(a) Differentiate between Primitive Subsistence and Commercial Farming.

Primitive subsistence

(i) Primitive subsistence agriculture is practiced on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks and family/ community labour.

(ii) This type of farming depends upon monsoons, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.

(iii) It is ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and produce crops. When soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation.

(iv) Crops are produced to sustain the family.

(v) It is labour intensive farming, since most of the activities are done by human labour.

(vi) Land fertility is low as fertilizers are not used.

(vii) This type of shifting allows nature to replenish the fertility of soil through natural process.

Commercial Farming

(i) In this type of farming higher dose of modern inputs is used.

(ii) High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides etc. are used obtain higher productivity.

(iii) The degree of commercialization of agriculture varies from one region to another. For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab and it is a subsistence crop in Odisha.

(iv) Commercial farming is done with the view to sell the crops and gain profit.

(v) It is capital intensive since it depends on machines to get the work done.

(vi) Land productivity is high.

(vii) Does not allow nature to replenish the soil fertility through natural process.

(b) Differentiate between Rabi and kharif cropping sessions.

Rabi Crops

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

(ii) Some of the important rabi crops are wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard.

(iii) Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are important for the production of rabi crops.

(iv) Require warm climate for germination and cold climate to grow. Availability of precipitation during winter months due to the western temperate cyclones help in the success of these crops.

Kharif Crops

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

(ii) Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, groundnut and soyabean.

(iii) Some of the important rice growing regions are Assam, west Bengal, coastal regions of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, particularly the Konkan coast with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

(iv) Kharif crops require hot weather and good rainfall.