NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc. Agriculture Study Material: Food Crops
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- Sugarcane:
- It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.
- It grows well in hot and humid climate
- It require a temperature of 21° C to 27° C
- and an annual rainfall between 75cm. And 100cm.
- Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall.
- It can be grown on a variety of soils
- It needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
- India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
- It is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggary) , khandsari and molasses.
- The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
- Oil Seeds:
- India is the largest producer of oilseeds in the world.
- Different oil seeds are grown covering approximately 12 per cent of the total cropped area of the country.
- Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til) , soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.
- Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums. However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.
- Groundnut
- It is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country.
- Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of groundnut followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra
- Linseed and mustard
- These are rabi crops.
- Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India.
- Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop.
- Tea:
- Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture.
- It is also an important beverage crop introduced in India initially by the British.
- The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates
- It needs deep and fertile well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter.
- Tea bushes require warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year.
- Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender leaves.
- Tea is a labour-intensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour.
- Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness.
- Major tea-producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country.
- India is the leading producer as well as exporter of tea in the world.
- Coffee:
- India produces about four per cent of the world՚s coffee production.
- Indian coffee is known in the world for its good quality.
- The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country.
- Intially its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills and even today its cultivation is confined to the Nilgiri in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.