Class 8 Geography Chapter 1 HOTS Questions - Resources and Development

Q1: Name the 3 sectors of activities done by people.
Ans: The work or activities done by the people can be classified into 3 Sectors – Primary, secondary and tertiary.

Q2: What are the activities under the secondary sector?
Ans: All activities connected with the manufacturing of goods with natural resources can be classified under Secondary activities. Manufacturing of steel, baking of bread and weaving of cloth are examples of this sector of activities.

Q3: How was the word ‘agriculture, coined?
Ans: The word agriculture is the English adaptation of the Latin word ‘agricultura’. ‘Ager’ means field and ‘cultura’ means cultivation; in the strict sense ‘agricultura’ means “tillage of the soil.

Q4: What is meant by arable land?
Ans: Geographically, arable land is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops.

Q5: What are the different kinds of cultivation?
Ans: Agriculture, Sericulture, Pisciculture, Viticulture and Horticulture are the different kinds of cultivation.

• Agriculture is cultivation on the soil – growing crops and rearing livestock.
• Sericulture is rearing of silk worms to extract silk.
• Pisciculture is breeding of fish in specially constructed tanks and ponds.
• Viticulture is cultivation of grapes.
• Horticulture is growing vegetables, flowers and fruits for commercial use.

Q6: How is farming classified?
Ans: Farming can be broadly classified into 2 categories, namely Subsistence Farming and Commercial Farming

Q7: Write a brief note on Intensive subsistence farming.
Ans: Subsistence farming is practised to meet the needs of the farmer’s family. Low levels of technology and household labour are used to produce a small output. In Intensive subsistence the farmer cultivates a small plot of land using simple tools and more labour. More than one crop is grown annually, on the same plot, as the climate is favourable and the soil is fertile. Rice is the main crop; other crops include wheat, maize, pulses and oilseeds. Intensive subsistence agriculture is prevalent in the thickly populated areas of the monsoon regions of south, southeast and east Asia.

Q8: What is Nomadic herding?
Ans: Nomadic herding is practised in the semi-arid and arid (dry) regions of Sahara, Central Asia and some parts of India, like Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. In nomadic farming, herdsmen move from place to place with their animals for fodder and water, along a definite route. The nomads move from place to place due to the restraints of the climate and land. Sheep, camel, yak and goats are most commonly reared by the nomads. These animals provide milk, meat, wool, hides and other products to the herders and their families. In the drier parts of Asia, especially Southwest Asia, most rural people make a living by raising livestock. Many are nomads who move with their herds of animals over large territories, constantly seeking good supplies of grass and water. The people live simply and carry their tents and belongings with them. They rear animals such as goats, sheep, camels, and yaks.

Q9: What is the difference between Subsistence farming and Commercial farming?
Ans: In commercial Farming crops are grown and animals are reared for sale in the market, that is, for commercial purposes, while in Subsistence farming crops are grown mainly for the farmer’s family needs.

Q10: What are the 3 categories of Commercial farming?
Ans: The three categories of Commercial farming are Commercial Grain Farming; Mixed Farming and Plantation Agriculture.

Q11: What is mixed cropping or mixed farming?
Ans: Mixed cropping involves the simultaneous growing of two or more crops intermingled on the same land. Mixed farming is the combining of two independent agricultural enterprises on the same farm. A typical case of mixed farming is the combination of crop enterprise with dairy farming, that is, crop cultivation with livestock farming. Mixed farming may be treated as a special case of diversified farming. This particular combination of enterprises, support each other and add to the farmer’s profitability.

Q12: What are the advantages in mixed cropping?
Ans: The advantages in mixed cropping are ……

• Greater stability of yield over different seasons
• Better use of growth resources
• Better control of weeds, pests, and diseases
• One crop may provide physical support to another one
• One crop provides shelter to the other crop
• Erosion control through providing continuous leaf cover over the ground surface
• Benefit to small farmers of limited means.

Q13: How can one increase agricultural production?
Ans: Agricultural production can be increased by increasing area under cultivation and by increasing the number of crops grown in a year. Agricultural production can be also be increased by improving irrigational facilities and using fertilizers. Use high yielding variety of seeds and machinery in cultivation increase crop yield.

Q14: Write a note on Munna Lal and his farm – land.
Ans: Munna Lal’s farmland is fertile and he grows two crops in a year – wheat or rice and pulses. He purchases high yielding varieties of seeds from the market every alternate year. He rents a tractor for ploughing his field and irrigates it from a tube-well near his farm for which he pays a rent.
Munna Lal also has two buffaloes and a few hens and he sells the milk in the cooperative store located in the nearby town. All the members of the family help him in various farm activities.
Munna Lal takes the advice of government agricultural officers and officers in the co-operative society regarding farming methods and on the type of fodder for his animals, safety measures to protect the health of the livestock.
Sometimes, he takes credit from a bank or the agricultural co-operative society to buy seeds and farm implements.
As Munna Lal does not have the facilities to store his crop he sells it in the local mandi at a nominal rate.