Agriculture in India — II : Food Crops

Cereals are plants that are grown for their edible grain, which is used as a food for humans and animals. Some examples of cereal grains include wheat, rice, maize, barley, etc. Cereals form the staple food for a large proportion of the population worldwide.

Following are the methods of sowing rice:

1. Broadcasting or scattering.
2. Dibbling.
3. Drilling.
4. Transplantation.
5. Japanese method of cultivation.

Japanese method of cultivation is the best method of growing rice as it ensures three times higher yield and less wastage of seeds.

Deep fertile clayey or friable loam and black lava soil are best suited for growing rice because of their high water holding capacity.

West Bengal is the leading producer of rice in India.

Punjab is one state in India where rice is grown as a non-food crop.

Rice is grown under 'Shifting Cultivation' in North-East India.

Reasons for low yield of rice in India are:

1. Poor farmers can not afford high-yielding variety of rice.
2. Pests and diseases decrease the yield of rice. Proper pests and disease management is not done by farmers.
3. Most of the parts of India depend on monsoon rains which are highly unreliable and erratic leading to loss of crop due to drought or flood.
4. Advanced cultivation methods are not being used by most of the farmers.

Climatic conditions suitable for growing of wheat are:

1. Wheat is a temperate crop which requires cool climate with moderate rainfall.
2. It needs an average temperature between 10°C to 15°C at the time of sowing and higher temperature between 20°C to 25°C is required at the time of ripening.
3. Wheat needs 50 to 100 cm rainfall.

Wheat is a rabi crop.

Uttar Pradesh is the leading producer of wheat in India.

Two natural factors that help in the cultivation of wheat are:

1. Wheat is a temperate crop. In India, it is taken as Rabi crop. Winter temperature of North India provides most favourable conditions for wheat cultivation.
2. The fertile friable loamy alluvial soils of clayey composition of the flat and well-drained Indo-Gangetic plains is best suited for wheat cultivation.

Two man-made factors that help in the cultivation of wheat are:

1. Supply of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds with proper use of chemical fertilizers.
2. Excellent irrigation system provided by a close network of canals.

A few important aspects of ‘Green Revolution’ were:

1. Introduction of new varieties in India.
2. Production of high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice in India.
3. Use of artificial fertilizers and irrigation facilities lead to increase in yield.
4. Use of pesticides and herbicides lead to increased yield by stopping wastage of crop and soil nutrition.

Wheat is sown in rabi season because it is a temperate crop which needs not more than 10°C to 15°C temperature at the time of sowing.

Maize is primarily a kharif crop but in some states like Tamil Nadu, it is grown as rabi crop. Three leading producers of maize are Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Millets are hardy, drought and heat resistant plants and therefore mostly cultivated in the drier parts of the monsoon lands. Hence, they are called the dry crops.

Millets are widely grown because they are hardy, drought and heat resistant plants that can be easily grown in areas of less rainfall. They can be grown in plains and on uplands up to 1200 meter in height. Millets do not have any special requirement as far as soil is concerned.

Two new uses of maize are:

1. It is used in confectionery as corn-flour and cereal as corn-flakes.
2. It is used in production of bio-fuel.

All millets are kharif crops grown in warm weather. They are hardy, drought and heat resistant and can be grown in areas with less rainfall. They can grow in any kind of soil.

Pulses are the most important rotation crop because they are leguminous plants with root-nodules, which can fix and utilize atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. It makes the soil rich in nitrogen and provides enough nitrogen to the next crop sown.

16°C to 32°C

black soil

North

Dibbling

Stem rot

150 cm to 200 cm

Maharashtra

26°C to 33°C

Alluvial soil

Millets