Major crops and cropping patterns in various parts of the country

(GENERAL STUDIES III)– Major crops and cropping patterns in various parts of the country

Current Agri-crop situation in India:

• India is the world’s second largest producer of both rice and wheat.
• Cultivated on 45 million hectares in kharif and rabi seasons, rice production has consistently risen over the years from 104.4 million tonnes (mt) in 2015-16 to 117.9 mt in 2019-20.
• Wheat, a rabi crop, is planted on around 30 million hectares and its harvest stood at 107.2 mt in 2019-20, up from 92.3 mt five years ago.
• Annual hikes in the minimum support price combined with the system of open-ended procurement through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) have contributed not only to increase in harvest size but also burgeoning public stocks of the two fine cereals.
• Grain mono-cropping — cultivation of rice and wheat in an unbroken chain season after season — in major growing States such as Punjab and Haryana over the last 20-30 years is inflicting enormous invisible costs.
• In the absence of scientific crop rotation, soil health has deteriorated.
• Encouraged by free power supply, reckless drawing of groundwater for irrigation has resulted in the water table going down to alarmingly low levels.

Crop Classification

A variety of food and non-food crops are grown in different parts of the country depending upon the variations in soil, climate, and cultivation practices. These crops can be classified on the basis of different criteria enumerated below:

Crop Classification Based on the Type of Produce

Agriculture Season in India

Major food crops:

Importance of Cropping Pattern

• Increases Soil Fertility: Prolonged planting of the same crop type leads to the depletion of specific nutrients in the soil. Each crop type has a different nutrient interaction with the soil, and each of them releases and absorb different types of nutrients. Because of this, crop rotation increases soil fertility by controlling deficient or excess nutrients because it replenishes nutrients that are not available or absorb nutrients that are in abundance.
• Increases Crop Yield: Cropping pattern increases the harvest obtained from a single seasonal harvest. Not only does one get a variety of crops after each season because of the incorporation of different crop types, but also a general bounty harvest. Some scientific evidence proves a 10 to 25% increase in crop yield in crop rotation rather than monoculture.
• Increases Soil Nutrients: cropping pattern allows the land to regenerate and rejuvenate its self-nutrients without having to apply more nutrients through the use of fertilizers. Leaving the land bare for a season enable the land to restore the soil nutrients lost through absorption by plants harvested in the previous season.
• Reduces Soil Erosion: it helps reduce raindrop impact on the soil and general erosion by water because the roots of the plants hold the top layer soil together. Trees planted together with crops in the farms also assists in preventing soil erosion.
• Improves the Soil Structure: Cropping Pattern helps prevent soil compaction, thus improving the physical condition of the soil. Crop rotation improves the soil structure as well as soil texture. This allows for good conditions for seed germination and root proliferation.
• Diversification and Reduced Cost of Production: The cultivation of certain crops requires less labor and machinery compared to others. It helps to distribute the workload and resources used throughout the year for which the cost of production of the crops decreases to a certain extent

Factors Affecting Cropping Pattern

• Cropping pattern of any region depends upon many factors e.g. physical and technical factors, economic factors as well as on the government policies and actions. Some of the important factors are:
  • Geographical Factors
  • Economic Factors
  • Political Factors/Government Policies
  • Historical factors

Geographical Factors

The various Geographical factors affecting the cropping pattern of an area are:

i. Relief

• Relief plays important role in deciding the cropping pattern of a region.
• Rice is the main crop on the irrigated hill terraces (terraced cultivation).
• Crop like tea and coffee can be grown only on well drained slopes that receive good amount of rainfall.
• Rice (tropical crop) and sugarcane dominates well irrigated regions with fairly warm climate.
• Wheat (temperate crop) grows well in plain regions with moderate temperature and rainfall.

ii. Temperature

• Most crops require lower temperature at the time of sowing and higher temperature at the time of ripening.
• Some crops require higher temperatures and are sown in the summer season. Most of the growth period falls under the rainy season. These are known as Kharif crops (rice, cotton, etc.). [They are sown just before the burst of south-west monsoons]
• There are other crops that require lower temperature and moisture and are sown in the winter season (wheat). These are known as rabi crops.
• Sugarcane gives good yield in south India than in northern plains. They need warm climates.

iii. Rainfall

• Rainfall is one of the major determinants of the cropping pattern of a region. Variation in rainfall of different regions leads to different cropping patterns which is discussed below:
  • Areas of Heavy Rainfall
    • These are the areas with more than 150 cm of annual rainfall.
    • It includes east India and the west coastal plains.
    • Animal population is fairly high due to availability of fodder and grazing area.
    • Major crops include rice, tea, coffee, sugarcane, jute etc.
  • Areas of Medium Rainfall
    • These are the areas with 75 to 150 cm of annual rainfall
    • 150 cm annual rainfall isohyets are suitable for the cultivation of rice whereas 75 cm annual rainfall isohyets are suitable for maize, cotton and soyabean.
    • These areas are rich in natural resources. E.g. Eastern part of Utter Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, eastern parts of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
    • Wheat is the principal rabi crop in these areas and millets are the natural priority due to its less water requirement.
    • Wheat, maize, cotton, soybean, millets, etc. are the major crops.
  • Areas of Low Rainfall
    • These are the areas with 25 to 75 cm (Semi-arid stretches of India) of annual rainfall.
    • Major crops in this belt are millets, jowar, and bajra in the northern, jowar in central and ragi in the southern part.
    • Wheat is the main rabi crop which is grown in irrigated areas.
    • Mixed cropping is very common in which pulses are mixed with cereals.
    • Cropping has been developed in such a way that no one crop dominates.
    • Dry land farming is common practice in this region.
    • Millets, oilseeds (Groundnut, sunflower, rapeseed and mustard etc.), pulses etc. are the major crops grown in this region.

iv. Soil

• Soil of a region is an important determinant of the cropping pattern.
• Different crops require different edaphic conditions for their growth and development.
• Rice is mainly grown in clayey soils while loamy soils are best for wheat.
• The regur soil of the Deccan Plateau is ideal for the cultivation of cotton.
• Coarse grains such as jowar, bajra, maize, ragi, barley, etc. are grown in inferior soils (light sandy soils, light black soils, red and literate soils, etc.)
• Delta soils of West Bengal are renewed by floods every year and are very fertile. They are ideal for jute cultivation. The farmers grow 2-3 crops in a year in this region.
• Soils of the Darjeeling hills contain sufficient quantities of humus, iron, potash and phosphorus which are necessary for tea bush to grow.

Economic Factors

Economic motivation is the most important in determining the cropping pattern of the country. Among the various economic factors affecting cropping patterns, the irrigation, power, size of land holdings, sale price of crops, the income of farmers, insurance, and investment are important ones deciding the cropping pattern of an area. Some of them are discussed below:

• Irrigation
  • Rice is a dominant crop in regions with reliable irrigation and a warm climate (coastal plains and irrigated belts of South India).
  • North Indian plain regions are well irrigated and support 2-3 crops of rice a year.
  • Crop diversification in certain regions has been negligible due to the presence of irrigation. E.g. Rice dominates in well-irrigated parts of south India. Wheat dominates the north-western part of the country. Coarse grains like jowar, bajra, maize, barley, ragi etc. are given comparatively less importance in these regions.
• Size of Land Holdings
  • In case of smallholdings, the priority of the farmers would be to grow food grains for his family members (subsistence farming).
  • Farmers with large holdings can opt for cash and help in crop diversification, leading to changes in the cropping pattern (commercial farming).
  • But in spite of crop diversification potential, large holdings are used mostly for monoculture of rice, wheat, etc.
• Insurance against Risk
  • The need to minimize the risk of crop failures not only explains diversification but also some specific features of crop patterns.
  • For e.g. in Southern states plantation crops are grown on a large scale due to the availability of suitable crop insurance schemes.
• Availability of Inputs:
  • Seeds, fertilizers, water storage, marketing, transport, etc. also affect the cropping pattern of a region.
• Value
  • Millets in the hilly areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are replaced by high-value horticulture crops like apple.
• Demand:
  • Rice is the preferred crop in the densely populated regions as there is a ready market and high demand.

Political Factors/Government Policies

• The legislative and administrative policies of the government may also affect the cropping pattern. Food Crops Acts, Land Use Acts, intensive schemes for paddy, for cotton and oilseeds, subsidies affect the cropping pattern.
• Government can encourage or discourage certain crops due to various reasons like drought, flood, inflation etc.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP): Rice and wheat which are offered high MSP are preferred by farmers over other food crops.

Historical Factors

• Cropping pattern of a region is also defined by the historical factors which includes the cultivation of various crops done in the area from long time due to the various historical reasons. E.g. tea plantation by British Kangra valley in Uttarakhand.
• Sugarcane is grown more extensively in North India even though the conditions are most favourable in South India. This is because the sugarcane cultivation was encouraged by British as an alternative to indigo which lost its significance and market in states like Uttar Pradesh due to introduction of artificial dyes.
• Diversification of crops due to surplus food grain production post Green Revolution has led to significant changes in cropping pattern. Other than rice and wheat, oilseeds and pulses also became more prominent.

Emerging Trends in Cropping Pattern

India is a major producer of agricultural goods in the world and we are the second largest producer of crops in the world, our cropping pattern does a show a very welcome trend. The following are certain features noticed in our cropping pattern:

• Majority of our farmers are engaged in growing subsistence crops like food grains, cereals, pulses, etc. which are basic crops, not very lucrative from the point of view of earnings.
• Agri-productivity over the past few decades has increased, but it is still less than the global average, being just 30-40% of the global average.
• The number of people engaged in agriculture has reduced from 70% at independence to 50% presently.
• The crop pattern has changed with a very satisfactory trend, i.e. growing more cash crops like fruit and vegetables instead of food grains.
• Shifted to horticulture:  Since good inputs (seeds and know-how) are available, farmers are growing horticultural crops along with or as an alternative to food grains. India produces 10% of the world production of fruits, and holds the first place in case of fruits like papaya, mango, and banana, among others.
• Urbanization: The change in land use pattern and cropping pattern is vastly affected by rapid urbanization. The higher cultivable area has been achieved by bringing large acreage of uncultivable land into cultivation.
• Another trend in our agricultural cropping pattern is that our production of wheat and rice is not increasing as fast as our population.
• Water intensive to water efficiency patterns: Some water intensive Food grains (paddy) and cash crops (such as sugarcane) losing interest in favour of water efficient crops or pulses and oil seeds. These are not only water efficient but also climate resilient.
•  Matching with agro climatic regions

Issues with current cropping pattern

• Old methods: Agricultural practices in India have gained self-sufficiency, but the production remains resource-intensive, cereal-centric, and regionally biased. These deficiencies have raised sustainability issues.
• Unsustainable practices: Since more than half of India’s population depends upon rural employment for a living, Slow agricultural growth is a concern for the policy-makers as the currently adopted agricultural practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable.
• Dominance of cereals among food crops: Within broad group of food crops cereals like wheat and rice dominate. About 82 per cent of the area under food crops has been put to cultivation of cereals. This is due to better prices, less risk in production and the availabil-ity of better seeds.
• Decline in coarse cereals Jwar, Bajra, Maize, Millets, Barley etc. are called coarse or inferior cereals. The area under these crops to the total area under cereal crops has declined significantly from 48 per cent in 1950-51 to about 29 per cent in 2001. This is due to spread of irrigation facilities, improved inputs and a shift in con-sumption patterns of the people.
• Declining importance of Kharif crops There are mainly three cropping seasons in India (i) Kharif (ii) Rabi (iii) Zaid. The Kharif season corresponds to the rainy season, while Rabi season with the winter. The short period in between the harvest of the Rabi crops and the sowing of the Kharif crops is called the Zaid season.
• Social problems: Agriculture is recently facing greater changes in terms of social aspects like the increased feminization of agriculture, mainly due to an increase in the number of women-headed households, increased rural-urban migration by men, and growth in cash crops production which require a lot of labor.

CONCLUSION:

In India, agriculture provides the livelihood to farmers, therefore, farmers first look for the economic viability of a crop within their socio-physical and political environment. Crops contribute to the overall growth of the country’s economy but the numbers are not very high. To lift it up, the country needs to take innovative initiatives and to upgrade its plans and policies. Also, the latest agriculture technologies and equipment should be adopted for better output and more educated and right talent should enter to the farming sector.

RECENT INITIATIVE UNDERTAKEN BY GOVERNMENT FOR CROPS:

Price Deficiency Payment (PDP):

Recently the government launched the “Price Deficiency Payment (PDP)” scheme, which has been framed on the lines of Madhya Pradesh (MP) Government’s Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana for the protection of oilseeds farmers only.

Under the scheme, the government pay to farmers the difference between the MSP and monthly average price of oilseeds quoted in the wholesale market.

Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA):

The Central Government has announced an umbrella policy “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA to ensure that farmers growing oilseeds, pulses and copra get the MSP that they are promised every year.

The scheme is a mix of sub-schemes:

Price Support Scheme (PSS)

Price Deficiency Payment (PDP)

Procurement by private traders at MSP on a pilot basis

IFFCO iMandi:

IFFCO iMandi is a Social Commerce app for rural India. It has been built for large communities with commerce, content and communication enabled in a simple, seamless and secure manner.

It is a one-stop shop for agricultural inputs and produce, FMCG, electronics, loans, insurance, etc.

Source: NCERT

Chapter 8: AGRICULTURE AND FOOD MANAGEMENT

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