Page 145 - SST Class 08
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states. After China, India ranks second in the          and sandy soils where average temperature is
            world in rice production. Good quality of Indian        above 15°C and there is no frost. It needs about
            (Basmati) rice has a vast international market.         50 to 75 cm of rainfall. The US is the largest
                  F ind Outind Out                                  producer of maize accounting for half of the
                                                                    world’s output, while China ranks second. Other
            Alluvial topsoil with clayey subsoil is the best for    major    producers    are   Brazil,  Mexico,    and
            rice cultivation. Find out why.                         Argentina. In India, major maize producing states

            Wheat                                                   are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
                                                                    Rajasthan and Karnataka.
            Wheat is the most widely
            cultivated food crop in the                             Activity
            world. Temperate areas with                              Collect seeds of rice, wheat, jowar, bajra and maize
            moderate temperature and                                 available  in   the   market   and   discuss   the
            about 30 to 90 cm of rainfall                            geographical conditions necessary for the growth
            are   best  suited   for   the                           in the class.
            cultivation   of   wheat.    It      Wheat farm         Fibre Crops
            requires loamy soil with water retaining capacity
            and sunny weather. Countries with cold winters,         Cotton, jute, hemp and natural silk are the four
            such as Canada grow wheat in spring while               major fibre crops grown in the world. The first
            tropical countries such as India grow winter            three are derived from the plant by growing crop
            wheat.   Since,   wheat    cultivation  is  heavily     whereas silk is obtained from cocoons of the
            mechanised, it does not require much manual             silkworms fed on mulberry leaves. Rearing of
            labour. Wheat crop also needs a fairly good             silkworms for the productions of silk fibre is
            amount of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.        known as sericulture. Cotton and jute are widely
            China is the largest wheat producer. Other major        grown fibre crops in the world.
            producers are India, US, Russia and Canada while
                                                                    Cotton
            USA Australia and France are the major wheat
            exporting countries. In India, wheat is a rabi          Cotton is a fibre and comes under non-food crop
            (winter) crop which is grown in the north, north-       category. It is produced for commercial purpose. It
            western and Central India. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar       is soft, fluffy and grows in a capsule shaped like a
            Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar          ball. It is the main raw material for cotton textile
            are the main producers of wheat crop.                   industry. Cotton grows well in the areas having
                                                                    high temperature (20°C to 30°C). It should be
                                                                    uniformly high throughout the growing season. It
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                                                                    requires abundant sunshine and moderate rainfall
                                                                    of 60 cm to 100 cm. At the time of ripening there
            The US is sometimes called the ‘bread basket of the
            world’ but it is not the longest producer of wheat.     should be cloud free clear sky. Alluvial and black
            It is the largest exporter of wheat.                    soils are best suited for its cultivation. The leading
                                                                    cotton producers of the world are China, US,
            Maize                                                   India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Brazil and Turkey. In

            It is a third major food crop                           India, cotton has been cultivated since ancient
            of the world. It originated in                          times. The leading
            Central  America from where                             cotton     producing
            it spread in the world. It is                           states  are   Gujarat,
            used   as   both   food   and                           Maharashtra, Andhra
            fodder. Maize is grown in                               Pradesh,      Madhya
            temperate as well as tropical        Maize farm         Pradesh, Punjab and
            areas. It grows well in deep, well drained clayey       Haryana.
                                                                                                     Cotton farm
                                                                                                     Agriculture
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