The essence of this chapter for last-minute revision: the nine land-use categories, the land-use change figures, Common Property Resources, cropping seasons, the crop tables, the agricultural policy timeline, and the eight problems of Indian agriculture. The full notes, with the complete explanation, are available separately.
1 Five definitions to learn
Reporting area is the area for which land-use data are recorded in the land revenue records; it differs somewhat from the geographical area, which is fixed by the Survey of India’s own measurements.
Cropping Intensity (CI) is the extent to which the net sown area is cropped more than once in an agricultural year. Formula: CI (%) = Gross Cropped Area ÷ Net Sown Area × 100.
Common Property Resources (CPRs) are a community’s natural resources over which every member has the right of access and usage, without anybody having individual property rights, e.g. community forests, pasture lands, village water bodies.
Culturable Wasteland = land left fallow for more than five years. Current Fallow = land left uncultivated for one agricultural year or less. Fallow other than Current Fallow = uncultivated for more than one but less than five years.
Total cultivable land = Net Sown Area + all fallow lands + Culturable Wasteland.
2 The nine land-use categories, and the change 1950-51 to 2019-20
| # | Land-use category | 1950-51 (%) | 2019-20 (%) | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) | Forests | 17.0 | 23.4 | Increased |
| (ii) | Barren and Wastelands | 13.4 | 5.4 | Declined |
| (iii) | Land under Non-agricultural Uses | 3.2 | 9.1 | Increased (fastest rate) |
| (iv) | Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands | 2.3 | 3.4 | Increased |
| (v) | Area under Misc. Tree Crops and Groves | 6.9 | 1.0 | Declined |
| (vi) | Culturable Wasteland | 8.0 | 3.9 | Declined |
| (vii) | Current Fallow | 3.7 | 4.5 | Increased |
| (viii) | Fallow other than Current Fallow | 6.1 | 3.7 | Declined |
| (ix) | Net Area Sown | 41.7 | 45.6 | Increased |
Five increased (forests, non-agricultural uses, permanent pasture, current fallow, net area sown); four declined (barren & wasteland, culturable wasteland, tree crops & groves, fallow other than current). Non-agricultural uses grew at the fastest rate.
3 Total cultivable land: Table 3.1
| Category | % reporting area 1950-51 | % reporting area 2019-20 | % of total cultivable land 1950-51 | % of total cultivable land 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culturable Wasteland | 8.0 | 3.9 | 13.4 | 6.8 |
| Fallow other than Current Fallow | 6.1 | 3.7 | 10.2 | 6.4 |
| Current Fallow | 3.7 | 4.5 | 6.2 | 7.8 |
| Net Area Sown | 41.7 | 45.6 | 70.0 | 79.0 |
| Total Cultivable Land | 59.5 | 57.7 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
4 Cropping seasons: Table 3.2
| Season | Period | Northern States | Southern States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kharif | June-September | Rice, Cotton, Bajra, Maize, Jowar, Tur | Rice, Maize, Ragi, Jowar, Groundnut |
| Rabi | October-March | Wheat, Gram, Rapeseeds and Mustard, Barley | Rice, Maize, Ragi, Groundnut, Jowar |
| Zaid | April-June | Vegetables, Fruits, Fodder | Rice, Vegetables, Fodder |
Southern India has no such three-fold distinction: temperatures stay high enough to grow the same crop up to thrice a year, given sufficient soil moisture.
5 Types of farming, in one table
| Basis | Type | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Irrigated | Protective | Supplements rainfall over the maximum possible area; low water input/unit area |
| Productive | High water input/unit area, for high productivity | |
| Rainfed (barani) | Dryland | Rainfall < 75 cm; hardy crops: ragi, bajra, moong, gram, guar |
| Wetland | Rainfall exceeds requirement; flood/erosion risk; rice, jute, sugarcane, aquaculture |
6 Crop facts, in one table
| Crop | % of cropped area | World rank / share | Leading states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice | ~25% | 2nd after China, 22.07% (2018) | West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab |
| Wheat | ~14% | 12.8% of world (2017) | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan |
| Jowar | ~5.3% | n/a | Maharashtra (>half), Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
| Bajra | ~5.2% | n/a | Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana |
| Maize | ~3.6% | n/a | Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana |
| Gram | ~2.8% | n/a | Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan |
| Tur (Arhar) | ~2% | n/a | Maharashtra (~1/3), Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh |
| Groundnut | ~3.6% | 18.8% of world (2018) | Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra |
| Rapeseed & Mustard | ~2.5% | n/a | Rajasthan (~1/3), Haryana, Madhya Pradesh |
| Cotton | ~4.7% | 2nd after China | Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana (areas: Punjab, Haryana and northern Rajasthan in the north-west; Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west; plateaus of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the south) |
| Jute | ~0.5% | ~60% (3/5) of world | West Bengal (~3/4), Bihar, Assam |
| Sugarcane | ~2.4% | 2nd after Brazil, 19.7% of world (2018) | Uttar Pradesh (~2/5), Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
| Tea | Assam has ~53.2% of tea area | 21.22% of world (2018), 2nd exporter after China | Assam (>half), West Bengal, Tamil Nadu |
| Coffee | n/a | 3.17% of world, rank 8 | Karnataka (>2/3), Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
Foodgrains occupy about two-thirds of total cropped area; cereals alone about 54% (India ranks 3rd in world cereal production, after China and the U.S.A.); pulses about 11%; oilseeds about 14%.
Yields (book): rice high in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, AP, Telangana, West Bengal, Kerala, very low in rainfed MP, Chhattisgarh, Odisha · wheat above 4,000 kg/ha in Punjab and Haryana, moderate in UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, low in rainfed MP, HP, J&K (85% of wheat area: Indo-Gangetic Plain, Malwa, Himalayas up to 2,700 m) · coarse cereals ~16.5% of cropped area · cotton high under irrigation in the NW, very low in rainfed Maharashtra · sugarcane high in Maharashtra, Karnataka, TN, AP, low in the north.
Map work (CBSE 2026-27): leading producing states to mark on an outline map of India
| Crop | States to shade and label |
|---|---|
| Rice | West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab |
| Wheat | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan |
| Cotton | Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana |
| Jute | West Bengal, Bihar, Assam |
| Sugarcane | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
| Tea | Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu |
| Coffee | Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
7 Agricultural development timeline
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| Pre-Independence | Largely subsistence economy; severe droughts and famines |
| Partition | About one-third of undivided India’s irrigated land went to Pakistan |
| Post-Independence goals | Cash → food crops; intensify cropping; bring fallow land under plough |
| Late 1950s | Production stagnated → IADP and IAAP launched |
| Mid-1960s | Two consecutive droughts → food crisis, imports; HYVs of wheat (Mexico) and rice (Philippines) available |
| Green Revolution | HYVs + chemical fertilisers, irrigated Punjab, Haryana, W. Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat; confined to irrigated areas till 1970s, then spread East & Central India |
| 1980s | Planning Commission focuses on rainfed-area problems; diversification (dairy, poultry, horticulture, livestock, aquaculture) |
| 1988 | Agro-climatic planning initiated for regionally balanced development |
| 1990s | Liberalisation and free-market policy |
| Recent | National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA); organic farming via Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and Rashtriya Vikas Yojana (RKVY) |
Growth in the last 50 years: rice and wheat production/yield rose impressively; irrigation expansion was crucial; chemical fertiliser use up 15 times since the mid-1960s; pesticide use up since the 1960s.
8 Eight problems of Indian agriculture
- Dependence on erratic monsoon: irrigation covers only ~33% of cultivated area; 2006 & 2017 flash floods in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
- Low productivity: yields far below USA, Russia, Japan; lowest in rainfed drylands
- Financial constraints and indebtedness: expensive inputs; borrowing from moneylenders; debt trap
- Lack of land reforms: British-era Mahalwari, Ryotwari, Zamindari systems (Zamindari most exploitative); weak implementation post-Independence
- Small farm size and fragmentation: shrinking holdings; many states never consolidated even once
- Lack of commercialisation: many small/marginal farmers grow only for self-consumption
- Vast underemployment: seasonal unemployment 4-8 months in unirrigated tracts
- Degradation of cultivable land: alkalisation, salinisation, waterlogging; excess pesticide use; disrupted nitrogen fixation; water/wind erosion
A platform giving farmers information on insurance, storage, crops, extension, seeds, pesticides, machinery, market prices and schemes, with an interactive map and downloadable handbooks.
- Nine land-use categories; reporting area ≠ geographical area (Survey of India measures the latter)
- 1950-51 → 2019-20: 5 categories up (forests, non-agri, pasture, current fallow, net sown), 4 down (barren & waste, culturable waste, tree crops & groves, fallow-other)
- Cropping Intensity = GCA ÷ NSA × 100
- Kharif (Jun-Sep) · Rabi (Oct-Mar) · Zaid (Apr-Jun); no such split in southern India
- Dryland farming: rainfall < 75 cm
- Foodgrains ~2/3 of cropped area · cereals ~54% · pulses ~11% · oilseeds ~14%
- Rice ~25% area, 22.07% world share · Wheat ~14% area, 12.8% world share
- Cotton rank 2 (after China) · Sugarcane rank 2 (after Brazil) · Tea 21.22% of world, rank 2 exporter
- Green Revolution: HYVs (Mexico wheat, Philippines rice) + chemical fertilisers, mid-1960s
- Chemical fertiliser use up 15 times since mid-1960s · irrigation covers ~33% of cultivated area
- 8 problems: monsoon dependence, low productivity, indebtedness, land reforms, farm fragmentation, commercialisation, underemployment, land degradation