(a) Describe the features of cropping patterns in India.

(i) India has three cropping seasons — rabi, kharif and zaid.

(ii) Rabi crops are sown in winter from October to December and harvested in summer from April and June.

(iii) Wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard are examples of rabi crops.

(iv) Kharif crops are grown with the onset of monsoon in different parts of the country and these are harvested in September-October.

(v) Paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soyabean are examples of kharif crops.

(vi) In between Rabi and the Kharif seasons, there is a short season during the summer months known as Zaid season.

(vii) Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder crops are examples of zaid crops.

(b) Describe the main characteristics of major millet crops grown in India.

(i) Jowar, bajra and ragi are the important millets grown in India.

(ii) Though millets are known as coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value.

(iii) Ragi is very rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage.

(iv) Jowar is the third most important food crop with respect to area and production.

(v) It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation.

(vi) Major Jowar producing States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

(vii) Bajra grows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil.

(viii) Major Bajra producing States are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

(ix) Ragi is a crop of dry regions and grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.

(x) Major ragi producing states are: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.