Agriculture Class 10 Notes: Crops, Seasons & Farming

Agriculture is Chapter 4 of Class 10 Geography (NCERT, Contemporary India II). Agriculture is the main occupation of a large share of India’s population, and this chapter explains how farming is done, which crops grow in which season and what conditions each crop needs.

The most common board questions ask for the growing conditions of a crop, so these notes put all crops in one table you can revise quickly.

Chapter at a glance

India is an agriculturally important country. Two-thirds of its population is engaged in agricultural activities.
Three types of farming: primitive subsistence, intensive subsistence and commercial (including plantation).
Three cropping seasons: rabi, kharif and zaid.
Major crops: rice, wheat, millets, maize, pulses, sugarcane, oilseeds, tea, coffee, horticulture crops, rubber and fibre crops.
Reforms like land reforms, the Green Revolution and the White Revolution aimed to improve agriculture.

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Types of farming

1. Primitive subsistence farming

Practised on small patches of land with primitive tools like the hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family labour.
Depends on monsoon, natural soil fertility and suitability of other environmental conditions.
Slash and burn agriculture: farmers clear a patch of land, burn the vegetation and grow crops. When the soil loses fertility, they move to a new patch. This allows nature to restore fertility.
It is called jhumming in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, and has different names in other states.

2. Intensive subsistence farming

Practised in areas of high population density.
Labour-intensive, with high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation for higher production.
Land holdings keep getting smaller because of the right of inheritance, as land is divided among successive generations.

3. Commercial farming

Uses high doses of modern inputs: high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides.
The degree of commercialisation varies. Rice is a commercial crop in Punjab and Haryana, but a subsistence crop in Odisha.

Plantation is a type of commercial farming in which a single crop is grown on a large area. It needs capital, labour and an interface of agriculture and industry. Important plantation crops in India are tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane and banana. Tea in Assam and North Bengal and coffee in Karnataka are examples.

Cropping seasons

Season	Sowing	Harvesting	Main crops
Rabi	Winter, October to December	Summer, April to June	Wheat, barley, peas, gram, mustard
Kharif	Onset of monsoon	September–October	Paddy (rice), maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut, soyabean
Zaid	Short season between rabi and kharif, in summer months	—	Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder crops

Rain from western temperate cyclones during winter helps the success of rabi crops. In states like Assam, West Bengal and Odisha, three crops of paddy are grown in a year: aus, aman and boro.

Major crops and their growing conditions

Crop	Type / season	Temperature	Rainfall / water	Soil and notes
Rice	Kharif food crop	Above 25°C, high humidity	Above 100 cm; irrigation in low-rainfall areas	Alluvial soil. Grown in the plains of north and north-east India, coastal areas and deltas. India is the second largest producer after China
Wheat	Rabi food crop	Cool growing season, bright sunshine at ripening	50–75 cm, evenly distributed	Main crop of north and north-west India. Two zones: Ganga-Satluj plains and the black soil region of the Deccan
Millets (jowar, bajra, ragi)	Coarse grains, high nutrition	—	Rain-fed	Jowar: moist areas, hardly needs irrigation. Bajra: sandy and shallow black soil. Ragi: dry regions, red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils; rich in iron, calcium, micronutrients
Maize	Food and fodder; kharif (rabi in Bihar)	21°C to 27°C	Moderate	Old alluvial soil. HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation increased production
Pulses	Mostly legumes	—	Grown in dry conditions	Fix nitrogen from the air and restore soil fertility, so used in rotation. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses
Sugarcane	Tropical and subtropical	21°C to 27°C, hot and humid	75–100 cm; irrigation needed in low-rainfall areas	Grows on many soils; needs manual labour from sowing to harvest. India is the second largest producer after Brazil. Main source of sugar, gur, khandsari and molasses
Tea	Beverage, plantation	Tropical and subtropical, warm and moist, frost-free	Frequent showers evenly distributed	Deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus and organic matter. Labour-intensive; needs cheap skilled labour
Coffee	Plantation	—	—	Indian coffee is known for good quality. The Arabica variety initially came from Yemen and is grown on the Baba Budan Hills. Cultivation is confined to the Nilgiris in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Rubber	Equatorial crop, also tropical and subtropical	Above 25°C	Above 200 cm, moist and humid	An important industrial raw material. Grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya
Cotton	Kharif fibre crop	High temperature	Light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine	Grows well in the drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. Takes 6 to 8 months to mature
Jute	Golden fibre	High temperature	—	Well-drained fertile soils in flood plains, renewed every year. Used for gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn and carpets

Oilseeds

Groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower are the main oilseeds. Most are edible and used as cooking mediums, and some are raw materials for soaps, cosmetics and ointments. Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Linseed and mustard are rabi crops. Sesamum is a kharif crop in the north and a rabi crop in the south. Castor seed is grown as both.

Horticulture crops

India produces tropical and temperate fruits: mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya); bananas of Kerala, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu; and apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. India is an important producer of vegetables like pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato.

Sericulture

The rearing of silkworms for the production of silk fibre is called sericulture.

Technological and institutional reforms

Land reforms: after Independence, collectivisation, consolidation of land holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari were given priority in the First Five Year Plan.
Green Revolution (1960s–70s): based on HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers and irrigation, mainly for wheat and rice.
White Revolution (Operation Flood): to increase milk production.
Other schemes: provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease; Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for loans at lower interest; Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS); special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes on radio and TV; and minimum support prices and remunerative prices for important crops.

Bhoodan-Gramdan

Vinoba Bhave, a follower of Gandhiji, walked across the country. Some zamindars and landowners offered to distribute land among landless villagers. This was called Bhoodan. Some zamindars offered whole villages to be distributed among the landless. This was called Gramdan. It is known as the “bloodless revolution”.

Important questions

Distinguish between primitive subsistence farming and commercial farming. (3 marks)
Describe the three cropping seasons of India with examples. (3 marks)
Describe the geographical conditions required for the growth of rice / wheat / cotton / tea. (3 marks each)
Why are pulses grown in rotation with other crops? (1–2 marks)
Describe the technological and institutional reforms introduced to improve agriculture in India. (5 marks)
What is the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement? (2 marks)

Map work: CBSE usually asks students to locate major areas of rice, wheat, sugarcane, tea, coffee, rubber, cotton and jute on the map of India. Check the latest CBSE map list for your year.

Stuck on any of these? Type the question in the DoubtPay study space, choose Social Studies and Classes 9–10, and get a point-wise answer. Choose “Make flashcards + notes” to turn the crop table into flashcards in one credit. Packs from ₹9, no subscription.

FAQs

What is the difference between rabi and kharif crops?

Rabi crops are sown in winter (October to December) and harvested in summer (April to June), like wheat and mustard. Kharif crops are sown with the onset of the monsoon and harvested in September–October, like rice, maize and cotton.

Which soil is best for cotton?

The black soil of the Deccan plateau, also called black cotton soil or regur soil. Read more about soils in the Resources and Development notes.

Why is jute called the golden fibre?

Because of its golden colour and its high commercial value. Its demand has fallen with the rise of synthetic fibres, but it is again in demand as an eco-friendly packaging material.

More Class 10 Social Science notes

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