Chapter 5 Land Resources and Agriculture

Geography Class 12 Notes Chapter 15 Land
Resources and Agriculture

Land use Categories
Land revenue department is responsible for categorising land and maintaining its
records. These records contains reporting area.
Under the land revenue records land use categories are as follows:
1. Forest
2. Land put to non-agricultural uses.
3. Barren and Wastelands.
4. Area under permanent pastures and grazing lands.
5. Area under miscellaneous tree crops and groves.
6. Culturable wastelands
7. Current fallow
8. Net sown area
Land use Changes in India

Unlike other natural resources, land is fixed, it does not change by size or area.
Economic activities are the major causes that affect land use. The three main economic
changes that changes the land use are:
1. The size of the economy.

2. The composition of an economy (proportion of different sectors).
3. Increasing pressure on agricultural lands.
During the period of 1960-61 to 2008-09 some land use changes are worth mentioning
which show an increase and decrease in these categories:
Area Records Increase in Land use
● Area under forest.

● Current fallow lands.
● Area under non-agricultural use.
● Net sown area.
Area Records Decrease in Land use
● Barren and wasteland.

● Culturable wasteland
● Area under permanent pastures and tree crops.
● Fallow other than current fallow.
On the basis of ownership land can be classified into two categories:

Private land Owned by individual or group of individuals.
Common Property Resources (CPRs) Available for all and can be used by any person. It
provides fodder for the livestock and fuel for the households. In rural areas, such land is
of particular relevance for livelihood of the landless and marginal farmers.
Agricultural Land Use in India
Most of the Indians are dependent on agriculture, directly or indirectly for their
subsistence. Agriculture is mainly Land-based activity unlike secondary and tertiary
sectors. The role of quality of land is important in agriculture. The more the land is
fertile the more it gives output/production. Ownership of land resource is considered as
a social status in rural areas. It is also seen as security for credit, natural hazards or life
contingencies. Availability of total resources for agricultural uses is calculated by
adding up net sown area, all fallow lands and culturable wastelands.
Cropping Intensity (Cl)’is calculated as follows:

Cropping Intensity in percentage = GCA (Gross Cropped Area)/NSA (Net Sown Area) x
100
Cropping seasons in India

Types of Farming
In India farming is classified on the basis of moisture available for crops:
● Irrigated Farming The main source of moisture for this farming is irrigation
by various methods i.e. wells, tubewells, etc. Two types are protective and
productive farming.
● Rainfed Farming (Barani) The main source of moisture for this farming is
rainfall. Two types are dryland farming and wetland farming.
Dryland farming is largely confined to the regions having rainfall less than 75 cm. These
regions grows hardy and drought resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram and
gaur. On the other hand 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
sugercane.
Cropping Pattern
Food grains
Foodgrains are important for agriculture economy which constitute about two-third of
total cropped area in the country. The foodgrains are classified on the basis of structure
of grains:
Cereals
India ranks 3rd in the production of cereals after China and USA. India produces 11% of
the world and covers about 54% of the total cropped area in India. These cereals are:
● Rice It is the most important food crop of India which feeds more than half
of our population. India ranked second with the production nearly 22% after
China in the world. States like West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were
major rice producing states in India. In North-Western and in. Himalyas
regions, it is grown as a Kharif crop, whereas in West Bengal, farmers grow
three crops of rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’.
● Wheat India share 12% of total wheat production of the world. It is
cultivated on about 14% of the total cropped area. About 85% of this area
comes under the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Malwa Plateau and Himalayas in
North and central parts of the country. The major wheat producing states of
India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir.
Coarse Grains
These crops are grown in almost 16.50% of total cropped area in the country. These
coarse grains are:
● Jowar/Sorghum It is grown in about 5.3% of total cropped area.

Maharashtra is the largest producer of Jowar in India. The major producer
of Jowar are central and Southern states i.e. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh
and Andhra Pradesh.
● Bajra It is grown in about 5.2% of the total cropped area in the country. The
major producers of bajra are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Haryana.
● Maize It is grown in about 3.6% of total cropped area in the country. There
is no particular region under maize. It is sown all over India except Eastern
and North Eastern regions. The leading producers are Madhya Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
● Pulses Pulses are grown in India on about 11% of the total cropped area.
India is one of the largest producers of pulses, as it cultivates about 20%
pulses of the world. Pulses are legume crops. These are largely confined to
the drylands of Deccan and Central plateaus and North-Western parts of
the country.
● Gram It is grown in 2.8% of the total cropped area. The major producers are
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Rajasthan.
● Tur (Arhar) This is grown in 2% of the total cropped area of India. It is the
second important pulse crop in the country. Maharashtra is the leading
producer of tur which produces about 75% of tur in India. It is also called as
red gram or pigeon pea.
● Oil seeds Oil seeds are produced for extracting edible oils. Oil seeds
include groundnut, (3.6%), rapeseed and mustard (2.5%), soybean,
sunflower, etc. These different oilseeds are grown in India about 14% of
total cropped area in the country.
Drylands of Malwa Plateau, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana and
Rayalseema of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka plateau are leading
producers of oilseeds. Soybean and sunflower are other important oil seeds
grown in India.
Fibre Crops
Fibre crops are one which provides fibre for preparing cloth. These includes:
● Cotton India grows both short staple (Indian) cotton as well as long staple
(American) cotton. India produces about 8.3% of the world’s cotton. This
makes India the fourth largest producer of cotton after China, USA and
Pakistan. Largest producers of cotton in India are Maharashtra, Gujarat,
Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
● Jute India accounts for about 60% of the world’s jute production. West
Bengal (75%) is the largest producer of jute in the country. Other producers
are Bihar and Assam.
Other Crops
● Sugarcane It is an important cash crop in India. India’s sugarcane

production is about 23% of the world’s total production, which makes India
the 2nd largest producer after Brazil. Major producers are Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh accounts 40 percent of sugarcane
production and secures a position of the largest producer of India.
● Tea Assam (53.2%) is the largest producer of tea in India. Other states are
West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
● Coffee India is the 7th largest producer of coffee in the world which
accounts about 3.2% share. Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee that
produces more than 66% of India’s total coffee.
Agricultural Development in India
● About 54.6% of population is engaged in agricultural activity. According to

census (2011) and about 57% of its land is used for cultivation of various
crops in India whereas world average is only about 12%.
● The land-human ratio in India is only 0.31 hectare whereas, the world is
almost double of this figure i.e. 0.59 hectare.
Strategy of Development
Before Independence, Indian agriculture was largely subsistence in nature, this period
was frequently witnessed severe droughts, famines and food shortage. About l/3rd of
the irrigated area went to Pakistan. Consequently, Government took several steps to
increase the production of food grains. Following three strategies were adopted to
achieve this goal:
1. Switching over from cash crops to food crops.

2. Intensification of cropping over already cultivated land.
3. Increasing cultivated area by bringing cultivable and fallow land under
plough.
However, Indian agriculture could not progress much, then Government introduced
modem technology into agriculture. These were:
● High Yielding Variety (HYV) of seeds

● Fertilisers
● Mechanisation
● Improved irrigation and credit marketing facilities.
● Intensive Area Development Programme
All the above inputs were the main components of what is known as Green Revolution.
This strategy of agricultural development in the country made the country self-reliant in
foodgrain production. But, green revolution was initially confined to irrigated areas only.
This led to regional disparities in agricultural development in the country till the
seventies. Consequently, Planning Commission prepared plans to solve the problems of
agriculture in rainfed areas in 1980s. It initiated agro-climate planning in 1988 to induce
regional balance.
Growth of Agricultural Output and Technology
● Since independence, there has been improvement in technologies used for

agricultural production. As a result, increase in agricultural production has
been recorded.
● India is now became 1st largest producer of pulses and jute and 2nd
largest in rice, wheat, groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables.
● New technologies also came up to increase the production of food grains,
for e.g. HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers raised 15 folds since mid 1960s.
Problems of Indian Agriculture

These problems are:
● Dependence on Erratic Monsoon There is only 33% cultivated area is under
irrigation. The nature of South-West monsoon is very fluctuating which
causes flood and drought situation in India.
● 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.
● 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.
● 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.
● Small Farm Size and Fragmentation of Landholdings ‘Inheritance law’ is
mainly responsible for small and fragmented farm size.
● Lack of Commercialisation As most of the farmers are poor and marginal,
farmers practice subsistence agriculture for their living.
● Vast Under-employment There is seasonal unemployment in agricultural
sector. There is no income during ploughing field to harvesting crops.
● Degradation of Cultivable Land After green revolution degradation has
started in India. Excessive use of irrigation, chemical fertilizers, etc created
problems of water lodging and solemnization. Fertility of land is also
decreasing day by day.

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Chapter 5 Land Resources and Agriculture

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Geography Class 12 Notes Chapter 15 Land

Resources and Agriculture

Land use Changes in India

1. The size of the economy.

Area Records Increase in Land use

● Area under forest.

● Barren and wasteland.

On the basis of ownership land can be classified into two categories:

Cropping Intensity (Cl)’is calculated as follows:

Cropping seasons in India

● Jowar/Sorghum It is grown in about 5.3% of total cropped area.

● Sugarcane It is an important cash crop in India. India’s sugarcane

Agricultural Development in India

● About 54.6% of population is engaged in agricultural activity. According to

1. Switching over from cash crops to food crops.

● High Yielding Variety (HYV) of seeds

Growth of Agricultural Output and Technology

● Since independence, there has been improvement in technologies used for

Problems of Indian Agriculture

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