Food Crops other than Grains
Sugarcane
1. It is a tropical as well as a subtropical crop.
2. It grows well in hot and humid climates with a temperature of 21°C to 27°C and annual
rainfall between 75cm to 100cm.
3. It can be grown on a variety of soils.
4. Needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
5. India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
6. Sugarcane is the main source of Sugar, Gur (Jaggery), Khansari and molasses.
7. The major sugarcane-producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
Oil Seeds
● In 2020 India was the second largest producer of groundnut in the world after China.
● Different oil seeds are grown, covering approximately 12% of the total cropped area of
India.
● The Main oil-seeds produced in India are groundnut, mustard, coconut, sesamum (til),
soyabean, castor seeds, cotton seeds, linseed and sunflower.
● Most of these are edible and used as cooking mediums.
● However, some of these are also used as raw material in the production of soap,
cosmetics and ointments.
● Groundnut is a kharif crop and accounts for about half of the major oilseeds produced in
the country. Gujarat was the largest producer of groundnut followed by Rajasthan and
Tamil Nadu in 2019–20.
● Linseed and mustard are rabi crops.
● Sesamum is a kharif crop in north and rabi crop in south India.
● Castor seed is grown both as rabi and kharif crop
Tea
● Tea cultivation is an example of plantation agriculture. Today, most of the tea plantations
are owned by Indians.
● It is also an important beverage crop introduced by the British in India.
● The tea plant grows well in tropical and sub-tropical climates with deep and fertile
well-drained soil, rich in humus and organic matter.
● Tea bushes require a warm and moist frost-free climate all through the year.
● Frequent showers evenly distributed over the year ensure continuous growth of tender
leaves.
● Tea is a labour-intensive industry. It requires abundant, cheap and skilled labour.
● Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness.
● Major tea-producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country.
● In 2020 India was the second largest producer of tea after China.
Coffee
● Indian coffee is known in the world for its good quality.
● The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country.
● This variety is in great demand all over the world.
● Initially its cultivation was introduced on the Baba Budan Hills
● Even today its cultivation is confined to the Nilgiri in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Horticulture Crops
● In 2020, India was the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after
China. India is a producer of tropical as well as temperate fruits.
● Tropical fruits:Mangoes of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal, oranges of Nagpur and Cherrapunjee (Meghalaya), bananas of Kerala,
Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, lichi and guava of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,
pineapples of Meghalaya, grapes of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.
● Temperate fruits: apples, pears, apricots and walnuts of Jammu and Kashmir and
Himachal Pradesh are in great demand the world over.
● Vegetables India is an important producer of pea, cauliflower, onion, cabbage, tomato,
brinjal and potato.
Non-Food Crops
Rubber Fibre Cotton Jute
It is an equatorial Cotton, Jute, Hemp It is a Kharif crop.: It is known as the
crop. and Natural Silk are India is believed to golden fibre.
the four major fibre be the original home
crops. of the cotton plant.
Cotton is one of the
main raw materials
for the cotton textile
industry.
India is second
largest producer of
cotton after China
It requires a moist Cotton, Jute and It requires high It grows well on
and humid climate Hemp are grown in well-drained fertile
with rainfall of more the soil. temperature, light soils in the flood
than 200cm and rainfall, 210 plains. A high
frost-free days and temperature is
temperature above bright sunshine for its required for its
25°C. growth. growth.
requires 6 to 8
months to mature
It is an important Natural Silk is Cotton grows It is used in making
industrial raw obtained from gunny bags, mats,
material cocoons of the well in the black ropes, yarn, carpets
silkworms fed on cotton soil of the and other artefacts.
green leaves Deccan plateau.
Mainly grown in Rearing of silkworms Major Major jute-producing
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, for the production of cotton-producing states are West
Karnataka and silk fibre is known as states are Bengal, Bihar,
Andaman and Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam, Odisha
Nicobar islands and Sericulture. Madhya Pradesh,
Garo hills of Karnataka, Andhra
Meghalaya. Pradesh,
Telangana, Tamil
Nadu, Punjab,
Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh.
