese method of rice farming, first the seeds are sown in already enriched and well-drained nursery beds.
(ii) About 25 cm high sappling are transplanted at regular intervals in another fields.	About 15 cm to 20cm high sapplings are transplanted in rows in another field.
(iii) Harvesting is carried out when ears are nearly ripe.	Top-dressing with nitrogenous fertilizers is done before flowering of the plants.

Question 2.
Cereals and Pulses.

Cereals	Pulses
(i) Cereals include all types	Pulses include leguminous plants which have root nodules.
(ii) They form the basic diet of people because of their high nutritional value and simple form of cultivation.	They form an important part of the Indian diet because of rich protein content.
(iii) Cereals include rice, wheat, maize, jowar, bajra etc.	Pulses include gram, moong, arhar, lentil, urad etc.

Question 3.
Kharif and Rabi Crops

	Kharif	Rabi
(i) Sowing Season	June-July	October to December
(ii) Harvesting	September-October	March-April
(iii) Crops	Rice, maize, jowar pulses, cotton, jute groundnut	Wheat, barley gram, linseed, mustard, potatoes

IV. Structured Questions

Question 1.
With reference to the food crops in India, answer the following questions:
(a) Describe the favourable conditions for the growth of wheat in India.
Answer:
Wheat grows properly in cool climate with moderate rainfall. It requires a temperature ranging between 10° C and 15° C during the growing season and between 25° C to 28° C at the time of ripening.
Wheat needs a moderate rainfall ranging between 50 cm to 100 cm during the growing season. A little rain before ripening improve its quality.

(b) What is the difference between the Upland rice and Lowland rice?
Answer:

Upland rice	Lowland rice
(i) This type of rice is grown	Lowland rice is grown on low-lying regions.
(ii) Upland rice is sown in It is sown in March-April and harvested in September-October.	It is sown in  June and harvested in October.
(iii) This type of rice cultivation depends on the distribution of rainfall only	This type of rice requires plenty of water during the sowing and harvesting period.
(iv) The entire crop is used locally.	The produce is used for local consumption as well as supplied to other regions.

(c) What is meant by “transplantation”? State its advantages.
Answer:
The process in which plants are allowed to grow for a few weeks, then they are uprooted by hand and again planted in another field, is called “transplantation”.
By the method of transplantation, the yield is increased by 45%. Also, water is used economically.

(d) State three methods of growing rice.
Answer:
Following are the three methods of growing rice:

1. Drilling
2. Broadcasting
3. Dibbling

Question 2.
With reference to the food crops in India, answer the following questions:
(a) Name two jowar producing states.
Answer:
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

(b) In which part of the year is wheat grown in India? Why?
Answer:
Wheat is grown during winter season. Wheat is the winter crop in India, because the climatic conditions are suitable for wheat growing, wheat is the main crop of Rabi or winter season with slight rainfall during the growing season by western disturbances, retreating andN.E. Monsoon winds.

(c) Why is wheat not grown in the eastern and in the extreme southern parts of India? Name the state that is the largest producer of wheat.
Answer:
Wheat is not grown in the eastern and in the extreme southern parts of India because the temperature in these area does not fall to the required level, as the temperature should not rise beyond 10°C to 15°C for its proper growth.
Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of wheat in India.

(d) Which is a useful ‘rotation crop’? Give reasons to support your answer.
Answer:
Pulses are very useful rotation crop. They are the leguminous plants, take the atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into soil nitrogen and maintain the soil fertility or they are dry crops requiring less water.

Question 3.
Study the picture given below and answer the following questions:

(a) Name the crop which is being planted. Give one benefit of this method of planting this crop.
Answer:
Rice : The process of transplantation allows better penetration of the roots in the soil.

(b) Name the other method of planting the crop. In which area is this method practised?
Answer:
Transplanting Method :
This method is common in the deltaic and flood plain regions and requires abundance of labour. Here seedlings are first grown in nurseries and after 4 to 5 weeks they are transplanted into prepared rice fields in groups of four to six at a distance of 30-45 cm. In the beginning, the field is flooded with a 2-3 cm deep water. Subsequently, the depth of water level is increased to 4-6 cm till the crop matures. This method is practised in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

(c) Mention the climatic conditions which favour the cultivation of the crop being planted.
Answer:

• It requires average temperature of 25°C. During early growing stages temp, between 16°C to 20°C is required. During ripening stage temperature between 18°C to 32°C is required.
• It requires rainfall between 150 cm to 300 cm.
• It requires loamy and alluvial soil.

(d) Give geographical reasons:
(i) Rice is not the main crop in the Deccan Plateau.
(ii) Drilling is the best method of sowing of seeds.
(iii) Wheat grows well in loamy soil.
Answer:
(i) Deccan plateau gets less rainfall nearly 50-80 cm. Which is not suitable for rice crop. Moreover rice needs clayey loam soil, while this plateau is rich in black soil, that is more suitable for cotton.

(ii) For growing of seeds, drilling is the best method, because it gives the proper area for germination of seed by getting proper moisture and soil nutrients, as the seeds are placed equally apart by drilling holes for seeds giving them the proper distribution and space.

(iii) Wheat grows in loamy soil, because it needs well drained airy soil of loam, so it is the main crop of N.W. India along the loamy plains.

ICSE Geography Class 10 Question Bank