This chapter explores Indian agriculture, the primary activity on which a large share of the population depends for a livelihood. It describes the main farming systems — primitive subsistence, intensive subsistence and commercial farming (including plantation agriculture) — and the three cropping seasons of rabi, kharif and zaid. Major crops such as rice, wheat, millets (jowar, bajra, ragi), pulses, sugarcane, oilseeds, tea, coffee, rubber and horticulture crops are studied with their growing conditions and producing regions. The chapter discusses technological and institutional reforms — the Green Revolution and White Revolution, land reforms, the provision of institutional credit, Minimum Support Prices, Kissan Credit Cards and crop insurance — that aimed to modernise farming and protect farmers. It also examines the impact of globalisation, which exposes Indian farmers to competition and price fluctuations. Throughout, it links agriculture to food security and the lives of millions, stressing the need to make farming sustainable and remunerative.
Types of farmingCropping seasons and patternsMajor crops of IndiaTechnological and institutional reformsGreen Revolution and food securityGlobalisation and Indian agriculture
Key terms
Subsistence farming
Farming carried out mainly to meet the needs of the farmer’s own family.
Intensive subsistence farming
Labour-intensive farming on small plots with high doses of inputs.
Commercial farming
Farming of crops mainly for sale in the market.
Rabi crops
Crops sown in winter and harvested in spring, such as wheat and gram.
Kharif crops
Crops sown with the onset of the monsoon and harvested in autumn, such as rice.
Green Revolution
The use of high-yielding variety seeds and modern inputs to raise food output.
Minimum Support Price
A guaranteed price announced by the government to protect farmers.
Plantation agriculture
Single-crop commercial farming over a large area, such as tea or coffee.
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Rabi crops are sown in:
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