RBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Agriculture

These comprehensive RBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Agriculture will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Geography Chapter 4 Agriculture

→ Different economic activities can be divided into three parts - primary, secondary and tertiary activities. Primary activities include all those connected with extraction and production of natural resources, e.g., agriculture. Secondary activities are concerned with the processing of these resources, e g., manufacturing of steel. Tertiary activities provide support to the primary and secondary sectors through services, e.g., banking and insurance. Agriculture is a primary activity. It includes growing crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers and rearing of livestock.  

→ Farm System: Agriculture or farming can be looked at as a system. The important inputs are seeds, fertilizers, machinery and labour. The outputs from the system includes crops, wool, dairy and poultry products.

→ Types of Farming: Farming can be classified into two main types:

• Subsistence farming: This type of fanning is practised to meet the needs of the former’s family. Subsistence farming can be further classified as intensive subsistence and primitive subsistence forming. In intensive subsistence agriculture more than one crop is sown in a year with more labour and resources whereas primitive subsistence agriculture includes shifting cultivation and nomadic herding.
• Commercial farming: In commercial farming crops are grown and animals are reared for sale in market. Commercial forming includes commercial grain forming, mixed farming and plantation agriculture.

→ Major crops: A large variety of crops are grown to meet the requirement of the growing population. Major food crops are wheat, rice, maize and millet. Jute and cotton are fibre crops. Important beverage crops are tea and coffee.

→ Agricultural Development: Agricultural development refers to the efforts made to increase farm production in order to meet the growing demand of increasing population. This can be achieved in many ways such as increasing the cropped area, the number of crops grown, improving irrigation facilities, use of fertilizers and high yielding varities of seeds.