Agriculture (Overview) Video Lecture | Social Studies (SST) Class 8

hi welcome to class 8 geography
resources and development chapter 4
agriculture when I first read this
chapter I did not put a great deal of
thought into knowing what it feels like
to be a farmer many of you will think
the same way after reading this chapter
I mean if I wanted to do farming it can
be so frustrating to figure out just
where to put the seed so that it would
always land in good soil so this chapter
is about knowing all the science and art
behind agriculture don't worry about
science part it is going to be all plain
and simple with no further ado let's
begin so the classic definition of
agriculture says the science and art of
cultivation on the soil raising crops
and reading livestock it is also called
farming the reason it says science in
art is because knowing about the soil
the climatic conditions the crop
patterns the fertilizer all of this is
science and art refers to the way of
growing crops right type of machinery
that needs to be used and allocating
specific number of people for
agricultural work I hope this definition
is plain and clear so there are three
types of economic activities actually
it's for but here we are talking about
just three and these are primary
secondary and tertiary activities and
just for general information fourth one
is called quaternary the definition of
primary activity is anything that
include all those connected with
extraction and production of Natural
Resources the best way to remember this
is to start any activity you need
resources and most of the resources are
naturally produced that means from
nature so any activity wherein you have
to put your hand directly into the
nature's resource that is called primary
activity so some of the examples are
agriculture fishing are good examples
now whatever that we get from nature it
cannot be consumed directly it needs to
be processed and refined so the
secondary activity refers to the
processing of those primary resources
and some of the examples for secondary
activity are manufacturing of steel
baking of bread weaving of cloth and
retiree activity refers to the support
to the primary and secondary sector
through services so most of the jobs
that we do beat in the government sector
or in the private sector or working in
the MNC or working in some kind of
office so these are all support services
so that's why it is called tertiary
activity the third kind of activity so
some of the good examples are transport
trade banking insurance advertising
chakra so agriculture is a primary
activity because to do anything you need
food to win a war you need food you
cannot win a war on empty stomach
therefore agriculture is the primary
activity and in the world 50% of people
are engaged in agriculture activity and
when it comes to India 2/3 of India's
population is still dependent on
agriculture because India is an
aggregate in country so we know that to
have a good agriculture we need
favorable topography which means the
physiography of the place and then the
soil the climate these are all crucial
things for flourishing agricultural
activity so if you look at this world
map it is a world distribution of arable
land the meaning of arable land is which
supports agriculture which is fertile
enough to grow crops so in terms of
primary activity there are five types of
culture when I say culture I mean the
culture related to economic activity so
they are agriculture we have cele
culture we have PC culture we have Vedic
culture and then horticulture
agriculture we have read about it the
cultivation on soil and raising crops
and livestock which is also called
farming and Siddhi culture is so with
the word you can figure out C D that
means silk form so commercial rearing of
silk form and then we have PC culture so
PC so if you see pisces horoscope it is
represented by a fish therefore it means
breeding of fish in a tank or pond this
is called PC culture and then we have
viticulture so pretty you can remember
grapes are grown in vine yard VI ne so V
stands for grave I mean just remember
that way it will be easy to remember and
then we have horticulture so
horticulture is about growing vegetable
flowers and fruit for commercial use so
now we are going to read about farm
system so agriculture or farming is like
a system so when we say system it means
it has inputs it has outputs it has
processes it has a cycle so this is the
meaning of system so for example for
farming
we need seeds fertilizers machinery and
labor so they are nothing but inputs so
if you look at this picture you can see
the input that is required for
agriculture chemicals seeds and
machinery and then you have a process
that means what do we do with the inputs
how do we use it so that is nothing but
blowing sowing and spraying and then
finally we have output that means what
do we gain out of this entire investment
that we did so that is nothing but crops
so if you see some of the output
are from agriculture we get crops from
animal we get wool and we also get dairy
from animal and then poultry from hen
chicken so that was all about the
farming system so now we are going to
read about the types of farming so the
world is big there for farming is
practice in different ways people will
have different ways of producing things
and the reason is because of
geographical condition that is whether
it's a hot place or a cold place then it
is also because of demands of produce
which means population if a country has
more population its demand will be more
compared to countries which have less
population and then labour because not
everything can be done by machines we
also need physical labour so when we say
labour we mean skilled labour whether
they can do a particular farming or not
whether they are expensive or not
because if it is expensive then you
cannot hire more people finally the
level of technology we have the more
advanced technology you have the easier
it is to do a farming or any kind of
activity you produce large quantity in
less time farming can be divided into
two types that is subsistence farming
and commercial farming
the first one is subsistence farming the
meaning of subsistence means where
minimum resources is used that's where
it is also practice to meet the needs of
the farmer's family which means private
farming a better way of understanding
subsistence farming is just try to
imagine that you have some land in your
backyard and whatever that you produce
at the end of the day you only use it to
feed your family members so this is how
you will remember subsistence farming so
it is further divided into two
categories intensive subsistence and
primitive subsistence the meaning of
intensive is high degree of output so
the meaning of intensive subsistence
agriculture is where farmers use their
small land holdings to produce enough
for the local consumption while
remaining produce is used for exchange
against other goods now remember the
farmers over here use very simple tools
to produce the crop now on the other
hand primitive subsistence farming means
it is a form of Agriculture where almost
all the produce goes to feed and support
the household and it is not for sale
that's why the word primitive means
ancient and traditional so with this you
can also figure out that this kind of
farming is mostly practiced by tribal
people and hence shifting cultivation
and nomadic herding is very
famous the meaning of shifting
cultivation is by the name you can
figure out that you shift your
cultivation from land to land so here
what you do is you take the ashes of
burned trees and then you mix it with
the soil and crops after the soil loses
its fertility and you move to a new land
for cultivation this is called shifting
cultivation and it is also known as
slash-and-burn agriculture though this
is a highly inappropriate way of
cultivation because here the land is
abundant as soon as it loses its
fertility so this type of cultivation is
given different names in different parts
of the world in northeastern India we
call it as chumming and in Mexico it's
called Melba in Brazil Roca and in
Malaysia
Ladon on the other hand nomadic herding
means so the word herding it means
animals like camel sheep goat cows and
pneumatics are the people who move from
one place to another in search for food
and shelter so it is usually practiced
in semi-arid areas and added region of
Sahara Central Asia and some parts of
India like Rajasthan and Jammu and
Kashmir so in simple terms it means you
move from one place to another with your
animals for food and water and whatever
that they get from their animals it is
consumed by the herder and their
families commercial farming the meaning
of commercial is trading business
private enterprise so in this type of
forming you grow crops and rare animal
for sale in market because you invest in
terms of capital machinery and human
labour hence the output needs to be sold
in market to unprofitable farming is
practiced in areas of temperate
grasslands of North America Europe and
Asia because if you see these areas are
highly populated with large farms
spreading over hundreds of hectares and
you also have a lot of rivers flowing in
this region and we have read many times
that where there is river there is a
huge civilization and therefore
commercial farming is very famous in
these areas now in commercial farming
you can only grow just crop or you can
do mixed farming wherein you can grow
crop as well as rare livestock that
means reining animals like goat sheep
cow for dairy products milk etc and
mixed farming is practiced in Europe
Eastern USA Argentina South East
Australia New Zealand and South Africa
now let's read about Planet Asians so
this is a type of commercial farming
so if you see tea coffee sugarcane
cashew rubber banana cotton they all are
grown out of a plant and they also have
a lot of market value that's why it is
called commercial farming because you
use it to sell in the market so most of
this is either processed on the farm
itself or you take it to nearby
factories
most of these plantations are found in
the tropical region of the world because
of ample of sunshine rubba is in
Malaysia Coffee is in Brazil tea in
India and Sri Lanka are some examples
now let us read about some of the major
crops the reason they are called major
crops is because they are grown to meet
the requirement of the growing
population some of the major food crops
are wheat rice maize and millets so
remember they are food crops we eat them
jute and cotton of fibre crops we don't
eat them we use them to make some other
products like bags cloth you must have
heard about jute bags cotton clothes
then we have something called beverage
crop that is drinkable like tea and
coffee now let's briefly read about each
of the major crops first is rice it is
the major food crop of the world it is
the staple diet of tropical and
subtropical regions so always remember
Tropic of Cancer divides India into two
parts tropical and subtropical
subtropical is the northern part topical
is this southern part and you know at
least that in India all South Indians
eat a lot of rice and that is the same
with the North Indians as well rice
needs high temperature high humidity and
rainfall and if you see all of this
three is present in this region of the
world and it grows best in alluvial clay
soil which can retain water and if we
see most of the rivers that originate in
India are in the central portion of the
country a little bit above and below the
Deccan Plateau so if you see you have
all the condition that fulfills for rice
production so it is pretty easy to
remember where rice is grown and why so
China leads in the production of rice
followed by India Japan Sri Lanka and
Egypt next one is wheat wheat requires
moderate temperature and rainfall during
growing season and bright sunshine at
the time of harvest again if you notice
all of this condition is present in
India so some of the wheat producing
nations are USA Canada Argentina Russia
Ukraine Australia and India and remember
in India we grow feet at a time of
winter the next one is millet
they are also known as course grains and
can be grown on less fertile and sandy
soils so it is a hardy crop that needs
low rainfall and high to moderate
temperature and adequate rainfall so
jawher bhasi aarya & raggy are grown in
India
other countries are Nigeria China and
Niger oh by the way millets are also
called bara the next crop is maze maze
requires moderate temperature rainfall
and lots of sunshine so all of these
conditions are found in tropical and
subtropical areas again a well-drained
fertile soil is suitable for growing
maize some of the nations that produce
maize are North America Brazil China
Russia Canada India and Mexico the next
crop is cotton cotton requires high
temperature light rainfall and 210
frost-free days
it grows best on black and alluvial soil
China USA India Pakistan Brazil and
Egypt are the leading producers of
cotton it is one of the main raw
materials for the cotton textile
industries next we'll read about some
plantation crops jute it was also known
as the golden fiber it grows well on
Olivia soil it requires high temperature
heavy rainfall and humid climate again
if you notice these are fine qualities
of tropical and subtropical region India
and Bangladesh are the leading producers
of jute the next one is coffee coffee
requires warm and wet climate and
well-drained loamy soil hilly slopes are
more suitable for growth of this crop so
Brazil is the leading producer followed
by Colombia and India and the last type
of plantation crop is tea tea is a
beverage crop grown on plantations at a
Koi school climate and well distributed
high rainfall throughout the year for
the growth of its leaves it needs
well-drained loamy soil and gentle slope
that's why you must have noticed that
tea plantation in India is done on the
slopes of Darjeeling
and you need extensive labor for this
job to pick up the leaves of the tea
Kenya India China Sri Lanka produce the
best quality tea in the world now let's
read about few points regarding
agriculture development since the
population is growing every time to feed
the population we need to increase the
farm production and that can only be
done by the development of Agriculture
there are few ways through which
development can be brought for example
by increasing the land to cultivate more
crops then the number of crops grown can
be increased and we can also improve the
irrigation facilities that the users of
fertilizer and high
variety of seeds and development in
terms of machinery and mechanization can
also help agriculture in long way so
developing nation and developed nation
both have different ways of developing
their agricultural department for
example India is a developing country
and our population is a lot so we
practice mostly intensive agriculture in
intensive agriculture you grow crops on
a small land and mostly for feeding your
household members after that if you have
anything left you go to the market and
sell them but on the other hand
developed nation follow commercial
agriculture where they grow crops on a
larger land here the farmer works like a
businessman and not like a peasant or
farmer now a good example would be
McDonald's and KFC so if you see most of
the farmers in u.s. they supply potatoes
to McDonald's for making their
world-famous fries
similarly chicken tomato egg are also
some of the products that are supplied
directly to the corporations by the
farmers so this is a perfect example of
commercial farming in India mostly you
will see farmers selling those crops
after keeping certain amount for the
families they go on to the nearest
market or mundi to sell their crops and
vegetables and with this we have come to
the end of this chapter we have read
many definitions and topics in this
chapter I hope you were able to
comprehend well as usual if you have any
problem let me know if you like the
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