Chapter 5: Land Resources and Agriculture

CRITICAL THINKING AND HOT QUESTIONS

Q.    Why is the demand for water to irrigation increasing day by day in India? Explain any three          reasons.

                                                             OR 

    Why is irrigation necessary in India? Explain any three reasons.

Ans: Irrigation is necessary in India for the following reasons: 

-  To Decrease the Dependency on Monsoon.

-  To Increase Production Agricultural production and yield under rainfed areas are low. To increase the agricultural production in India, irrigation is necessary.  

- To Introduce Newer Farming Method Irrigation is important to introduce newer farming methods like use of HYV seeds which need more irrigation. These newer methods replace old farming practices. 

Q.    “Land resources are more crucial to the livelihood of the people depending on agriculture.”    Support this statement with any three suitable arguments.

                                                                         OR 

  How is a land resource more crucial to the livelihood of the people depending on agriculture in India? Explain with three points.

Ans: Importance of land resource in agriculture can be understood by the following points: 

•  Dependence of agriculture on a land resource is high as compared to the secondary or tertiary sector.

•  Agriculture is directly affected by the quality of land but other sectors such as industry or services are not affected by the quality of land.

Besides agricultural production, ownership of land resource also indicates a social status in rural areas.

Q.    How is the degradation of cultivable land one of the serious problem in India? Explain in any       three points.

                                     OR

  “Land degradation caused by the human-made process is more harmful than natural processes India”. Analyse the statement with three suitable examples.

Ans: Human activities are majorly responsible for degradation of land than natural resources. This degradation has started after the Green Revolution where new methods and techniques were used intensively, e.g. chemical fertilizers, irrigation, etc. Three examples for this are as follows:

-  Unregulated and over-irrigation have created problems of alkalisation, salinization, and waterlogging in irrigated areas of India.

-  It is estimated that about 15-million-hectare land has lost its fertility due to faulty methods of agriculture. 

- Besides these, shifting cultivation, deforestation, mining activities, etc are human processes causing land degradation that have caused harm to the soil fertility and agriculture in India.

23.    Describe three main achievements of the Green Revolution in India.

                          OR

  “Green revolution was not equally successful in all parts of India” Why? Give three reasons.

 Ans: The Green Revolution in India was not very successful in all parts of India. It created inequalities along with increasing productivity and production. The following are the reasons for the limited success of the Green Revolution: 

 ● Unavailability of irrigation facilities in all parts of India. 

 ● The Green Revolution did not take proper measures to create awareness among farmers about how to use chemical fertilizers and new varieties of seeds during agricultural practices. 

 ● HYV seeds were not easily available to all people due to faulty distribution and their high cost. The small size of land holdings also created obstacles in the path to success of the Green Revolution.

                                    (LONG QUESTION ANSWERS)                                                  5 MARKS

24.    Explain the importance of food grains in the Indian agricultural economy. Describe any three         characteristics of rice cultivation.

Ans: Food grains acquired a special position in the agriculture economy of India. Within agriculture food grains production is by far the major activity, covering about two-thirds of the total cropped area in the country. It dominates both subsistence and commercial farming all over India. Food grains provide almost all the calories and proteins consumed by the poor and provide the rural poor with the bulk of their employment and income. Rice, wheat, bajra, maize, pulses (Gram, tur), etc are examples of food grains. Characteristics of rice cultivation are as follows: 1. For most of the Indians, rice is a staple food. 2. About 3000 varieties of rice are grown in various agro-climatic regions of India. India ranked 2nd with the production of 22% of rice in the world. 3. Because of suitable climate conditions, rice can be cultivated twice and even thrice in an agricultural year in Southern India and West Bengal.

25.    Explain the term cropping intensity. Describe the three cropping seasons in India

Ans: Cropping intensity refers to raising of a number of crops from the same field during one agriculture year. In this process, the area is counted twice or thrice depending upon the number of crops. For three cropping seasons, The three distinct cropping seasons of India are: 

Kharif:

• Kharif season starts with the onset of South-West monsoon (June-September). 

• The major crops which are cultivated in this season are rice, jute, cotton, jowar, bajra, tur and other tropical crops. 

 • Rabi season in India starts from October- November with the onset of winter to March-April. 

• The crops which are cultivated in this season are wheat, gram, mustard and other temperate and subtropical crops because of the low temperature condition. 

 • Zaid is a short season between rabi and kharif in India (April-June). 

• The crops which are cultivated in this season are watermelons, cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops. Crops are cultivated mainly on irrigation lands.

26.    “Land use in a region to a large extent is influenced by nature economic activities carried out           in that region”. Support the statement by giving three examples from India.

                                                            OR 

Why is the area under pastures decreasing in India? How do the changes in the economy affect changes in land use? Explain five reasons.

Ans: Increasing population pressure on land is one of the major reasons which is responsible for the decline in land under pasture and grazing area. There are three types of economic changes that affected the land use in India which are as follows: 

 1. As the population increases the size of the economy also increases. High population pressurizes land resources and force people to utilize every piece of land. Thus, marginal lands and barren wastelands would be used to support the population. 

 2. When the composition of an economy changes it also changes the land uses because different sectors use the land for different purposes 

 3. With the compositional change in economy and change in land use, an area under agriculture declines, but it does not reduce the population pressure on agriculture land.

27.    Discuss the growth of agricultural output and improvement in technology in India. Analyse the statement with five suitable examples

                                                             OR

  Explain with five examples how ‘modern agricultural technology’ has brought a significant            increase  in agricultural output in India.

Ans: Indian agriculture has witnessed a tremendous improvement in agricultural production and associated technology during the last sixty years. Following are some observations related to agricultural growth: 

 ● Production and yield of several crops such as rice, wheat, sugarcane, oilseeds, cotton, etc. 

 ● India is the leading producer of pulses, tea, jute, milk, etc. 

● Irrigation facilities have expanded. This has helped to use modern agricultural technology like HYV seeds, and machinery. 

 ● Consumption of chemical fertilizers has increased by 15 times since the 1960s. 

 ● Since HYVs are highly susceptible to pests and diseases, the use of pesticides has increased significantly since the 1960s.

28.    Erratic monsoon’ and ‘indebtedness’ are the major problems of Indian agriculture. Suggest          and explain five measures to overcome these problems.

Ans: Monsoon nature is very erratic in India. That means of irrigation were indeed developed after independence, but the cultivated area under irrigation is only 33%.  So, there should be more stress on developing various means of irrigation, especially in non-irrigated areas of India. Some of the measures are: 
 1)Water disputes between states should be ended to provide equitable water resources to each Cultivable land in India. 
 2)There should be stress on rainwater harvesting techniques to improve and recharge groundwater tables so that farmers can easily harvest their land with the use of these sources. 
3)Drought-resistant crops should be used more in the areas where a shortage of water occurs. Indebtedness 
 1)Indebtedness is the state of being in debt or owing money to someone else. When a person is in debt, it means that he has borrowed money or received goods or services with a promise to pay the sum back. 
 To overcome the problem of indebtedness following measures could be taken: 
 1)Encouraging cooperative credits in rural areas so that farmers could get loans at cheaper rates. Private lending should be eliminated. 
 2)Agriculture should be conducted on a scientific basis so that the income of the farmers would increase and they could meet their expenses without borrowing money. 
 3)Encourage a minimum support price policy for all farmers. Rural banks and co operative banks rates.
29. “Low productivity and fragmentation of land holdings are the major problems of Indian          agriculture”. Suggest and explain five measures to overcome these problems.
Ans: Measures to overcome the problems of low productivity are as follows: 
  •  to make aware al] the farmers about new technologies like use of improved implements, seeds, chemicals, manures, etc. 
  •  Double cropping, better rotation of crops, fighting plant diseases and pests, etc should be given due emphasis. Different sources of irrigation should be provided to all farmers. 
  • Timely soil testing should be done in rural areas by establishing soil testing labs. 
  •  Institutional credit or loan facilities should be provided to all farmers at low interest rates, e.g. Kisan credit card scheme.
Measures to overcome the problems of fragmentation of land holdings are as follows: 
  •  Big areas of land which are laying waste can be reclaimed and made fit for cultivation. 
  •  Co-operative farming can be helpful to check the subdivision and fragmentation of holding. This farming would result in the adoption of modern technology on big farms. In this way, agriculture will become profitable occupation. 
  •  New agricultural policy should be framed to improve this situation.
Q.1.  How is a land resource more crucial to the livelihood of the people depending on agriculture in India? Explain.
 
ANSWER: Most of the Indians are dependent on agriculture directly or indirectly for their subsistence. Thus, the land resource becomes more important. Importance of land resource in agriculture can be understood by the following points:
·       Agriculture is a purely land based activity unlike secondary and tertiary activities. Thus, lack of access to land is directly correlated with incidence of poverty in rural areas.
·       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.
·       In rural areas, 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, for them land resource play a crucial role for their livelihood.
 
Q.2.  “Land use in a region to a large extent is influenced by the nature of economic activities carried out in that region”. Support the statement by giving three examples from India.

ANSWER: The three types of changes that have affected land use in India are:
 
·        The size of the economy.
·        The composition of an economy (proportion of different sectors).
·        Increasing pressure on agricultural land.
 
Q.3.  How is the degradation of cultivable land one of the serious problem in India? Explain in any three points.
ANSWER: The degradation of cultivable land is one of the serious problems in India as:
·       Intensive use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation have resulted in the degradation of cultivable land. It has reduced the fertility of the soil in India.
·       Unregulated and over irrigation has created problems of alkalisation and salinization and waterlogging in irrigated cultivated areas of India. About 8 million hectare land has lost its fertility due to salinization and alkalisation and about 7 million hectare land have lost its fertility because of water logging in India.
·       The natural fertilisation processes of soil like nitrogen fixation by the cultivation of leguminous crops are not adopted because these crops are displaced with commercial crops such as sugarcane.
 
Q.4.  Explain the three types of changes that have affected land use in India. 
ANSWER: The three types of changes that have affected land use in India are:
·       The size of the economy grows over time as a result the pressure on land will increase with time and marginal lands would come under use.
·       The composition of an economy (proportion of different sectors) would undergo a change over time the secondary and the tertiary sectors usually grow much faster than the primary sector, specifically the agricultural sector. Such changes are sharp around large urban areas. The agricultural land is being used for building purposes.
·       Increasing pressure on agricultural land. the contribution of the agricultural activities reduces over time, but the pressure on land for agricultural activities does not decline.
 
Q.5.  Describe major problems of Indian agriculture.
 
ANSWER: Major problems of Indian agriculture are as follows:
1.     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 rain. Poor performance of south-west monsoon also adversely affects the supply of canal water for irrigation. Droughts and floods continue to be the twin menace in Indian agriculture.
 
2.     Low Productivity: India also lag behind in terms of per hectare production and per person production and also behind at International level. This low productivity is a result of high population which creates a heavy pressure on available land resources.
 
3.     Constraints of Financial Resources and Indebtedness: Lack of money and financial resources are the major constraints to the development of agriculture in India. As majority of farmers are small, marginal and poor, they cannot afford highly expensive inputs to increase their production.
 
4.     Lack of Land Reforms: Lack of land reforms and unequal distribution of land resources led to the worst condition of poor and marginal farmers and also become constraint in the development of agriculture in India. Crop failures and low returns from agriculture have forced them to fall in the trap of indebtedness.
 
5.     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 under increasing population pressure. Furthermore, in India, the land holdings are mostly fragmented. The small size fragmented landholdings are uneconomic.
 
6.     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.
 
7.     Vast Under-employment: There is a seasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8 months. Even in the cropping season, work is not available throughout as agricultural operations are not labour intensive. Hence, the people engaged in agriculture do not have the opportunity to work round the year.
 
8.     Degradation of Cultivable Land: One of the serious problems that arises out of faulty strategy of irrigation and agricultural development is degradation of land resources. A large tract of agricultural land has lost its fertility due to alkalisation and salinization of soils and waterlogging.