Briefly discuss the methods of cultivation practised in India with at least two examples on each method.
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Answer
Subsistence Farming: Majority of farmers in the country practise subsistence farming. It is characterised by small and scattered land holdings and use of primitive tools. As the farmers are poor, they do not use fertilisers and high yielding variety of seeds in their fields to the extent they should do. Facilities like electricity and irrigation are generally not available to them. These result into low productivity. Most of the food production is consumed by the farmers and their families. Where facilities like irrigation and electricity are available, farming has improved. Important cash crops like sugarcane, oilseeds, cotton and jute are grown. The subsistence agriculture has given way to commercial agriculture to some extent. Dry land farming is practised in areas where the rainfall is low and irrigation facilities are inadequate. Here, emphasis is laid on conservation of moisture, and on crops like jowar, bajra and pulses, which need less water.
Shifting Agriculture: In this type of agriculture, first of all a piece of forest land is cleared by felling trees and burning of trunks and branches. After the land is cleared, crops are grown for two to three years and then the land is abandoned as the fertility of the soil decreases. The farmers then move to new areas and the process is repeated. Dry paddy, maize, millets and vegetables are the crops commonly grown in this type of farming. The per hectare yield is low. This practice is known by different name in different regions of India like Jhum in Assam, Ponam in Kerala, Podu in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and bewar masha penda and bera in various parts of Madhya Pradesh. As far as possible governments have tried to discouraged is practice of cultivation by tribals due to wasteful nature such as soil erosion caused by it, when soil erosion caused by it, when soils are not under cultivation.
Plantation Agriculture: Plantation farming is bush or tree farming. It was introduced by the British in the nineteenth century. It is a single crop farming of rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, coconut and fruit crops like apples, grapes, oranges, etc. It is capital intensive and demands good managerial ability, technical know-how, sophisticated machinery, fertilisers, irrigation, and transport facilities. Some of the plantations like tea, coffee and rubber have a processing factory within the farm itself or close to it. This type of agriculture has developed in hilly areas of north-eastern India, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and in Nilgiri, Anamalai and Cardamom hills in peninsular India.
Intensive Farming: In areas where irrigation has been possible, the farmers use fertilisers and pesticides on large scale. They have also brought their land under high yielding variety of seeds. They have mechanised agriculture by introducing machines in various processes of farming. These have led intensive farming where the yield per unit area is high. In some areas, this has led to the development of dairy farming.
Dry Agriculture: This practice is followed in areas where irrigation facilities are lacking. Crops cultivated in these areas can withstand dry conditions. The crops grown generally with the help of irrigation are also grown under dry farming. In such circumstances the per hectare yields are generally lower. Most of the area under dry cultivation entertain only one crop during the year. This is practiced in drier parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh etc.
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