INDIA - ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

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INDIA - ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Southwest Monsoon started on June 1st

itself. Farmers are happy. Paddy fields arefilled with water. Farmers are excited inplanting the saplings of paddy. Weeding,applying fertilizers and sprayingpesticides are the works to be done. In allthe states of India except Kerala, other thanpaddy, maize, ragi, groundnut and milletare cultivated during this season whichextends up to September.

With the beginning of the apparentmovement of the sun towards south thetemperatures start to dip in North India.Farmers cultivate wheat in the Indus-Ganga Plains during this period. Inaddition to wheat, groundnut, barley,mustard, sesame etc are also cultivated inNorth India. In the South Indian States itis the time for the cultivation of secondcrop of paddy, which extends up to thebeginning of summer. In addition to thismaize, groundnut, ragi, millet etc are alsocultivated here.

By the month of March farmers cultivatedifferent types of vegetables in the SouthIndian States. Various types of fruits arealso cultivated along with vegetables inthe North Indian States. These crops areall harvested before the monsoon rains.

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• What are the crops mentioned in theabove statements?

• Are all the crops cultivated during thesame period?

• Which are the months in which theabove mentioned crops are cultivated?

You must have understood from theinferences you have arrived at, that thereare various agricultural seasons in India.Diverse types of crops that are cultivatedall over the world are also cultivated inIndia. But it is not possible to cultivate allthe crops in all the seasons.

Agricultural Seasons• The period when the cultivation is

started by the beginning of monsoonsand harvested by the end of monsoonsis known as 'Kharif Season'.

• The period when the cultivation isstarted by the beginning of winterseason and harvested by the beginningof summer is the 'Rabi Season'.

• The period when the cultivation isstarted by the beginning of summerand harvested by the beginning ofmonsoons is known as 'Zaid Season'.

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5Let us examine the crops cultivated inIndia during these three seasons.

Food CropsAll the crop lands in India have commoncharacteristics. Broad paddy fields, theboundary demarcating these fields,flooded paddy fields, tripods made ofbamboo to harvest the paddy spikes,processes to remove the chaff from thepaddy.………..all are the characteristicsof the places where paddy is cultivated.More than half of the population of Indiauses rice as their major source of food.After China, India is the leading producerof rice in the world. About 23% of the totalcultivated area in India is used for thecultivation of rice.

Rice is a tropical crop that requires hightemperature and high humidity. Placeshaving a mean monthly temperature of24°C and an annual rainfall of 150 cm aresuitable for rice cultivation. Since itrequires such high amount of rainfall, it ismainly cultivated during the months fromJune to September. Rice is also cultivatedin places with less rainfall with the helpof irrigation. Rice is widely cultivated in

Himalayan valleys and the slopes of hillsof North-East India. Here rice is cultivatedin terraced fields. Planting of saplings,weeding, manuring, etc are the processeshighly essential for the cultivation ofpaddy. More attention and labour offarmers is required right from the periodof planting to harvesting. Paddy is mainlycultivated in the States of West Bengal,Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Kerala.

Observe the picture 5.1. Areas of paddycultivation are illustrated there. Comparethis with the map showing the distributionof rainfall. Can you find out the areaswhich are more dependent on irrigationfor the cultivation?

Of the total cropped area in India, wheatis the food crop having the secondposition after rice, in terms of its area

Wheat

places having fertile clayey soils andalluvial soils of flood plains. In additionto this rice is also cultivated in the

Paddy Cultivation in Terraces

under cultivation. An averagetemperature of 10°C during planting and15°C to 20°C during the harvesting isessential for wheat cultivation. Wheat ismainly cultivated in areas which have anannual rainfall of 50-70 cm. It is mainlycultivated during the rabi season when thetemperature and the rainfall are less.Wheat can be cultivated in areas whererainfall is even less than 20 cm if irrigationis provided. Well drained and fertile soilis suitable for wheat cultivation. Since the

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Figure - 5.1

post-harvest work is comparatively lessthan that of paddy, the number oflabourers required for wheat cultivationis less. Wheat is mainly cultivated in the

Indus-Ganga Plains and in the MalwaPlateau region. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradeshare the major producers of wheat in India.

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Figure - 5.2

Fig.5.2 shows the areas under wheatcultivation. Compare this with the mapshowing rainfall distribution.

Why is wheat not cultivated in Kerala?Discuss.

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5Of the totalc r o p p e darea inIndia, maizeis the foodcrop havingthe thirdposition in

terms of its area under cultivation. ThePortuguese are the first to bring maize toIndia in the 17th century. A temperatureof 20°C to 25°C during summer and 8°Cto 15°C during winter is essential formaize. It is mainly cultivated in areaswhich receive an average annual rainfallof 75 cm. Even though maize can becultivated in different types of soils, welldrained and fertile soils are more suitablefor maize cultivation. It is mainlycultivated in Madhya Pradesh, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and UttarPradesh.

Even though the above mentioned cropsare cultivated as main food crops, jowar,bajra, ragi, barley etc are also cultivatedin India.

Cash Crops

during the period from its planting toharvesting. Cotton is cultivated in areasof less rainfall with the help of irrigation.The black cotton soils of Deccan plateauand the alluvial soils of Great Plains aresuitable for cotton cultivation. It is mainlycultivated in Maharashtra, Gujarat,Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Cotton is the basic raw material for thecotton textile industry. Since it is widelyused all over the world in the textileindustry, cotton is known as 'UniversalFibre'. India has the 4th place in theproduction of cotton.

Observe Fig. 5.3. Major Cotton producingregions are shown shaded in the map.

Hot and humid climate is highly essentialfor jute. This crop is mainly cultivated inplaces with high humidity wheretemperature ranges from 24°C to 35°C.More than 150 cm of annual rainfall is

Jute

Cotton

Maize

essential for this crop. Well drainedalluvial soil is highly suitable for jutecultivation. Ganga-Brahmaputra delta inWest Bengal is the major jute producingregion in India. Jute is the basic rawmaterial for jute industry. Jute fibre andjute products are comparatively lesscostly.

Observe Fig. 5.4. Major Jute producingregions are shown shaded in the map.

Cotton, a tropical crop, requires 20°C to30°C temperature and 65-85 cm of rainfall.It requires at least 200 frost free days

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Compared to other crops sugarcane has a longer periodof growth. Sugarcane ripens in 10-12 months. Hot andhumid climate is suitable for sugarcane cultivation. Atemperature of 20°Cto 30°C is essential for this crop. It ismainly cultivated in areas which receive an annual rainfallof 100-150cm. It can also be cultivated in less rainfall areasif irrigation facilities are provided. Sugarcane is widelycultivated in the Great Plains and in the black cotton soilsSugarcane

Figure - 5.3

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of Deccan plateau. India has the secondposition in the production of sugarcane.India is known as the birth place ofsugarcane. Sugar is produced fromsugarcane in India. Jaggerry is anotherproduct made from sugarcane juice. Thejuice is to be extracted immediately afterthe harvest of sugarcane. Otherwise thequantity of the juice and the amount of

sucrose in the juice will be less. ObserveFig. 5.5. Major sugarcane producingregions are shown shaded in the map.Places marked as '.' in the maps show thedistribution of cotton, jute and sugarcane,and the areas represented by dot symbolsare their respective industrial areas. Whyare these industries concentrated in theirrespective producing centres? Discuss.

Figure - 5.4

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Figure - 5.5

Plantation CropsCommercial tea plantations were startedin West Bengal and Assam in 1840.

Hill slopes having temperatures rangingfrom 25°C to 30°C are suitable for tea

cultivation. An annual rainfall of 200-250cm is desirable for the cultivation of thiscrop. Tea is widely cultivated in welldrained soils rich in humus content. Itrequires a lot of labor for the cultivationof tea. India is the leading producer of tea

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5Dry climate with temperature rangingfrom 15°C to 25°C till the coffee beans areripe, is essential for coffee cultivation. Itis cultivated on hill slopes above 800-1000m altitude with an annual rainfall of over150 cm. Well drained forest soil is suitablefor coffee cultivation. Coffee is mainlycultivated in Karnataka, Kerala and TamilNadu.

Rubber was fist cultivated as a plantationcrop on the hill slopes of CentralTravancore in 1895. Rubber cultivation

in the world. Tea is mainly cultivated inthe States of West Bengal, Assam, Keralaand Tamil Nadu.

Coffee was cultivated for the first time inthe hills slopes of Chickmagalore inKarnataka. Even though coffee cultivationprospered there, efforts to cultivate it inother parts of India did not materialize.Consequently, the cultivation startedspreading to the neighbouring hills andon the hill slopes of neighbouring states.Later these hills in Karnataka came to beknown as 'Baba Budan Hills'.

was spread to Malabar by the immigrantsfrom Central Travancore.

Even though it requires a temperatureranging from 25°C to 35°C, rubber iswidely cultivated on well drained slopes.An annual rainfall of over 150 cm is idealfor rubber cultivation. Rubber cultivationhas progressed on laterite soils. Inaddition to Kerala, rubber is cultivated inTamil Nadu and Andaman NicobarIslands.

IndustriesAgro-based industries, where variousagricultural products are helpful in theindustrial growth, are seen more in India.Let us examine the reasons for theconcentration of these in certain places.

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5• Raw materials.

• Availability of water.

•

Add your findings.

The presence of minerals has helpedcertain regions to become industrialregions. Examine the followingdescription.

Bokaro on the confluence of the RiverBokaro and the River Damodar inJharkhand was once an agriculturalvillage. When coal deposits were foundout here and in neighbouring Jharia, itpaved way for industrial growth. Thepresence of iron ore in Kiriburu in theneighbouring state of Orissa created asituation for the starting of an iron andsteel industry there. Availability of rawmaterials such as limestone and dolomitein nearby places Palamavu andBhavanthpur in Jharkhand helped in thestarting of this industry. Bokaro Steel Plantis an iron and steel industry. Rawmaterials are brought here through roadand railways. The products from thisfactory are transported through a nearbycanal to River Hugli and then to KolkataPort. In earlier days coal was used as thesource of energy in this plant which wasstarted in 1964. But when the DamodarValley Project was started, hydroelectri-city began to be used as a major source ofenergy. When the supplementaryindustries like manufacturing ofmachines, metal arms etc were startednear this center, once an agriculturalvillage Bokaro became an industrial city.Consequently, there was a huge leap inthe economy and social progress of thisregion. It shows that the intervention ofman through the effective use of resourcescan make modifications on a culture.

Find out the conditions favourable for thestarting of other iron and steel industriesin India. Make use of the followingindicators and Fig. 5.6 for this. Prepare anote based on the information you havefound out.

• Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO),Jamshedpur

Started in 1907

Iron at a radius of 75-100 km

Coal at a radius of 160-316 km

Manganese at 50 km away

• Visweswarayya Iron and Steel Limited,(VISL) Bhadravati

Started in 1923

Iron at a radius of 40 km

Manganese at a radius of 50 km

Limestone at a radius of 25 km

• Hindustan Steel Limited, (HSL) Bhilai

Started in 1957 with the technicalcollaboration of Russia




• Hindustan Steel Limited, (HSL)Rourkela

Started in 1959 with the technicalcollaboration of Germany




• Hindustan Steel Limited, (HSL)Durgapur

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5Started in 1959 with the technicalcollaboration of England


• Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO)Kulti, Bernpur, Hirapur

Started in 1972


Coal at a radius of 137 km

You must have understood the factorsinfluencing the location of iron and steelindustries. Why are iron and steelindustries not found in Kerala? Discuss.

In addition to agro-based industries andmineral based industries, a number ofother industries are also found in India.Forest based industries (timber, paperetc.), chemical Industries (fertilizers,cement etc.), textile industries (wool, silketc.) leather industries and electronicindustries are among them. With thedevelopment of information technology,computer industries are also developed.The role of Technoparks and Infoparks inchanging the industrial face of Kerala isnoticeable. This sector plays a major rolein the industrial income of Kerala.

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Figure 5.6 : Major Iron and SteelIndustries in India

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5You might have realized that the variousmeans of transportation helped in India'sindustrial growth. Transport routes areconsidered as the lifeline of a nation. Therole played by transportation routes in theprocess of urbanization, in addition toindustrialization is decisive.Transportation helped in linking rural andurban areas and expediting the process ofurbanization. Let us examine our variousmeans of transportation one by one.

Road TransportIndia is one of the countries of the worldwith a broad network of roads. Theinfluence of topography is decisive in thebuilding and development of roads. Roadnetworks are mainly found in the GreatPlains, the coastal plains and in the DeccanPlateau. But road network iscomparatively less in the Himalayanregion and in the North Eastern States.According to their importance the Indianroads are classified into four. ObserveTable 5.2 to find out the types of roads andtheir characteristics.

Different types of Roads and theirCharacteristics

Roads Characteristics

National Highways • Links State capitals,industrial cities andcommercial cities.

• Laying and maintenanceis done by the CentralGovernment.

• It is the major roadnetwork in the country.

Find out the national highway and thestate highway that pass through yourdistrict from the maps available in yourschool.

Table - 5.2

State Highways • State's major roadnetwork.

• Links major places withinthe State.

• Construction andmaintenance is done bythe State Government.

District Roads • Links various placeswithin a district.

• Construction andmaintenance is done byDistrict/Block Panchayats

Rural Roads • Includes both tarred andun-tarred roads.

• Construction andmaintenance is done byGrama Panchayats.

Golden Quadrangle

Golden Quadrangle is the ExpressHighway that links four metropolitancities of India. This route which has a totallength of 5846 km considerably reducesthe running time between these cities. Inaddition to this the Government of Indiahas planned, under the category ofExpressways, a 4076 km long Sri Nagar(Jammu & Kashmir) to Kanyakumari(Tamil Nadu) North-South Corridor and a3640 km long Silchar (Assam) toPorbunder (Gujarat) East-West Corridor.

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5RailwaysIndia has the largest network of railwaysin Asia. It is the suitable means of transportfor long distance travel for both thepassenger and heavy cargo. Railwaynetwork is seen more in the Great Plains,Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Rail transport isvery less in the north Eastern States ofIndia. In Kerala, there are no railways inthe districts of Idukki and Wayanad? Whyis it so? Discuss.

Railway Zones andtheir Headquarters

Railway Zones Headquarters

Central Railway Mumbai(Sivaji Terminal)

Western Railway Mumbai (ChurchGate)

Eastern Railway Kolkata

Northern Railway New Delhi

North-Eastern Railway New Delhi

Southern Railway Chennai

North-Eastern Frontier Maligav (Guwahati)Railway

South-Eastern Railway Kolkata

North Central Railway Allahabad

North Western Railway Jaipur

South Western Railway Hubli

East Central Railway Hajipur

West Central Railway Jabalpur

East Coast railway Bhuvaneswar

South East Central BilaspurRailway

Konkan Railway Navi Mumbai

Prepare a note on the reasons for thesparse network of roads and railways inthe Himalayan region and in the NorthEastern States by using the Map ofIndia showing physiography.

Konkan Railway

Traffic through the Konkan Railway wasstarted on 26th January 1998. This taskwas the toughest challenge that the IndianRailways took after the Independence. Thisrailway line crosses about 146 rivers andstreams. There are about 2000 bridges and91 tunnels in this route. Its longest tunnelhas a length of 6.5 km. This is the longestrailway tunnel in Asia. This route,extending from Roha in Maharashtra toMangalore in Karnataka for a distance of760 km, required 3500 crore rupees forits construction. This route was laid by theKonkan Railway Corporation.

For administrative convenience Indianrailway is divided into 16 zones. Thefollowing table (5.3) gives these zones andtheir headquarters.

Find out the Railway Zone to whichKerala belongs.

Water TransportThe cost of construction and maintenanceof water transport route is less comparedto that of road and railway networks.Moreover, air pollution and noisepollution are also less. It used for thetransportation of heavy cargo. Rivers,canals and 6400 km long coastline increasethe possibility of water transport in India.

Table - 5.3

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5Water transport is divided into OceanWater Transport and Inland WaterTransport. Transportation through therivers and lakes inside the land is knownas Inland Water Transport. India's inlandwater transport is concentrated in the RiverGanga, River Brahmaputra and in theirtributaries, River Godavari, River Krishnaand in their canals, in Buckingham Canalsof Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, RiverMandovi and River Suvari in Goa, and inthe backwaters of Kerala.

The National Water Transport Authorityhas declared major inland waterways asNational Waterways.

• NW - 1 : from Allahabad to Haldia(River Ganga) 1620 km

• NW - 2: from Sadia to Dubri (RiverBrahmaputra) 891 km

• NW - 3: from Kottapuram near Paravurin Ernakulum to Kollam (West CoastCanal) 205 km

You have learned earlier that India has along coastline. The west and east coastsof India have immense potential for oceantransport. There are 12 major and about185 minor ports in these coasts. Majorports, of India which have made theirplace in the international trade map, havedecisive influence on the country'seconomy.

Which are the major ports of India and

on which coast are they located? Whichare India's major InternationalCommercial Waterways?

AirwaysAirways are the most speedy and the mostexpensive mode of transportation. Inrugged terrain and in places which cannotbe reached by roads and railways, airwaysare the only means of transportation. Inearlier days the airways in India wasunder the control of Public SectorUndertakings like Air India and IndianAirlines. Now many private airlines alsooperate in India. Public and privatecompanies have partnership in domesticand international air transport. Eventhough most of the states of India havedomestic airports, international airportsare comparatively few.

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Cochin International Airport is the firstairport built in India with publicparticipation. This was opened for publicon 25th May 1999. Investors from morethan 30 countries and about 10000 Indianinvestors made possible the realization ofthis airport.

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Figure - 5.7

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• Name the states which do not have International Airports?

• Name the state where maximum number of International Airports are located?

Table - 5.4 International Airports in IndiaAirport Place

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad

Lokapriy Gopinath Bartholy International Airport Guwahati

Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi

Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport Ahammedabad

Bangaluru International Airport Bangaluru

Bajpai International Airport Mangalore

Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Thiruvananthapuram

Nedumbasseri International Airport Kochi

Karippur International Airport Kozhikode

Chattrapathi Sivaji International Airport Mumbai

Dr. Baba Sahib Ambedkar International Airport Nagpur

Pune International Airport Pune

Raja Sansi International Airport Amritsar

Chennai International Airport Chennai

Coimbatore International Airport Coimbatore

Madurai International Airport Madurai

Tiruchirappalli International Airport Tiruchirappally

Chowdari Charan Singh International Airport Lucknow

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Kolkata

Mark the International airports given in the above table on a map of India.

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• By assessing the various means of transportation prepare a seminar on the topic'Influence of transportation on the life of the people of India'.

• Though rainfall is scarce in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, they are famous forwheat cultivation. What are the factors that facilitate wheat cultivation in theseareas? How is the problem of scarcity of water solved?

• Agro based industries and mineral based industries are mainly concentrated inthe Great Northern Plains and sub-continental Plateaus respectively. Explain.

• Cash crops are not cultivated throughout India. Why?

• Which are the raw materials required for iron and steel industries? Are all themajor iron and steel industries located where all raw materials are available?What do you think is the reason for their location in those places?

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