Social Science - Geography - Agriculture Question and Answer | EP 1 of 2 | (Class 8 Class 9 Class10)

Agriculture Question and Answer | EP 1 of 2

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Question 1. Why is India called an agriculturally important country? Write four supportive arguments.

Answer: India is an agricultural country because of the following reasons:

Employment, Food Security, Raw Material & Export.

Employment: Two-third of its population is engaged in agricultural activities which provide livelihood. The share of agriculture in providing employment and livelihood to the population continued to be as high as 63% in 2001.

Food Security: Agriculture is a primary activity and produces most of the food and food grains that we consume.

Raw Material: It produces raw materials for our various industries, e.g., cotton textile and sugar industry.

Export: Some agricultural products, like tea, coffee and spices, are exported and earn foreign exchange.

Question 2. Why do farming practices vary in different regions? Give three major reasons.

Answer: Different crops are grown in different regions because of various factors like:

• Physical Environment – terrain, type of soil, availability of water & sunlight,

• Demand of produce, labour and level of technology.

• Socio-cultural practices.

Question 3. Name some industries based on agricultural raw material.

Answer: Textile Industry depends upon Cotton cultivation and Sugar Industry depend upon sugarcane cultivation.

Question 4. What factors does primitive subsistence farming depend on?

Answer: Depending factors are:

• Monsoon – availability of water

• Natural fertility of the soil

• Availability of enough hours of Sunlight

Question 5. Q1. Write main characteristics of ‘slash and burn’ agriculture.

Answer: Farmers clear a patch of land by cutting down the bushes & trees and then burn it and then farm on it to produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their families.

This type of farming is practiced in few pockets of India on small patches of land using primitive tools and family/community labour.

As the trees are cut down and the ground is burned the soil fertility decreases, the farmers move on to a fresh patch of land for cultivation. The period of rest for the used patch allows nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural process.

Land productivity is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers...