CHAPTER 15 : Land Resources and Agriculture NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 12TH GEOGRAPHY | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Which four categories witnessed a decline in land use? Why?
Answer:
The four categories that have registered a decline are barren and wasteland, culturable wasteland, area under pastures and tree crops and fallow lands. The following explanations can be given for the declining trends:

• As the pressure on land increased, both from the agricultural and non agricultural sectors, the wastelands and culturable wastelands have witnessed decline over time.
• The decline in land under pastures and grazing lands can be explained by pressure from agricultural land. Illegal encroachment due to expansion of cultivation on common pasture lands is largely responsible for this decline.

Q2.What are the varieties of rice in India?
Answer:
Rice is a tropical crop and has about 3,000 varieties that are grown in different agro-climatic regions from sea level to about 2,000 m altitude and from humid areas in eastern India to dry but irrigated areas of the west. In southern states and West Bengal two to three crops of rice in an agricultural year. In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’. In Himalayas and northwestern parts of the country, it is grown as a kharif crop during southwest Monsoon season.

Q3.What is the importance of pulses in India?
Answer:
Pulses are a very important as part of vegetarian food as a source of protein. Since these are legume crops they help in restoring the natural fertility of soils through the nitrogen fixing bacteria rhizobium in their roots. Since they do not much care, they can be grown in drier parts of the country, where the fine cereals cannot be grown.

Q4.What problems are faced by the fibre crops in India?
Answer:
India lost a big cotton growing area to Pakistan during partition and jute growing area to East Pakistan that is Bangladesh. Also these fibres are facing stiff competition from synthetic fibre as they are cheap, durable and easy to work with.

Q5.Write a note on tea cultivation in India.
Answer:
Tea is a plantation crop used as beverage. Black tea leaves are fermented whereas green tea leaves are unfermented. In India, tea plantation started in 1840’s in Brahmaputra valley of Assam which still is a major tea growing area in the country. Later, it was introduced in the sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal. It is also grown in Nilgiri and Cardamom hills. India accounts for about 28 per cent of total production in the world. Presently, it ranks third among tea exporting countries in the world after Sri Lanka and China. Assam accounts for about 53.2 per cent of the total cropped area and contributes more than half of total production of tea in the country. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the other leading producers of tea.

Q6.What is the importance of coarse cereals in India?
Answer:
Coarse cereals like Jowar, Bajra, ragi and maize occupy about 17% of the total cropped area. These crops are sometimes grown as part of mixed cropping and are grown almost all over dry and semi arid parts of India since they do not require much care, fertilizer, etc. So, the areas where rice and wheat are not grown, these are grown by farmers who cannot afford to grow fine cereals. Coarse cereals also have a very high nutritious value. For a developing country like India, they are highly suitable for poor farmers to grow them on inferior quality, drier lands.

Q7.Why does India need irrigation?
Answer:
In India irrigation is needed for the spatio-temporal variation in rainfall. The water intensive crops makes irrigation necessary. Irrigation also makes multiple cropping possible. HYV varieties of crops require assured water supply at the right time to give the maximum production.

Q8.What are the advantages of common property resources?
Answer:

• CPR’s provide fodder for the livestock and fuel for the households.
• It provides products like fruits, nuts, fibre, medical plants, etc.
• It provides livelihood of the landless and marginal farmers and other weaker sections. They depend on income from their livestock due to limited access to land.
• CPR’s are also important for women to collect most of the fodder and fuel in rural areas.

Q9.Explain the conditions for the growth of wheat.
Answer:
Wheat is the second most important cereal crop in India after rice.
Conditions:

• It is primarily a crop of temperate zone. It is cultivated in India during winter, i.e. rabi season.
• It requires fertile soil, therefore about 85 per cent of total area under this crop is concentrated in north and central regions of the country, i.e. Indo Gangetic Plain, Malwa Plateau and Himalayas up to 2,700 m altitude.
• Being a rabi crop, it is mostly grown under irrigated conditions. But it is a rained crop in Himalayan highlands and parts of Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh.

Q10.Explain the conditions for the growth of rice.
Answer:
Rice is a staple food for the overwhelming majority of population in India.
Conditions:

• Though, it is considered to be a crop of tropical humid areas, it has about 3,000 varieties which are grown in different agro-climatic regions.
• These are successfully grown from sea level to about 2,000 m altitude and from humid areas in eastern India to diy but irrigated areas of Punjab, Haiyana, western U.P. and northern Rajasthan.
• In southern states and West Bengal the climatic conditions allow the cultivation of two or three crops of rice in an agricultural year. But in Himalayas and northwestern parts of the country, it is grown as a kharif crop during southwest Monsoon season.
• West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were the leading rice producing states in the country in 2009-10.

Q11.Which crops are included in oil seeds? Give a brief account of their production.
Answer:
Oil seeds include:

• Groundnut
• Rapeseed and mustard
• Soyabean and
• Sunflower

The oil seeds are produced for extracting edible oils. Drylands of Malwa plateau, Marathwada, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka plateau are oil seeds growing regions of India. These crops together occupy about 14 per cent of total cropped area in the country.

Q12.Give the desired conditions for the growth of cotton.
Answer:
Desired Conditions:

• Cotton is a tropical crop grown in kharif season in semi-arid areas of the country.
• Cotton requires clear sly during flowering stage.
• Black soil is most suitable for production of cotton.
• Leading producers of this crop are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. Per hectare output of

cotton is high under irrigated conditions in north western region of the country. Its yield is very low in Maharashtra where it is grown under rained conditions.

Q13.Give the desired conditions for the growth of sugarcane.
Answer:
Desired Conditions:

• Sugarcane is a crop of tropical areas. Under rained conditions, it is cultivated in sub-humid and humid climates.
• It is largely an irrigated crop in India.
• In Indo-Gangetic plain, its cultivation is largely concentrated in Uttar Pradesh. Sugarcane growing area in western India is spread over Maharashtra and Gujarat.
• In Southern India, it is cultivated in irrigated tracts of Karnataka.

Q14.What is package technology?
Answer:
New seed varieties of wheat (Mexico) and rice (Philippines) known as high yielding varieties (HYVs) were available for cultivation by mid-1960s. India also introduced package technology comprising HYVs, along with chemical fertilisers in irrigated, areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Its basic need was assured supply of soil moisture through irrigation. This strategy of agricultural development paid dividends instantly and increased the foodgrains production at very fast rate. This spurt of agricultural growth came to be known as ‘Green Revolution’ which is a result of package technology.

Q15.Explain the land-use categories as maintained in the Land Revenue Records?
Answer:
The land-use categories as maintained in the Land Revenue Records are as follows:

• Forests
• Land put to non-agricultural Uses
• Barren and Wastelands
• Area under Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands
• Area under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not included is Net sown Area)
• Culturable Wasteland
• Current Fallow
• Fallow other than Current Fallow
• Net Area Sown

Long Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Give the land-use categories based on Land revenue records.
Answer:
The land-use categories as maintained in the Land Revenue Records are as follows: (zj Forests: It is important to note that area under actual forest cover is different from area classified as forest. The latter is the area which the Government has identified and demarcated for forest growth.

• Land put to Non-agricultural Uses: Land under settlements (rural and urban), infrastructure (roads, canals, etc.), industries, shops, etc. are included in this category.
• Barren and Wastelands: The land which may be classified as a wasteland such as barren hilly terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc. normally cannot be brought under cultivation with the available technology.
• Area under Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands: Most of this type land is owned by the village ‘Panchayat’ or the Government. Only a small proportion of this land is privately owned. The land owned by the village panchayat comes under ‘Common Property Resources’.
• Area under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves (Not included is Net sown Area): The land under orchards and fruit trees are included in this categoiy. Much of this land is privately owned.
• Culturable Waste-Land: Any land which is left fallow (uncultivated) for more than five years is included in this categoiy. It can be brought under cultivation after improving it through reclamation practices.
• Current Fallow: This is the land which is left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year. Fallowing is a cultural practice adopted for giving the land rest. The land recoups the lost fertility through natural processes.
• Fallow other than Current Fallow: This is also a cultivable land which is left uncultivatedfor more than a year but less than five years. If the land is left uncultivated for more than five years, it would be categorised as culturable wasteland.
• Net Area Sown: The physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested is known as net sown area.

Q2.How is land significant/valuable in the livelihood of people?
Answer:
Land resource is more crucial to the livelihood of the people depending on agriculture:

• Agriculture is a purely land based activity unlike secondary and tertiary activities. In other words, contribution of land in agricultural output is more compared to its contribution in the outputs in the other sectors. Thus, lack of access to land is directly correlated with incidence of poverty in rural areas.
• Quality of land has a direct bearing on the productivity of agriculture, which is not true for other activities.
• In rural areas, aside from its value as a productive factor, land ownership has a social value and serves as a security for credit, natural hazards or life contingencies, and also adds to the social status.

Q3.What is the staple crop of our country? How many varieties are there? What is India’s contribution to the world? Where is it grown in India?
Answer:
Rice is the staple crop of the country. Rice is a tropical crop and has about 3,000 varieties that are grown in different agro-climatic regions from sea level to about 2,000 m altitude and from humid areas in eastern India to dry but irrigated areas of the west. In southern states and West Bengal two to three crops of rice in an agricultural year. In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’.

India contributes 21.6 per cent of rice production in the world and ranked second after China (2008-09). West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were the leading rice producing states in the country in 2009-10. The yield level of rice is high in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala. The yield of this crop is very low in rainfed areas of M.P., Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Q4.Show with example the development of agricultural with technology.
Answer:
There has been a significant increase in agricultural output and improvement in technology during the last fifty years.

• Production and yield of many crops such as rice and wheat has increased at an impressive rate. The production of sugarcane, oil seeds and cotton has also increased appreciably. India ranked first in the production of pulses and jute in 2008-09. It is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables.
• Expansion of irrigation has played a very crucial role in enhancing agricultural output in the country and helped in the introduction of modern agricultural society such as high yielding varieties of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery. The net irrigated area in the country has increased from 20.85 to 54.66 million ha over the period 1950-51 to 2000-01. Over these 50 years, area irrigated more than once in an agricultural year has increased from 1.71 to 20.46 million ha.
• In various areas of the country modern agricultural technology has spread very fast. Consumption of chemical fertilizers has increased by 15 times since mid-sixties. In 2001-02, per hectare consumption of chemical fertilizers in India was 91 kg which was at par with average consumption in the world (90 kg). Punjab and Haryana uses three to four times of this. Since the high yielding varieties are highly susceptible to pests and diseases, the use of pesticides has increased significantly since 1960’s.

Q5.Write a note on the problems of Indian agriculture.
Answer:

The nature of problems faced by •Indian agriculture varies according to agro-ecological and historical experiences of its different regions. But there are some problems which are common and range from physical constraints to institutional hindrances. Some problems are:

• Dependence on Erratic Monsoon: Irrigation covers only about 33 per cent of the cultivated area in India. The crop production in rest of the cultivated land directly depends on rainfall. Spatio- temporal variations in rainfall causes fluctuations in steady supply of water and makes them vulnerable to both drought and floods.
• Low productivity: The yield of the crops in the country is low in comparison to the international level. Because of the very high pressure on the land resources, the labour productivity in Indian agriculture is also very low in comparison to international level.
• Constraints of Financial Resources and Indebtedness: The inputs of modem agriculture are very expensive for marginal and small farmers for them to invest in agriculture. Crop failures and low returns from agriculture have forced them to fall in the trap of indebtedness.
• Lack of Land Reforms: In India there had been unequal distribution of land over the years. Though land reforms were made after independence, they were not implemented affectively due to lack of strong political will. Lack of implementation of land reforms resulted in unequal distribution of cultivable land.
• Small Farm Size and Fragmentation of Landholdings: There are a large number of marginal and small farmers in the country. The average size of land holding is shrinking due to law of inheritance. The land holdings are mostly fragmented. Even the states where consolidation of land holdings was carried out once, second consolidation is required. The small size fragmented landholdings are uneconomic.
• Lack of Commercialization: A large number of farmers produce crops for self-consumption. These farmers do not have enough land resources to produce more than their requirement. Most of the small and marginal farmers grow food grains, which are meant for their own family consumption.
• Vast Under-employment: There is a massive under-employment in the agricultural sector in India, particularly in the un-irrigated tracts. The people engaged in agriculture do not have the opportunity to work round the year.
• Degradation of Cultivable Land: Degradation of land resources is a serious problem caused due to faulty strategy of irrigation and agricultural development which leads to depletion of soil fertility.Excessive use of chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides has made the soil toxic. Absence of leguminous plants and decrease in duration of fallow land has reducd natural fertilization of soil.

Q6.Define common property resources.
Answer:
Land, according to its ownership can broadly be classified under two broad heads – private land and common property resources (CPR’s). While the former is owned by an individual or a group of individuals, the latter is owned by the state meant for the use of the community, fodder form a degraded area of CPR. CPR’s can be defined as community’s natural resource, where every member has the right of access and usage with specified obligations, without anybody having property rights over them. Community forests, pasture lands, village water bodies and other public space are examples of CPR’s which are used and managed by households.

CPR’s provide fodder for the livestock and fuel for the households along with other minor forest products like fruits, nuts, fibre, medicinal plants, etc. In rural areas, such land is of particular relevance for the livelihood of the landless and marginal farmers and other weaker sections since many of them depend on income from their livestock due to the fact that they have limited access to land. CPR’s also are important for women as most of the fodder and fuel collection is done by them in rural areas. They have to devote long hours in collecting fuel and fodder from a degraded area of CPR.

Q7.Classify farming based on the ‘source of moisture’.
Answer:
On the basis of main source of moisture for crops, the farming can be classified as irrigated and rainfed (barani). There is difference in the nature of irrigated farming as well based on objective of irrigation, i.e. protective or productive. The objective of protective irrigation is to protect the crops from adverse effects of soil moisture deficiency which often means that irrigation acts as a supplementary source of water over and above the rainfall. The strategy of this kind of irrigation is to provide soil moisture to maximum possible area. Productive irrigation is meant to provide sufficient soil moisture in the cropping season to achieve high productivity. In such irrigation the water input per unit area of cultivated land is higher than protective irrigatioh. Rainfed farming is further classified on the basis of adequacy of soil moisture during cropping season into dryland and wetland farming. In India, the dryland farming is largely confined to the regions having annual rainfall less than 75 cm.

These regions grow hardy and drought resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram and guar (fodder crops) and practise various measures of soil moisture conservation and rain water harvesting. In wetland farming, the rainfall is in excess of soil moisture requirement of plants during rainy season. Such regions may face flood and soil erosion hazards. These areas grow various water intensive crops such as rice, jute and sugarcane and practise aquaculture in the fresh water bodies.

Q8.What are the three economic factors that affect land-use?
OR
Describe the three types of changes that of changes that an economy undergoes which affect its land use pattern.
Answer:
Three factors that affect land-use are as follows:

• The size of the economy: The size of the economy grows over time as a result of increasing population, change in income levels, available technology and associated factors. As a result, the pressure on land will increase with time and marginal lands would come under use.
• The composition of the economy: The composition of the economy would undergo a change over time. In other words, the secondary and the tertiary sectors usually grow much faster than the primary sector,, specifically the agricultural sector. This type of change is common in developing countries like India. This process would result in a gradual shift of land from agricultural uses to non-agricultural uses. Such changes are sharp around large urban areas. The agricultural land is being used for building purposes.
• Continuous pressure on agricultural land: Though the contribution of the agricultural activities reduces over time, the pressure on land for agricultural activities does not decline. The reasons for continued pressure on agricultural land are:
  • In developing countries, the share of population dependent on agriculture usually declines far slowly as compared to the decline in the sector’s share in GDP.
  • The number of people that the agricultural sector has to feed keeps increasing day by day.

Q9.Which three categories have undergone increase in land use pattern? Explain why.
Answer:
Categories that have undergone increase in land use pattern are as follows:

• The rate of increase is the highest in case of area under non-agricultural uses. This is due to the changing structure of Indian economy, which is increasingly depending on the contribution from industrial and services sectors and expansion of related infrastructural facilities. Also, an expansion of area under both urban and rural settlements has added to the increase. Thus, the area under non-agriculturaluses is increasing at the expense of wastelands and agricultural land.
• The increase in the share under forest, as explained before, can be accounted for by increase in the demarcated area under forest rather than an actual increase in the forest cover in the countiy.
• The increase in the current fallow cannot be explained from information pertaining to only two points. The trend of current fallow fluctuates a great deal over years, depending on the variability of rainfall and cropping cycles.
• The increase in net area sown is a recent phenomenon due to use of culturable waste land for agricultural purpose. Before which it was registering a slow decrease. There are indications that most of the decline had occurred due to the increases in area under non-agricultural use.

Q10.Give statistical account of small and fragmented landholdings. Why are small and fragmented landholdings undesirable?
Answer:
There are a large number of marginal and small farmers in the countiy. More than 60 per cent of the ownership holdings have a size smaller than one hectare. Furthermore, about 40 per cent of the farmers have operational holding size smaller than 0.5 hectare. The average size of landholding is shrinking further under increasing population pressure. Furthermore, in India, the landholdings are mostly fragmented. There are some states where consolidation of holding has not been carried out even once. Even the states where it has been carried out once, second consolidation is required as landholdings have fragmented again in the process of division of land among the owners of next generations.

The small size fragmented landholdings are uneconomic. A lot of land gets wasted in fencing and modern farming methods cannot be used for small landholdings.

Q11.What is the importance of pulses in our diet? What are the main pulses grown in India?
Answer:
Pulses are a very important ingredient of vegetarian food as these are rich sources of proteins. These are legume crops which increase the natural fertility of soils through nitrogen fixation.

• India is a leading producer of pulses and accounts for about one-fifth of the total production of pulses in the world.
• The cultivation of pulses in the country is largely concentrated in the drylands of Deccan and central plateaus and northwestern parts of the countiy.
• Pulses occupy about 11 per cent of the total cropped area in the country.
• Being the rainfed crops of drylands, the yields of pulses are low and fluctuate from year to year.
• Gram and tur are the main pulses cultivated in India. Gram is cultivated in subtropical areas. It is mostly a rainfed crop cultivated during rabi season in central, western and northwestern parts of the countiy. Tur (Arhar) is the second important pulse crop in the countiy. It is also known as red gram or pigeon pea. It is cultivated over marginal lands and under rainfed conditions in the dry areas of central and southern states of the countiy. This crop occupies only about 2 per cent of total cropped area of India.