Salient Features of Indian Agriculture | Geography for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

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SALIENT FEATURES OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE  
(a) Subsistence Agriculture: As mentioned earlier, most parts of India have 
subsistence agriculture. This type of agriculture has been practised in India 
for several hundreds of years and still prevails in a larger part of India in 
spite of the large scale change in agricultural practices after independence. 
 (b) Pressure of population on Agriculture: Despite increase in urbanization 
and industrialization, a major part of population is still directly or 
indirectly dependent on agriculture. 
 (c) Mechanization of farming: Green Revolution took place in India in the 
late sixties and early seventies. After more than forty years of Green 
Revolution and revolution in agricultural machinery and equipments, 
complete mechanization is still a distant dream  
(d) Dependence upon monsoon: Since independence, there has been a rapid 
expansion of irrigation infrastructure. Despite the large scale expansion, 
only about one third of total cropped area is irrigated today. As a 
consequence, two third of cropped areas is still dependent upon monsoon. 
As you know, monsoon in India is uncertain and unreliable. This has 
become even more unreliable due to change in climate.  
(e) Variety of crops: Can you guess why India has a variety of crops? Since 
India has both tropical and temperate climate, crops of both the climate are 
found in India. There are very few countries in the world that have variety 
comparable to that of India.  
(f) Predominance of food crops: Since Indian agriculture has to feed a large 
population, production of food crops is the first priority of the farmers 
almost everywhere in the country. However, in recent years, there has been 
a decline in the share of land used for food crops due to various other 
commercially most advantageous uses of these land. 
 (g) Seasonal patterns: India has three distinct agricultural/cropping 
seasons. You might have heard about kharif, rabi and zaid. In India there 
Page 2


 
SALIENT FEATURES OF INDIAN AGRICULTURE  
(a) Subsistence Agriculture: As mentioned earlier, most parts of India have 
subsistence agriculture. This type of agriculture has been practised in India 
for several hundreds of years and still prevails in a larger part of India in 
spite of the large scale change in agricultural practices after independence. 
 (b) Pressure of population on Agriculture: Despite increase in urbanization 
and industrialization, a major part of population is still directly or 
indirectly dependent on agriculture. 
 (c) Mechanization of farming: Green Revolution took place in India in the 
late sixties and early seventies. After more than forty years of Green 
Revolution and revolution in agricultural machinery and equipments, 
complete mechanization is still a distant dream  
(d) Dependence upon monsoon: Since independence, there has been a rapid 
expansion of irrigation infrastructure. Despite the large scale expansion, 
only about one third of total cropped area is irrigated today. As a 
consequence, two third of cropped areas is still dependent upon monsoon. 
As you know, monsoon in India is uncertain and unreliable. This has 
become even more unreliable due to change in climate.  
(e) Variety of crops: Can you guess why India has a variety of crops? Since 
India has both tropical and temperate climate, crops of both the climate are 
found in India. There are very few countries in the world that have variety 
comparable to that of India.  
(f) Predominance of food crops: Since Indian agriculture has to feed a large 
population, production of food crops is the first priority of the farmers 
almost everywhere in the country. However, in recent years, there has been 
a decline in the share of land used for food crops due to various other 
commercially most advantageous uses of these land. 
 (g) Seasonal patterns: India has three distinct agricultural/cropping 
seasons. You might have heard about kharif, rabi and zaid. In India there 
 
are specific crops grown in these three seasons. For example rice is a kharif 
crop whereas wheat is a rabi crop.