why agriculture is the most important economic activity in Asia?
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Throughout history, agriculture has played a central role in the economies of South Asian countries. Over two-thirds of the population still depends on it for a living, and it accounts for nearly one-third of the region’s exports. Such major problems as food shortages, rural unemployment, and social, economic and political discontent are directly related to the agricultural systems.
In statistical terms, the region occupies a major position in the world in several agricultural commodities, with India logically contributing a large share. India is a major producer of food grains in the world; third in wheat production, second in rice and millets; and first in the production of tea, jute (used as a fiber), pluses (beans, peas), and peanuts; and holds an important position in the production of such commercial crops as spices, bananas, tobacco, oil seeds, and cotton.
It also has the world’s largest cattle population. Pakistan is another important producer of wheat, cotton, and millets. Bangladesh is significant for jute and rice; while Sri Lanka is a major producer of several commercial crops, notably tea, coconuts and rubber.
India-Crop Regions
In 1966, first India and later Pakistan introduced the newly developed high- yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Dwarf strains of these crops were introduced in areas of favorable environment in parts of the northern plains of India and Pakistan. Initial results were truly dramatic, production registering growth rates of over 20 percent annually between 1966 and 1971.
These measures ushered in the so-called “Green Revolution.” By the early 1970s more than a third of the wheat planted and half the wheat harvested were from the new varieties. During the next decade three- fourths of the wheat and nearly half the rice produced in India were of high-yielding varieties, and nearly 80 percent of these were grown in Punjab, Haryana, and west Uttar Pradesh in the northern Indian plain and in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.
Grain crops almost always form the basis of national diets and they support a vast majority of the people. The favored grains have been rice and wheat, with sorghum, millets, barley and maize as secondary food crops. Rice is the leading crop in all countries except in Pakistan, where wheat enjoys by far the most commanding position.
Although rice production there substantially increased during the 1980s, the Ganga delta and the coastal lowlands with high temperatures and ample rainfall 40 to 60 inches (1,000- 1,500 millimeters) during the growing season, and conditions of clayey loam soils form an ideal environment for rice growth. In areas where rainfall is less than 1,500 millimeters annually, rice is raised with the help of irrigation, as in parts of peninsular India, the middle Ganga plain and Pakistan (where it assumes a secondary position).
In the late 1960s, “the Green Revolution” took hold in northwest India and the adjacent areas of Pakistan, as also in lesser measure in Sri Lanka. Under government patronage, the progressive farmers of this region took to newer, high-yielding varieties of grain crops introduced by the Green Revolution. As a result, production of these crops increased substantially.
In statistical terms, the region occupies a major position in the world in several agricultural commodities, with India logically contributing a large share. India is a major producer of food grains in the world; third in wheat production, second in rice and millets; and first in the production of tea, jute (used as a fiber), pluses (beans, peas), and peanuts; and holds an important position in the production of such commercial crops as spices, bananas, tobacco, oil seeds, and cotton.
It also has the world’s largest cattle population. Pakistan is another important producer of wheat, cotton, and millets. Bangladesh is significant for jute and rice; while Sri Lanka is a major producer of several commercial crops, notably tea, coconuts and rubber.
India-Crop Regions
In 1966, first India and later Pakistan introduced the newly developed high- yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Dwarf strains of these crops were introduced in areas of favorable environment in parts of the northern plains of India and Pakistan. Initial results were truly dramatic, production registering growth rates of over 20 percent annually between 1966 and 1971.
These measures ushered in the so-called “Green Revolution.” By the early 1970s more than a third of the wheat planted and half the wheat harvested were from the new varieties. During the next decade three- fourths of the wheat and nearly half the rice produced in India were of high-yielding varieties, and nearly 80 percent of these were grown in Punjab, Haryana, and west Uttar Pradesh in the northern Indian plain and in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.
Grain crops almost always form the basis of national diets and they support a vast majority of the people. The favored grains have been rice and wheat, with sorghum, millets, barley and maize as secondary food crops. Rice is the leading crop in all countries except in Pakistan, where wheat enjoys by far the most commanding position.
Although rice production there substantially increased during the 1980s, the Ganga delta and the coastal lowlands with high temperatures and ample rainfall 40 to 60 inches (1,000- 1,500 millimeters) during the growing season, and conditions of clayey loam soils form an ideal environment for rice growth. In areas where rainfall is less than 1,500 millimeters annually, rice is raised with the help of irrigation, as in parts of peninsular India, the middle Ganga plain and Pakistan (where it assumes a secondary position).
In the late 1960s, “the Green Revolution” took hold in northwest India and the adjacent areas of Pakistan, as also in lesser measure in Sri Lanka. Under government patronage, the progressive farmers of this region took to newer, high-yielding varieties of grain crops introduced by the Green Revolution. As a result, production of these crops increased substantially.
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