Agriculture: Cropping Patterns, Irrigation, Storage, Transport, Marketing and E-Technology

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies III.

• Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, - different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Topics in detail

Major crops and cropping patterns

• Cropping seasons: kharif, rabi and zaid; their sowing and harvesting periods
• Food grains: rice, wheat, coarse cereals (millets such as jowar, bajra, ragi) and pulses; the main producing regions
• Commercial crops: sugarcane, cotton, jute, oilseeds; plantation crops: tea, coffee, rubber, spices
• Horticulture: fruits, vegetables, flowers; its growing share in farm output
• Factors that shape cropping patterns: climate, soil, irrigation, prices, technology, government policy
• Cropping systems: monocropping, mixed cropping, intercropping, crop rotation, multiple cropping; cropping intensity
• Regional patterns: rice-wheat system of the north-west, rainfed farming in central and peninsular India, plantation agriculture in the south and north-east
• Agro-climatic zones and agricultural planning
• Millets and nutri-cereals: drought tolerance, nutrition, their place in rainfed systems
• Organic and natural farming, zero-budget approaches, integrated farming systems
• Climate change and agriculture: heat stress, erratic monsoon, climate-resilient varieties
• Issues: overuse of water and fertilisers in the Green Revolution belt, declining soil health, stagnant yields of pulses and oilseeds, crop diversification

Irrigation

• Sources of irrigation: canals, tanks, wells and tubewells; their regional spread
• Major, medium and minor irrigation projects; command area development
• Micro-irrigation: drip and sprinkler systems; water-use efficiency ('more crop per drop')
• Watershed development and rainwater harvesting in rainfed areas
• Groundwater depletion, free or flat-rate power for pumps, and their effect on water tables
• Inter-state river water issues and the idea of river interlinking
• Irrigation and soil problems: waterlogging and salinity

Storage, transport and marketing

• Post-harvest losses and their causes
• Storage: godowns, warehouses, cold storage, silos; warehouse receipts as collateral
• Transport of farm produce: rural roads, rail, refrigerated transport, the cold chain
• Agricultural marketing: regulated markets under state Agricultural Produce Market Committee laws; commission agents; market fees
• Reforms in marketing: model marketing acts, private markets, direct marketing, contract farming
• Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) for online trading across mandis
• Farmer Producer Organisations and cooperatives for collective marketing
• Constraints: small and fragmented holdings, distress sales, price volatility, lack of market information, intermediaries

E-technology in the aid of farmers

• Information services: Kisan Call Centres, mobile-based advisories on weather, prices and pests
• Soil Health Cards and soil testing
• Remote sensing and geographic information systems for crop estimation and drought assessment
• Precision farming, drones for spraying and surveying, sensors and the Internet of Things
• Digital land records and digital crop surveys
• Online credit, insurance and payment platforms for farmers
• Issues: the digital divide, connectivity, digital literacy, data ownership

Overlaps

The distribution of crops and the factors behind it are also part of world and Indian geography in General Studies I; farm subsidies and prices are on the next page.