Agriculture

A system in which a single crop is grown on a large area is called plantation agriculture.

Among the given crops, gram is a rabi crop. Rice and cotton are kharif crops, and millets are generally grown in the kharif season.

Pulses are leguminous crops because they help restore soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.

One important beverage crop is tea. The chapter says tea grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates, on deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus and organic matter. It also needs a warm, moist, frost-free climate all through the year and frequent showers evenly distributed over the year.

One staple crop of India is rice. It is produced in the plains of north and north-eastern India, the coastal areas, and the deltaic regions.

The government introduced several institutional reform programmes for farmers, including collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation, and abolition of zamindari. Later, it also provided crop insurance, set up Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for loans at lower interest, introduced Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS), and announced minimum support price, remunerative price and procurement price for important crops.

To increase agricultural production, the government took steps such as the Green Revolution with package technology, the White Revolution (Operation Flood), and later a comprehensive land development programme. It also improved irrigation, provided crop insurance, credit facilities through banks and cooperatives, and gave farmers information through radio and television programmes and support prices for crops.