Class 10 Social Science: Geography
Chapter 4: Agriculture (Contemporary India II)
General Instructions
- The paper has six sections (A to F) and all questions are compulsory, except where internal choice (OR) is given.
- Section A: 16 MCQs, 1 mark each (16 marks). Section B: 6 questions, 2 marks each, about 30 words (12 marks). Section C: 5 questions, 3 marks each, about 80 words (15 marks). Section D: 4 questions, 5 marks each, about 120 words (20 marks). Section E: 3 case-based questions, 4 marks each (12 marks). Section F: Map work, 5 marks.
- Write the section and question number clearly. Attach the map in Section F to your answer book.
Reason (R): Being leguminous crops, they help restore soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air.
(ii) By what name is this farming known in north-eastern states? [1]
(iii) Why will Rinjha’s family have to move to a new patch, and how does this help the land? [2]
(ii) Why is a good transport network important for plantations? [1]
(iii) Name two plantation crops of India and one state where each is grown. [2]
(ii) Why was a comprehensive land development programme needed later? [1]
(iii) Mention any two measures taken to help farmers financially or against risks. [2]
(a) A major wheat-producing state
(b) A major jute-producing state
(c) A major tea-producing state of the north-east
(d) The major coffee-producing state of southern India
(e) The state that was the largest producer of groundnut in 2019–20
— End of Question Paper —
Answer Key and Marking Scheme
Class 10 Geography: Agriculture · 80 Marks
Blueprint
| Section | Type | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | MCQ | 16 × 1 | 16 |
| B | Very short answer | 6 × 2 | 12 |
| C | Short answer | 5 × 3 | 15 |
| D | Long answer | 4 × 5 | 20 |
| E | Case-based | 3 × 4 | 12 |
| F | Map work | 5 × 1 | 5 |
| Total | 80 | ||
| Q | Ans | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (b) | Plantation agriculture grows a single crop on a large area. |
| 2 | (c) | Gram is a rabi crop. Rice, maize and cotton are kharif crops. |
| 3 | (b) | Pulses are leguminous and fix nitrogen in the soil. |
| 4 | (a) | Slash and burn with shifting plots is primitive subsistence farming. |
| 5 | (d) | Jhumming is the name used in the north-eastern states. |
| 6 | (b) | Jute is called the golden fibre. |
| 7 | (c) | India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses. |
| 8 | (c) | Rice needs annual rainfall above 100 cm (or irrigation where rainfall is less). |
| 9 | (a) | Ganga-Satluj plains (north-west) and the black soil region of the Deccan. |
| 10 | (c) | Ragi is rich in iron, calcium, micronutrients and roughage. |
| 11 | (b) | Rice is commercial in Punjab and Haryana, but subsistence in Odisha. |
| 12 | (c) | Vinoba Bhave initiated it. Ram Chandra Reddy made the first land offer. |
| 13 | (b) | Arabica was initially brought from Yemen. |
| 14 | (c) | Brazil is the largest sugarcane producer; India is second. |
| 15 | (a) | Watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables and fodder are zaid crops. |
| 16 | (a) | Both are true, and nitrogen fixing is the reason pulses are rotated with other crops. |
17.
Tea (or coffee) (1 mark for the crop with conditions).
Tea needs a tropical or sub-tropical climate, warm, moist, frost-free weather with frequent showers evenly spread through the year, and deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus and organic matter. (1 mark)
Alternative: Coffee (Arabica) grows in the Nilgiri region of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
18.
Rice (1 mark): it is the staple food of most people in India.
It is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and deltaic regions. Canal irrigation and tubewells also allow it in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. (1 mark)
Alternative: Wheat in the north and north-west (Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan).
19.
Rabi crops are sown in winter (October to December) and harvested in summer (April to June), e.g. wheat, gram. (1 mark)
Kharif crops are sown with the onset of monsoon and harvested in September–October, e.g. paddy, maize, cotton. (1 mark)
20.
Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms for the production of silk fibre. (1 mark)
Silkworms are fed on the leaves of the mulberry plant. (1 mark)
21.
Farmers use only primitive tools (hoe, dao, digging sticks) and family or community labour. (1 mark)
They use no fertilisers or other modern inputs and depend on the monsoon and natural fertility, so yields stay low. (1 mark)
22. (any two, 1 mark each)
A single crop is grown on a large area. · It uses capital-intensive inputs and migrant labourers. · All produce is raw material for industry, so it links agriculture and industry. · It needs a well-developed transport and communication network.
23. (any three, 1 mark each)
| Basis | Intensive subsistence | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Feed the family from limited land | Produce for the market |
| Where practised | Areas of high population pressure on land | Regions with modern input use; varies by region |
| Inputs | Labour-intensive; high biochemical inputs and irrigation | HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides |
| Land holding | Small, divided by inheritance | Generally larger, high productivity aimed |
| Example | Small plots in crowded regions | Rice in Punjab and Haryana |
24.
Important millets are jowar, bajra and ragi. (1 mark)
Although called coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value. Ragi is very rich in iron, calcium, other micronutrients and roughage. (1 mark)
Jowar is the third most important food crop by area and production. It is rain-fed and hardly needs irrigation, and bajra grows on sandy and shallow black soils. (1 mark)
25.
Rice needs high rainfall, but Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan receive less. (1 mark)
A dense network of canal irrigation and tubewells supplies the water needed. (1 mark)
Together with the success of the green revolution, paddy has now become an important crop of Punjab and Haryana. (1 mark)
26.
Rubber is an equatorial crop, but under special conditions it is also grown in tropical and sub-tropical areas. (1 mark)
It needs a moist and humid climate, rainfall of more than 200 cm and temperature above 25°C. (1 mark)
It is mainly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Garo hills of Meghalaya. (1 mark)
27.
Vinoba Bhave, Gandhiji’s spiritual heir, travelled on padyatra spreading Gandhiji’s message. At Pochampalli (Andhra Pradesh), landless villagers asked for land, and Shri Ram Chandra Reddy offered 80 acres for 80 landless villagers. This was Bhoodan. (1.5 marks)
Some zamindars offered villages to the landless, which was Gramdan. Many landowners gave part of their land fearing the land ceiling act. (1 mark)
It is called the Blood-less Revolution because land redistribution was achieved voluntarily without violence. (0.5 mark)
28. (Either part)
Rice (1 mark for each point, 5 in all):
1. Kharif crop; staple food of most Indians; India is the second largest producer after China.
2. Needs high temperature, above 25°C.
3. Needs high humidity and annual rainfall above 100 cm.
4. In areas of less rainfall, it grows with irrigation (canals and tubewells).
5. Major regions: plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and deltaic regions, e.g. Assam, West Bengal, coastal Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Konkan coast, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and now Punjab and Haryana.
OR Wheat:
1. Second most important cereal; main food crop of the north and north-west; a rabi crop.
2. Needs a cool growing season.
3. Needs bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
4. Needs 50 to 75 cm annual rainfall, evenly distributed over the growing season.
5. Two zones: Ganga-Satluj plains and the black soil region of the Deccan. Major states: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
29. (Either part)
Initiatives (1 mark per point, any five):
1. Land reform (collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation, abolition of zamindari) was the focus of the First Five Year Plan.
2. Green Revolution (package technology) and White Revolution (Operation Flood) in the 1960s and 1970s.
3. A comprehensive land development programme with institutional and technical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s.
4. Crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease.
5. Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks giving loans at lower interest; Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS).
6. Weather bulletins and agricultural programmes on radio and television.
7. Minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices to check exploitation by speculators and middlemen.
OR: Award marks as above, grouping points under institutional reforms (land reform, consolidation, cooperatives, banks, insurance, MSP) and technical reforms (Green Revolution, HYV and package technology, irrigation, weather information). Two examples under each heading carry full marks.
30. (Either part)
Primitive subsistence farming:
1. Done on small patches of land with primitive tools such as the hoe, dao and digging sticks, using family or community labour. (1)
2. Depends on monsoon, natural soil fertility and suitable environmental conditions. (1)
3. It is slash and burn agriculture: farmers clear, burn, grow food crops, then shift when fertility drops, letting Nature restore it. Productivity is low as no fertilisers are used. (1)
4. Any four regional names: Jhumming (north-east), Pamlou (Manipur), Dipa (Bastar and Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Bewar/Dahiya (Madhya Pradesh), Podu/Penda (Andhra Pradesh), Pama Dabi/Koman/Bringa (Odisha), Kumari (Western Ghats), Valre/Waltre (south-eastern Rajasthan), Khil (Himalayan belt), Kuruwa (Jharkhand). (2, half a mark each)
OR Intensive subsistence farming:
1. Practised in areas of high population pressure on land. (1)
2. Labour-intensive, with high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation to get higher production. (1)
3. The right of inheritance divides land across generations, making holdings uneconomical. (1)
4. With no alternative source of livelihood, farmers take maximum output from limited land. (1)
5. This creates enormous pressure on agricultural land. (1)
31. (Either part)
Cotton:
1. India is believed to be the original home of the cotton plant; it is the second largest producer after China. (1)
2. Grows well in the drier parts of the black cotton soil of the Deccan plateau. (1)
3. Needs high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine. (1)
4. A kharif crop that needs 6 to 8 months to mature. (1)
5. Major states: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. (1)
OR Tea:
1. A plantation and beverage crop, introduced initially by the British. (1)
2. Tropical and sub-tropical climates; deep, fertile, well-drained soil rich in humus and organic matter. (1)
3. Needs warm, moist, frost-free climate with frequent showers evenly spread through the year. (1)
4. Labour-intensive, needing abundant, cheap and skilled labour; processed within the tea garden. (1)
5. Major states: Assam, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri hills (West Bengal), Tamil Nadu and Kerala; also Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura. (1)
32.
(i) Primitive subsistence farming (slash and burn). (1)
(ii) Jhumming. (1)
(iii) The soil’s fertility declines after some seasons, so the family must clear a fresh patch. (1) Shifting lets Nature replenish the old patch’s fertility through natural processes. (1)
33.
(i) A type of commercial farming in which a single crop is grown on a large area, with the produce used as raw material in industries. (1)
(ii) Production is mainly for the market, so transport and communication must connect plantations to processing industries and markets. (1)
(iii) Any two pairs: tea (Assam or North Bengal), coffee (Karnataka), rubber (Kerala), sugarcane (Uttar Pradesh), banana (Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu). (1 + 1)
34.
(i) Green Revolution and White Revolution (Operation Flood). (1)
(ii) The earlier reforms concentrated development in a few selected areas, so a wider programme was needed. (1)
(iii) Any two: Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS), crop insurance, low-interest loans through Grameen banks and cooperative societies, minimum support price. (1 + 1)
35. (1 mark each for correct location and label)
| Part | Accepted answers | Location hint |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Punjab (or Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan) | North-west India |
| (b) | West Bengal (or Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Meghalaya) | Eastern India |
| (c) | Assam | North-east India |
| (d) | Karnataka | South-western peninsula |
| (e) | Gujarat | Western India |
Marking note: Award the mark only if the state is correctly placed and labelled. Do not deduct for neatness, but deduct half a mark per item for wrong symbols if a key is absent.
General Marking Notes
- Accept any correct answer worded differently, as long as the key idea matches the textbook.
- For internal choice, mark only the part attempted; if both parts are attempted, mark the first.
- In 3- and 5-mark answers, award marks per valid point; examples and state names earn marks only if accurate.
