Experts have designed these Class 7 SST Notes Chapter 1 The Story of Indian Farming Class 7 Notes for effective learning.
Class 7 The Story of Indian Farming Notes
The Story of Indian Farming Notes Class 7
Class 7 SST Chapter 1 The Story of Indian Farming Notes
→ Agriculture is one of the oldest human occupations and includes farming, animal husbandry, forestry, horticulture, sericulture, and pisciculture.
→ Around 18% of India’s GDP comes from agriculture, and about 46% of the population depends on it for livelihood.
→ India’s agricultural landscape is diverse due to variations in soil, climate, terrain, and water availability.
→ Farmers use both traditional and modern methods – ploughing with oxen or tractors, hand transplanting or machines, and different harvesting tools.
→ Unique farming examples include floating vegetable gardens on Dal Lake in Kashmir.
→ Farming in India has ancient roots, with rice and millet cultivation dating back to the 7th – 8th millennium BCE.
→ The Flarappans grew barley, wheat, rice, millets, legumes, oilseeds, vegetables, and fruits and practised intercropping.
→ Early farmers domesticated many animals for food, work, and transport.
→ India’s climatic diversity influences crop variety; it is divided into 15 agroclimatic zones.
→ The monsoon is central to agriculture: southwest monsoon supports kharif crops; northeast monsoon supports crops in southern and eastern India.
→ Southern India benefits from two monsoons and good irrigation, allowing year-round rice cultivation.
→ India has three cropping seasons:
- Kharif: sown with monsoon, harvested in autumn (rice, maize, cotton).
- Rabi: sown in winter, harvested in spring (wheat, mustard, gram).
- Zaid: grown in summer using irrigation (melons, cucumbers).
→ Each season faces challenges such as rainfall variations, temperature rise, and water shortages.
→ Soil forms through long-term weathering ancf develops into layers (A, B, C horizons).
→ India has six major soil types: alluvial, black, red, laterite, desert, and mountain soils, each suited to specific crops.
→ Soil-crop linkages explain why different regions grow different crops.
→ Traditional soil conservation includes crop rotation, multiple cropping, contour ploughing, mulching, residue return, and organic fertilisers.
→ Modern approaches include terracing, afforestation, greenhouses, and using technology like drones.
→ Water availability shapes farming: rain-fed agriculture depends on rainfall, whereas irrigated agriculture uses canals, wells, and modern systems like drip and sprinkler irrigation.
→ Traditional water systems include kunds, ahars, tanks, bamboo drip irrigation, and phad canal systems.
→ Seeds were traditionally saved and shared; now many farmers use improved seeds from companies, though they must be repurchased yearly.
→ Traditional farming values soil health and local resources; terrace farming is a key example. a Scientific research validates many traditional practices.
→ Modern agriculture grew rapidly after the Green Revolution with FIYV seeds, chemicals, and mechanisation.
→ Sustainable agriculture aims to combine traditional knowledge with modern innovations; organic farming avoids harmful chemicals.
→ The government supports farmers with seeds, fertilisers, weather information, training, electricity subsidies, MSP, crop insurance, and cold storage facilities.
→ Farmers face major challenges such as shrinking landholdings, low income from small farms, limited mechanisation, and reliance on multiple sources of livelihood.
→ Climate change brings erratic weather, droughts, floods, and crop losses.
→ Many farmers fail into debt and some leave farming permanently.
→ Sustainable practices, improved irrigation, government support, and technology offer hope for strengthening Indian agriculture.
→ Threshing: The process of separating the edible grain from the stalk or husk, done either by hand or using a machine.
→ Intercropping: Growing two or more different crops at the same time in the same field to improve soil health, reduce pests, and increase overall yield.
→ Grafting: A method of joining the stem or branch of one plant to another so they grow as a single plant
→ Humus: The dark, nutrient-rich organic material formed when dead plants and animals decompose.
→ Weathering: The natural process in which rocks break down into smaller particles due to wind, water, temperature changes, or living organisms.
→ Silt: Fine soil particles, smaller than sand but larger than clay, often carried by rivers from mountains to plains and deposited as fertile soil.
→ Bedrock: The solid layer of rock found beneath the soil layers.
→ Soil: Methods used to protect soil from erosion and degradation, ensuring it remains healthy and Conservation productive.
→ Greenhouse: A transparent structure that traps sunlight and warmth to create a controlled environment where plants can grow throughout the year.
→ Landholding: The total area of land owned or possessed by a person or family.
→ Hectare: A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres; commonly used to measure farmland (1 acre ≈ 4047 square metres).