6. World Patterns of Agricultural Production Major Crops
DSE4T: Agricultural Geography Unit II 6. World Patterns of Agricultural Production Major Crops With varied types of relief, soils, climate and with plenty of sun-shine and long and short growing season, world has capability to grow each and every crop. Crops required tropical, sub-tropical and temperate climate can easily be grown in one or the other part of world. Crops are devided into following categories. 1. Food Crops: Rice, Wheat, Maize, Millets- Jowar, Bajra, Ragi; Gram, Tur (Arhar). 2. Cash Crops: Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane, Mustard, Tobacco, Groundnut, Sesamum, oilseeds Castorseed, Linseed etc 3. Plantation Crops: Tea, Coffee, Spices- Cardamom, Chillies, Ginger, Turmeric; Coconut and Rubber. 4. Horticulture: Fruits- Apple, Peach, Pear, Apricot, Almond, Strawberry, Mango, Banana, Vegetables. World production of major Food Crops (rice, wheat, maize, barley, rye, sorghum and millet) Rice Production Rice is the most important food crop. There are about 10,000 varieties if rice in the world. Rice is life for thousand of millions people obtain 60 to 70 percent of their calories from rice and their products. Recognising the importance of this crop, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2004 as the International Year of Rice. The theme of IYR –“Rice is Life” reflects the importance of rice as a primary food source. The Asian continent dominates in terms of global rice production, with China and India leading the way. Rice is among the three leading food crops of the world, with maize (corn) and wheat being the other two. All three directly provide no less than 42% of the world’s required caloric intake and, in 2009, human consumption was responsible for 78% of the total usage of produced rice.
[Show full text]