Chapter Overview

Agriculture (कृषि) still employs the largest share of India’s workforce. The country harvested a record 357.73 million tonnes of foodgrains in 2024-25 (final estimates, Ministry of Agriculture), up from about 51 million tonnes in 1950-51. Most of that rise came after the Green Revolution (हरित क्रांति) of the mid-1960s, and the experiment that prepared the ground for it began in 1960 in seven pilot districts. One of them was Raipur, now in Chhattisgarh.

This chapter is the India-wide picture: when crops are grown, which crops grow where and why, how they are watered, and how the Green Revolution changed the map. For the state-level picture (rice bowl, utera, agro-climatic zones, dams), read the companion chapter Agriculture and Irrigation of Chhattisgarh. For MSP, procurement, credit and farm policy, see Agricultural Economy.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this chapter, you’ll be able to:

Distinguish the kharif (खरीफ), rabi (रबी) and zaid (जायद) seasons by sowing and harvest months, and place crops in the right season
Define cropping intensity, mixed cropping, intercropping and relay cropping, and name the regional terms for shifting cultivation
State the climate and soil needs and the leading states of rice, wheat, millets, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, jute, tea, coffee and rubber
Explain the sources of irrigation, why groundwater now dominates, and match the big river-valley projects to their rivers and states
Trace the Green Revolution from IADP (1960) to the HYV Programme (1966), and evaluate its gains and costs for a Mains answer

Prerequisites

Climate of India: the monsoon calendar decides the cropping calendar
Soils and Natural Vegetation: alluvial, black, red and laterite soils and the crops they suit
Drainage System of India: the rivers behind every canal and dam in this chapter

Learning Path

Follow these topics in order:

graph TD
    A["1. Cropping seasons:
kharif, rabi, zaid"] --> B["2. Cropping systems and
types of farming"]
    B --> C["3. Major crops:
conditions and leading states"]
    C --> D["4. Irrigation: sources,
projects, PMKSY"]
    D --> E["5. Green Revolution:
IADP, HYV, impact"]
    E --> F["6. Other revolutions and
the Evergreen Revolution"]
    F --> G["Quick Revision"]

Topics in This Chapter

#	Topic	What it covers	Read time
1	Cropping Seasons and Farming Systems	Kharif, rabi, zaid; cropping intensity; mixed, inter and relay cropping; types of farming; shifting cultivation names; agro-climatic regions	12 min
2	Major Crops of India	Rice, wheat, millets, maize, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, jute, tea, coffee, rubber: conditions, soils, leading states (dated)	15 min
3	Irrigation in India	Need, sources and their shares, project classes, major multipurpose projects, micro-irrigation, PMKSY, Atal Bhujal, river linking	14 min
4	Green Revolution	IADP 1960 (Raipur), IAAP, HYVP 1966, Borlaug and Swaminathan, gains, costs, BGREI, Evergreen Revolution, other colour revolutions	14 min
—	Quick Revision	Seasons, crop–state pairs, dams and Green Revolution dates on one page	5 min

Where It Is Asked

Exam Focus

Prelims P-I (India GS): season of a crop, climatic needs (temperature, rainfall, soil), leading producer state, dam–river–state matching, “first / highest / longest” projects, IADP and HYVP years, and who is called the father of which revolution. Expect match-the-following on crops and states and statement-based questions on irrigation sources.
Mains P-V GS-III (Economy and Geography of India and CG): cropping pattern and its determinants, groundwater depletion, micro-irrigation, the regional and ecological costs of the Green Revolution, and why eastern India (including Chhattisgarh) needs a “second Green Revolution”.
Interview: “Should Punjab stop growing paddy?” and “What can Chhattisgarh learn from the Green Revolution?” are natural board questions.

Quick Reference

Fact	Detail
Foodgrain output 2024-25	357.73 million tonnes (record; final estimates)
Rice / wheat 2024-25	150.18 MT / 117.94 MT (both records)
Global rank in rice	India overtook China as the largest rice producer on 2024-25 estimates
Kharif	Sown June–July with the monsoon, harvested September–October
Rabi	Sown October–December, harvested April–June (NCERT); earlier in warmer areas
Zaid	Short summer season between rabi and kharif
Irrigated share	A little over half of net sown area (early 2020s; figures vary by source and year)
Largest irrigation source	Tube wells and wells (groundwater), about three-fifths of net irrigated area
Highest dam	Tehri (Bhagirathi, Uttarakhand), 260.5 m
Longest dam	Hirakud (Mahanadi, Odisha), about 25.8 km with dykes
IADP	1960-61, 7 districts including Raipur
HYV Programme	Kharif 1966
Father of the Green Revolution in India	M. S. Swaminathan (globally: Norman Borlaug)

Start Learning

Ready to begin? Start with the first topic:

→ Cropping Seasons and Farming Systems