Key Points

Agriculture is a primary economic activity in India, engaging about two-thirds of the population. It produces food grains for consumption and raw materials for various industries.

This is a 'slash and burn' agricultural method practiced on small land patches using primitive tools and family labor. It is known as 'Jhumming' in North-East India and has low land productivity.

Practiced in areas with high population pressure on land, this farming is labor-intensive. It uses high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation to achieve higher production from small landholdings.

This farming type uses modern inputs like High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds and chemical fertilizers for high productivity. Plantation agriculture, where a single crop is grown on a large area, is a form of commercial farming.

Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer from April to June. Important rabi crops include wheat, barley, peas, gram, and mustard.

Kharif crops are grown with the onset of the monsoon and harvested in September-October. Key kharif crops are paddy (rice), maize, jowar, bajra, cotton, and groundnut.

Zaid is a short cropping season between the rabi and kharif seasons, during the summer months. It is mainly for crops like watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, and fodder crops.

Rice is the staple food crop for a majority of Indians and a kharif crop. It requires high temperature (above 25 degrees Celsius), high humidity, and annual rainfall above 100 cm.

Wheat is the second most important cereal crop and is the main food crop in north and north-western India. It is a rabi crop that requires a cool growing season and 50 to 75 cm of annual rainfall.

Jowar, bajra, and ragi are important millets known as coarse grains but have very high nutritional value. They are grown in diverse soil and climatic conditions across India.

India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses, which are a major source of protein. As leguminous crops, they help restore soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.

Tea and coffee are key beverage crops grown using plantation agriculture. Tea requires a warm, moist, frost-free climate, while Indian Arabica coffee is globally known for its high quality.

Cotton, a kharif crop, grows well in the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. Jute, known as the 'golden fibre', thrives in the flood plains of eastern India.

After independence, the government prioritized institutional reforms like collectivisation, consolidation of land holdings, and the abolition of the zamindari system to improve agriculture.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Green Revolution (focused on package technology for crops) and the White Revolution or Operation Flood (focused on milk production) were initiated to boost agricultural output.

Schemes like the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) were introduced for farmers. The government also announces a Minimum Support Price (MSP) to protect farmers from exploitation.

Initiated by Vinoba Bhave, this was a voluntary land gift movement where landowners donated land to the landless. This movement is also known as the Blood-less Revolution.