Answer the following questions.
(i) What is agriculture?
(ii) Name the factors influencing agriculture?
(iii)What is shifting cultivation? What are its disadvantages?
(i) What is plantation agriculture?
(v) Name the fibre crops and name the climatic conditions required for their
growth.
Answers
Answer: 1. the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.
2. Climate, land relief, soil and vegetation are the main factors which influence agricultural activity. The growth of plants depends on the temperature and humidity of the land and the amount of light it receives.
3. Shifting cultivation is generally practiced in the thickly forested areas. These are the areas of heavy rainfall and quick regeneration of vegetation. A plot of land is cleared by cutting the trees and burning them. The ashes are then mixed with the soil. After the soil loses its fertility, the land is abandoned and the cultivator moves to a new plot.
The major disadvantage of Shifting Cultivation is that many trees in the forest are cut and this increases soil infertility and leads to soil erosion.
4. Plantation agriculture is a type of commercial farming in which a single crop is grown for the entire year. The crop production may be further processed on the farm itself where it is grown or in nearby factories or small scale industries.
5. Fibre crops are crops which are grown for their fibers, which are used to make paper, cloth, or rope. Cotton and jute are Fibre crops.
Cotton requires high temperature, light rainfall, two hundred and ten frost-free days and bright sunshine for its growth. It grows best on black and alluvial soils.
Jute was also known as the ‘Golden Fibre’. It grows well on alluvial soil and requires high temperature, heavy rainfall and humid climate. This crop is grown in the tropical areas