Indian Agriculture: Salient Features, Classifications, and Problems

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, crop classifications, and major problems of Indian agriculture based on the lecture notes.

Environmental Sustainability Practices

Agricultural practices such as crop rotation, organic farming, and agroforestry that help maintain biodiversity and manage natural resources like soil and water.

Dependence on Monsoons

A key feature of Indian agriculture characterized by reliance on rainfall that is highly unreliable, uncertain, and irregular, with large-scale irrigation serving only one-third of the crop area.

Preponderance of Food Crops

The predominant feature of Indian agriculture where more than 2/3rd of the total cropped area is used for food crop cultivation to feed a large population.

Small and Fragmented Landholding

A major problem in Indian agriculture resulting from intensive farming, population growth, and land division for inheritance, which leads to wasted time and labor.

National Seeds Corporation of India

An entity established by the Government of India in 1963 to augment the supply of improved seeds to farmers and solve the issue of poor productivity.

Food Crops

A crop classification that consists of cereals (including millets such as Jowar, Bajra, and Ragi, along with Gram and Maize) and pulses.

Cash Crops

A crop classification comprising oilseeds, fibre crops, plantation crops, and agro animal products.

Edible Oilseeds

A classification of cash crop oilseeds that includes groundnut, sesamum, rape seed, and mustard.

Non-edible Oilseeds

A classification of cash crop oilseeds that includes linseed and castor.

Fibre Crops

A subcategory of cash crops consisting of cotton and jute.

Plantation Crops

A subcategory of cash crops that includes tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, and tobacco.

Agro Animal Products

A subcategory of cash crops consisting of silk and wool.

Spices

A category of agricultural crops listed as cardamom, pepper, ginger, and chillies.

Manures and Fertilizers

Inputs essential for the retention of soil fertility, the lack of proper use of which adversely affects Indian agricultural productivity.