India is an agriculturally important country, where nearly two-thirds of the population is engaged in farming. Agriculture is a primary economic activity, meaning people perform it to earn a living. It provides most of the food we consume and also supplies raw materials such as cotton and jute to many industries.

This chapter explains:

• Why agriculture is important

• Types of farming practiced in India

• Major crops

• Why agricultural reforms are needed

• Concepts like Bhoodan–Gramdan (mentioned later in the chapter)

What is Agriculture?

Agriculture falls under the primary sector, which includes activities that directly use natural resources. In India, a very large population depends on farming, but many farmers are not able to earn enough profit due to several challenges. Since so many people rely on it, improving agriculture becomes essential.

Agriculture not only produces food grains but also raw materials for industries—like cotton for textile mills and jute for jute industries.

Types of Farming in India

Farming is broadly done for two purposes:

1. Subsistence farming – to sustain one’s own family or basic livelihood

2. Commercial farming – to sell produce in the market for profit

Subsistence farming is further divided into:

1. Primitive Subsistence Farming

2. Intensive Subsistence Farming

Commercial farming includes plantation agriculture, which is covered later in the chapter.

1. Primitive Subsistence Farming

Primitive means old or traditional, and subsistence means farming for basic survival. Important features:

• Practised on small patches of land

• Uses simple and primitive tools such as hoe, dao, digging stick

• Relies on family or community labour, not hired labour

• Depends entirely on natural factors – natural soil fertility, monsoon rainfall, and local environmental conditions

• Very low investment, as no modern inputs or irrigation systems are used

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture (Shifting Cultivation)

This is a sub-type of primitive subsistence farming.

Process:

1. A patch of land with trees is selected.

2. Trees are cut (slash) and burnt.

3. The ash formed is mixed with the soil, which acts as a natural fertiliser.

4. Crops are grown until soil fertility declines.

5. Farmers move to another patch and repeat the cycle.
   
   

This is why it is called both Slash and Burn Agriculture and Shifting Cultivation.

Different Names of Slash-and-Burn Farming

In India

• Jhumming – Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland (Northeast)

• Pamlou – Manipur

• Dipa – Bastar district (Chhattisgarh) & Andaman–Nicobar

• Bewar / Bewada / Dahiya – Madhya Pradesh

• Podu / Penda – Andhra Pradesh

• Pama Dabi / Koman / Bringa – Odisha

• Kumari – Western Ghats

• Valre / Waltre – Southeastern Rajasthan

• Khil – Himalayan region

• Kuruba – Jharkhand
  
  

Outside India

• Milpa – Mexico & Central America

• Conuco – Venezuela

• Roca – Brazil

• Masole – Central Africa

• Ladang – Indonesia

• Ray – Vietnam

2. Intensive Subsistence Farming

This type is practiced in areas with high population pressure on land.

Key characteristics:

• Very labour-intensive because many people depend on small plots

• High use of biochemical inputs like chemical fertilisers and pesticides
  
  

• High use of irrigation

• Farmers try to obtain maximum output from very small landholdings
  
  

Reason for Small Landholdings

Due to the right of inheritance, land keeps getting divided among successive generations. Over time, plots become very small, but entire families still depend on them. This creates pressure to overuse the land and extract maximum productivity.

This completes the transcript-based explanation of:

• Why agriculture is important

• Types of farming

• Primitive & Intensive Subsistence Farming

• Slash-and-Burn cultivation and its various names