Geography
Indian Agriculture
Indian Agriculture — Quick Revision
One-page CGPSC quick revision for Indian Agriculture: seasons, crop conditions and leading states, irrigation sources and dams, Green Revolution dates.
Seasons, crops, irrigation and the Green Revolution on one page. For explanations, go back to the chapter; for the Chhattisgarh side, see the Chhattisgarh agriculture quick revision.
How to use this sheet
Scan it top to bottom in the week before Prelims. Bold entries are the facts examiners return to most often. Leading-state rankings that change from year to year carry their year.
Headline Numbers (dated)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Foodgrains 2024-25 | 357.73 MT (record; final estimates) |
| Rice / wheat 2024-25 | 150.18 MT / 117.94 MT |
| Pulses / coarse cereals 2024-25 | 25.68 MT / 63.92 MT |
| Foodgrains 1950-51 | About 51 MT |
| World rank | 1st in rice (2024-25 estimates), pulses, millets, jute, milk; 2nd in wheat, tea, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables |
| Net sown area | About 140 million ha (early 2020s) |
| Irrigated share | A little over half of net sown area (about 52% in 2022-23, NITI Aayog) |
Cropping Seasons
| Season | Sowing | Harvest | Crops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kharif | June–July | Sept–Oct | Rice, maize, jowar, bajra, ragi, arhar, moong, urad, cotton, jute, soybean, groundnut |
| Rabi | Oct–Dec | Apr–Jun | Wheat, barley, gram, peas, lentil, mustard, linseed |
| Zaid | Summer, between rabi and kharif | Before monsoon | Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder |
| Concept | Key point |
|---|---|
| Aus–Aman–Boro | Three paddy crops of Assam, West Bengal, Odisha |
| Western disturbances | Winter rain helps rabi wheat |
| Cropping intensity | GCA ÷ NSA × 100; never below 100% |
| Fallow | Current ≤ 1 yr; other 1–5 yr; culturable waste > 5 yr |
| Relay cropping | Sowing into standing crop (utera in Chhattisgarh) |
| Mixed vs intercropping | No row pattern vs fixed row ratio |
| Shifting cultivation (NCERT) | Jhum NE; Pamlou Manipur; Dipa Bastar; Bewar/Dahiya MP; Podu/Penda AP; Kumari W. Ghats; Valre/Waltre SE Rajasthan; Khil Himalaya; Kuruwa Jharkhand |
| Agro-climatic regions | 15 (Planning Commission, 1989); 127 zones (ICAR NARP); CG in Region VII, Eastern Plateau and Hills |
Crops: Conditions and Leaders
| Crop | Key condition | Leading state |
|---|---|---|
| Rice | > 25°C, > 100 cm rain | Telangana (2023-24); West Bengal in most earlier years |
| Wheat | 50–75 cm, sunshine at ripening | Uttar Pradesh |
| Jowar / Bajra / Ragi | Dry; bajra on sandy soil | Maharashtra / Rajasthan / Karnataka |
| Maize | 21–27°C, old alluvium; rabi in Bihar | Karnataka (2023-24) |
| Pulses | Nitrogen-fixing legumes | Madhya Pradesh (2023-24) |
| Groundnut / Mustard / Soybean | Kharif / rabi / kharif | Gujarat / Rajasthan / MP and Maharashtra |
| Sugarcane | 21–27°C, 75–100 cm, about a year | Uttar Pradesh (cane) |
| Cotton | Black soil, 210 frost-free days, light rain | Gujarat (2023-24); Maharashtra largest area |
| Jute | Flood-plain soils | West Bengal |
| Tea | Frost-free, well-drained slopes | Assam |
| Coffee | Shade, Baba Budan hills | Karnataka |
| Rubber | > 200 cm, > 25°C | Kerala |
Irrigation
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Largest source | Tube wells and wells, about three-fifths of net irrigated area |
| Canals | About a quarter; northern plains and east-coast deltas |
| Tanks | Peninsula (TN, Karnataka, Telangana, AP); small share |
| Project classes (CCA) | Major > 10,000 ha; Medium 2,000–10,000; Minor < 2,000 |
| Tehri | Bhagirathi, Uttarakhand; highest dam (260.5 m) |
| Bhakra | Sutlej, HP; about 226 m, second-highest; Gobind Sagar |
| Hirakud | Mahanadi, Odisha; longest dam (about 25.8 km with dykes) |
| DVC | Damodar; 1948; TVA model |
| Sardar Sarovar | Narmada, Gujarat; dedicated 2017 |
| Indira Gandhi Canal | Harike barrage (Sutlej–Beas) → Rajasthan |
| Nagarjuna Sagar | Krishna, Telangana–AP |
| AIBP | 1996-97 |
| PMKSY | 1 July 2015; Har Khet Ko Pani, Per Drop More Crop; extended 2021-26 (₹93,068 crore) |
| Atal Bhujal | 25 Dec 2019; groundwater; 7 states |
| River linking | NPP 1980; NWDA 1982; 30 links (14 Himalayan, 16 peninsular); Ken–Betwa first (foundation 25 Dec 2024) |
Green Revolution
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| IADP | 1960-61; 7 districts incl. Raipur, Ludhiana, West Godavari, Tanjore, Shahabad, Aligarh, Pali |
| IAAP | 1964-65 |
| HYVP | Kharif 1966 |
| Term | William Gaud, 1968 |
| Seeds | Wheat: Lerma Rojo 64-A, Sonora 64 (Mexico); Rice: Taichung Native-1, IR-8 (IRRI) |
| Borlaug | Nobel Peace Prize 1970 |
| Swaminathan | Father of GR in India; Evergreen Revolution; Bharat Ratna 2024 |
| C. Subramaniam | Agriculture Minister 1964–67 |
| Core region | Punjab, Haryana, western UP |
| BGREI | 2010-11; Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, eastern UP, West Bengal |
| White Revolution | Operation Flood 1970; Verghese Kurien |
| Yellow Revolution | Technology Mission on Oilseeds 1986 |
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Tehri: highest | vs | Hirakud: longest |
| “Rice Bowl” (Chhattisgarh, share of area) | vs | Largest rice producer (Telangana 2023-24) |
| UP: most sugarcane | vs | Maharashtra: often most sugar |
| Maharashtra: largest cotton area | vs | Gujarat: largest cotton production (2023-24) |
| IADP 1960 (pilot package) | vs | HYVP 1966 (actual revolution) |
| Relay cropping (into standing crop) | vs | Sequential cropping (after harvest) |
| Atal Bhujal (groundwater) | vs | Jal Jeevan Mission (household tap water) |
Favourite MCQ traps
- Canals are no longer the largest irrigation source; groundwater is.
- Mustard and gram are rabi; soybean and groundnut are kharif.
- Bhakra is second-highest, not highest.
- Borlaug’s Nobel was for Peace.
- Raipur was an IADP district; Chhattisgarh is a BGREI state.
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