Class 8 Geography


Agriculture

NCERT Solution

Answer the following question:

Question 1: What is agriculture?

Answer: Growing crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers and rearing livestock are together called agriculture.

Question 2: Name the factors influencing agriculture?

Answer: Climate, type of soil, population density and technology

Question 3: What is shifting cultivation? What are its disadvantages?

Answer: When cultivation is done on small patches of land and the patch of land is changed frequently, it is called shifting cultivation. Shifting cultivation is ideal for forest dwellers who mainly depend on various forest produce for their survival. Shifting cultivation is environment friendly as there is no use of synthetic fertilisers or pesticides. Moreover, exploitation of water is not done in this type of agriculture. Natural vegetation is least disturbed by way of shifting cultivation.

Question 4: What is plantation agriculture?

Answer: Plantation is a type of commercial farming. A single crop, like tea, coffee, rubber, etc. is grown on a large tract of land in case of plantation.

Question 5: Name the fibre crops and name the climatic conditions required for their growth.

Answer: Cotton: Cotton needs high temperature, light rainfall and bright sunshine. It also needs two hundred and ten frost-free days.
Jute: Jute needs high temperature, heavy rainfall and high humidity.

Tick the correct option

Question 1: Horticulture means

  1. Growing of fruits and vegetables
  2. Primitive farming
  3. Growing of wheat

    Answer: Growing of fruits and vegetables

Question 2: Golden fibre refers to

  1. Tea
  2. Cotton
  3. Jute

    Answer: (c) Jute

Question 3: Leading producers of coffee

  1. Brazil
  2. India
  3. Russia

    Answer: (a) Brazil

Give Reasons

Question 1: In India agriculture is a primary activity.

Answer: A large portion of India is full of highly fertile land. Moreover, India is a densely populated country and hence needs food grain production on a large scale. The monsoon climate of India is highly favourable for farming. Hence, agriculture is the main economic activity in India.

Question 2: Different crops are grown in different regions.

Answer: Different regions have different climatic conditions and soil types. Hence, different crops are grown in different regions.

Distinguish between the followings

Question 1: Primary activities and tertiary activities

Answer: Primary activity involves extraction and utilization of natural resources without much processing. Tertiary activities involve supporting the primary and secondary activities.

Question 2: Subsistence farming and intenstive farming

Answer: Subsistence farming is done with sole purpose of meeting the needs of the farmer’s family, while intensive farming is done with the sole purpose of sale of the farm produce.