Food Crops other than grains are-
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Sugarcane
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Oil seeds
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Coffee
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Horticulture crops
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Non-food crops.
SUGARCANE:
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Sugarcane belongs to grass-family and grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
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It is the most irrigated crop of India.
Sugarcane
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It is the sweet juice content which make it an important source of food and raw material.
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It grows well in hot and humid climate with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and an annual rainfall between 75 cm and 100 cm.
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Irrigation is required in the region of low rainfall.
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It can be grown on a variety of soils and need manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
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India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
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The major sugarcane- producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
OIL SEEDS:
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India is the largest producer of oilseeds in the world. Different oil seeds are grown covering approximately 12 per cent of the total cropped area of the country. Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til), soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower. Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums. However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments.
Sunflowers
Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in the country. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of groundnut followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra – linseed and mustard are rabi crops. Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India. Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop.
TEA:
Importance:
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An important beverage crop.
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Classic example of plantation agriculture.
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India is leading producer as well as exporter of tea.
Climatic Conditions:
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Tropical as well as sub-tropical plant requires hot and humid climate.
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Temperature required 200C -300C, annual rainfall 150-300 cm.
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High humidity is good for the crop.
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Grows well in drained soil, requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour.
Major Producing States:
Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura and also tea-producing states in the country.
COFFEE:
Importance:
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Second most important beverage crop.
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Because of good quality is in much demand in the international market.
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Brings handsome amount of foreign exchange.
Coffee
Climatic Conditions:
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Hot and humid climate
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Temperature between 150 – 280C rainfall required 150 – 200 cm.
Major Producing States:
Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu
HORTICULTURE CROPS:
Importance:
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India is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.
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India leads the world in production of Mango and Banana.
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India is the largest exporter of Cashew nut in the world.
Mango:
Most important fruit, grown in almost all parts of the country.
Apple:
Temperate fruit crop, grown in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal.
Banana:
Tropical as well as sub-tropical plant, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are major producer.
Orange:
Produced in Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Grapes:
A subtropical plant, Major producers are Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Vegetables:
India produces about 13 percent of the world's vegetables. It is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato.
NON-FOOD CROPS:
Rubber:
It is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions, it is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas. It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200 cm. and temperature above 25°C. Rubber is an important industrial raw material. It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman and Nicabar islands and Garo hills of Meghalaya. India ranks fifth among the world’s natural rubber producers.
Cotton:
India is believed to be the original home of the cotton plant. Cotton is one of the main raw materials for cotton textile industry. India is the third-largest producer of cotton in the world. Cotton grows well in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. It requires high temperature, light rainfall orirrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine for its growth. It is a kharif crop and requires 6 to 8 months to mature. Major cotton-producing states are – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Jute:
It is known as the golden fibre. Jute grows well on well-drained fertile soils in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year. High temperature is required during the time of growth. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Meghalaya are the major jute producing states. It is used in making gunny bags, mats, ropes, yarn, carpets and other artefacts. Due to its high cost, it is losing market to synthetic fibres and packing materials, particularly the nylon.
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