MAJOR CROPS IN INDIA

Major crops in India can be classified in to two category.

• Food crops         : Rice, Wheat, Maize etc are food crops
• Non Food Crops : Cotton, Rupper, Jute etc comes under the category of non food crops.

FOOD CROPS

Rice : 

• Second largest producer of rice the world after China. 
• Rice is a food crop of majority of people in India. 
• In the areas of less rainfall it grows with the help of irrigation. 
• The crops requires a temperature of about 25 degree and high humidity with annual rainfall of above 100 cm. 
• The field should be in water during growing and dry during harvesting.

Wheat : 

• This crops requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of harvesting.
• 50 to 70 cm rainfall annually
• The crop cultivated mainly in the north and north western part of the country.
• Also there are two zones for the crop (i) The Ganga-Satluj in north (ii) Black soil in the Deccan
• The major Wheat producing state are Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh

Maize : 

• It is a food crop treated both as food and fodder.
• Karnataka, UP, Bihar, Andra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh are the major states producing Maize
• It requires a temperature of 21 to 30 Degree and grows in alluvial soil.
• Production of the crop are increased by the modern input and such as HYV seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.

Millets : 

• Jowar, bajra and ragi are the inmportant millet in India
• These are known as coarse grain having high nutritional value.
• Jowar is a rainfed crop grown in moist areas which hardly needs irrigation. 
• Jowar producing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andrapradesh and Madhyapradesh
• Bajra are grwon in well sandy soil and shallow black soil
• Major bajra producing states are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarath
• Ragi is a crop of dry season and grows well on red,black sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.
• Major ragi producing states are Karanataka, TamilNadu, Homachal Pradesh Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh

Bajra

Ragi

Pulses : 

• India is the largest producer of pulses as well as the consumer of pulses in the world
• Pulses are the main source of proteint in the food
• Major pulses are tur,urad, moong, masur, peas, and gram
• These crop need less moist and survive even in dry condtition
• These are grown in rotation with other crops
• Major pulse producing state are Rajasthan, Madhyapradesh, Uttarpradesh Maharashtra and Karnataka
• These help the soil to keep the fertility and these grown in rotation with other crops

Food crop other than grains

SugarCane :

• It is a tropical as well as subtropical crop 
• It grow well in hot and humid climate with a temperature of 21 degree to 27 degree and annual rainfall of 75 cm to 100 cm
• Irrigation is required for the region of low rainfall
• Major states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar

Oilseed : 

• Approximately 12% of total cropped area of the country cover oilseed
• India is the third largest producer of oilseed in the world after Canada and China
• Main oil seed are Soyabean, Coconut, groundnut, sesamum, sunflower cotton seed and castor seeds
• Some of these are used as raw material in the production of soap, cosmetics and ointments

Tea : 

• This is an example of plantation agriculture
• The crop is introduced by British as beverage crop
• The plant grows in both subtropical and tropical climates endowed with the deep and fertile soil
• The tea is a labour indutry which need skilled labour
• The major states that produce tea are Assam, hills ofDarjeling, Westbengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala

Coffee : 

• Indian coffee is known for its good quality
• Initially its cultivation was introduced in the Baba Budan Hills and later cultivated in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
• The Arabica variety brought from Yemen is produced in the country

HortiCulture Crops :

• India is the producer of tropical as well as temperature fruits
• India produces 13% of world vegitables
• The main fruits are Mangoes, Bananas, Orange, apple, grape, pea cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato, brinjal and potato

NON FOOD CROP

Rubber : 

• It is an equitorial crop but also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas
• It requires moist and humid climate with rainfall of more than 200cm and temperature above 25 degree 
• Rubber is an important industrial raw material
• The crop is grown mainly in Keral, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andman and Nicobar island and Garo hills of Meghalaya

Fibre Crops :

• Cotton, jute hemp and natural silk are the four major crops grown in India
• The silk is obtained from silkworm foe on green leaves specially mulberry
• Thr process of rearing of silkworm for the production of silk fibre is known as sericulture
• The other crop are grown in the soil

Cotton : 

• India is believed to be the original home land of cotton
• Cotton is one of the main raw material for textile industry
• It requires high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, and in drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau
• Maharashtra Gujarath, Madhya Pradesh , Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are the major producers

Jute : 

• Jute grown in drained fertile soil in the flood plains where soils are renewed every year
• High temperature required for the growth
• West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, and Meghalaya and Assam are the major producers of jute
• It is used to make bags, mats, ropes, yarn and other artefacts