NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Social Science Chapter 13 The Story of Indian Farming (PDF) – 2027

The main characteristics of Indian agriculture are:

1. Very old — it goes back to prehistory.
2. Diverse — many crops, with traditional and modern methods side by side.
3. Broad — crops, livestock, forestry and horticulture, and in places fish rearing and silk.
4. Dependent on the monsoon — three seasons: kharif, rabi and zaid.
5. Supports many people — about 46 per cent of India’s workers; most rural farm workers are women.
6. Small farms — about three-fourths of a hectare on average.

They are closely linked: climate decides when a crop can grow, soil decides what can grow, and water decides whether it grows at all. The monsoon sets the three seasons (kharif, rabi, zaid). Climate (rain, frost) also helps form the soil. Each soil suits certain crops — black soil suits cotton; alluvial soil suits wheat, rice and sugarcane. Where rain is not enough, irrigation supplies the water.

Each is strong where the other is weak. Traditional practices (crop rotation, organic manure, water harvesting) are sustainable but may give lower yields. Modern practices (HYV seeds, machines, irrigation) are highly productive but can harm soil, water and health. Used together, they give good harvests without long-term damage — for example, ICAR testing traditional practices, beejamrit seed coating, neem-based pesticides and drip irrigation.

Most people picture a man with a plough or a tractor. But in rural India more than 75 per cent of the people working in agriculture are women (2025). They do most of the work — sowing, transplanting, harvesting and threshing. So a ‘farmer’ is very often a woman, and training, tools and government help must reach women too.

— foods eaten by a student in central India, sorted into five groups:

Most dishes mix several crops: one plate of idli-sambar needs rice, urad dal, arhar dal, vegetables and oil.

(a student in the Gangetic plain of Uttar Pradesh): Crops grown around me are wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, mustard, potato, pulses, mango and guava. Reasons: fertile alluvial soil brought by the Ganga and its tributaries; a subtropical climate with a wet monsoon for kharif rice and a cool winter for rabi wheat and mustard; water from the monsoon plus canals and tube wells; and flat land that is easy to plough and irrigate.

(same student): Coconut and coconut oil come from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, tea from Assam and the Nilgiris, apples from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, and cardamom from Kerala. They are not grown here because the climate does not suit them (coconut needs a warm, humid coast; apples need cold winters), the terrain is wrong (tea needs well-drained hill slopes, but we live on a flat plain), or the soil is not suitable.

After two weak monsoons, rain-fed crops would fail. Rice and other kharif crops (maize, jowar, bajra, groundnut) would become scarce first. Then wheat, gram and mustard would suffer as wells, ponds and soil moisture dry up. Green vegetables, fruit, pulses and cooking oil, and even milk (as fodder fails), would become costly. Prices would rise, so poorer families would find these foods hardest to get.

Sample answer — Punjab:

Classify each crop by its sowing month (Fig. 1.5): sown June–July with the monsoon = kharif; sown October–December = rabi; sown March–May = zaid.

Because the rule matches the kharif crop cycle — rain is useful only when it comes at the right time. Moderate rain at the start (Śhrāvaṇa) helps ploughing, sowing and germination. The heaviest rain in the middle months (Prauṣhṭhapada, Āśhvayuja) comes when the growing crop needs the most water. Light rain at the end (Kārtika) lets the crop ripen and be harvested without damage, and leaves moisture in the soil for rabi sowing.

The zones just mentioned are the six soil zones (shown in Fig. 1.9). States in each:

I live in Maharashtra. The main soil in my state is black soil (cotton soil), formed by the weathering of volcanic rocks. It holds a lot of moisture and is very fertile, so cotton, jowar, sugarcane and sunflower grow well. Along the Konkan coast there is laterite soil instead.

For your own state, find it on Fig. 1.9 and read its colour against the legend.

My field sample was dark brown, smooth and slightly sticky, with fine mineral grains, bits of root and leaf (humus) and earthworm casts. It is probably alluvial soil, laid down by a river over thousands of years. Signs of human activity: plastic, glass, brick pieces and ash. Over time, such waste will harm the soil’s living organisms and bare, hard ground will be eroded; adding compost and crop residue would make it richer.

— what grows on each soil type (from Fig. 1.10 and local knowledge):

— one branch of a family food flowchart (dish → crops → soil type):

Rajma comes from the mountain soil of the hills; rice, wheat and mustard from alluvial soil; onion and tomato from black soil.

Modern solutions inspired by traditional practices:

• Neem-based pesticides — from the old use of neem to keep insects away.
• Beejamrit (ICAR) — seed coating with cow dung and urine, like the old smearing of seeds with cow dung.
• Panchagavya — five cow products used as a biofertiliser.
• Organic farming — compost, seed cake and manure instead of chemicals (Sikkim).
• Drip irrigation — the same idea as bamboo drip irrigation of the Northeast.
• Terracing, mulching and crop rotation to protect the soil.

Sample report (five days of the morning farmers’ programme on All India Radio)

Categories of information: weather forecasts; market (mandī) prices; crop advice on sowing and irrigation; pest and disease alerts; government schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana; new research and training; animal husbandry.

Questions that came to my mind: Is a district forecast accurate enough for one field? Can a small farmer reach the mandī that pays more? Why are programmes rarely addressed to women farmers?

Indian agriculture is broader than growing crops — it includes farming, animal husbandry (livestock), forestry and horticulture, and in places fish rearing, beekeeping and silk. Old and new methods are used side by side — oxen and tractors, hand transplanting and machine transplanters (Fig. 1.1) — and many farmers use a combination of methods.

India’s seven climate types and its monsoons decide what grows where and when. The southwest monsoon (June–September) waters kharif crops such as rice, maize and cotton; the cool winter suits rabi crops such as wheat, mustard and gram; the hot summer suits zaid crops such as watermelon and cucumber. This rhythm keeps food available through the year.

India’s six major soils are alluvial, black, red, laterite, desert (sandy) and mountain / alpine. Each suits different crops — for example, wheat, rice and sugarcane on alluvial soil, and cotton on black soil. Soil is also a living system of organisms, humus, water and air. Farmers keep it healthy by crop rotation, multiple cropping, contour ploughing, organic manure, terracing and mulching.

Traditionally, farmers saved the best seeds from each harvest, passed them down in families and shared them in the community. Today many buy company seeds, which give higher yields and resist pests. But the seeds these plants produce are often not suitable for the next sowing, so farmers must buy again every season. This creates dependence on seed companies.

Sustainable farming keeps the high output of modern methods while avoiding their harm. Examples: drip and sprinkler irrigation that save water, precise use of fertilisers, organic farming with compost and neem-based pesticides (Sikkim is fully organic), and traditional practices tested by ICAR. It is inspired by Indian Knowledge Systems.

Main challenges: small landholdings (about three-fourths of a hectare on average) and low income; costly machines designed for big farms; climate change bringing untimely rain, droughts and floods; difficulty in selling at fair prices; and debt. Many farmers are forced to leave farming.

The government helps farmers by giving access to seeds, fertilisers and pesticides; weather forecasts and market information (also through digital technology); research and training; cheaper electricity for irrigation; crop insurance such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana; buying important crops at fair prices; and promoting cold storages.

Kerala is hot and humid, with very heavy rain from both monsoons and low-lying fields that hold water — ideal for rice, which needs heat and standing water. Punjab has a cool, dry winter, fertile alluvial soil and canal irrigation — ideal for wheat, a rabi crop.

If they swapped: wheat in Kerala would fail (no cool season; heavy rain would waterlog it). Rice in Punjab would grow only with heavy irrigation, using up groundwater.

(a) Kharif crops – (ii) crops grown during the monsoon
(b) Rabi crops – (i) crops during the winter
(c) Alluvial soil – (v) soil rich in nutrients deposited by rivers
(d) Terrace farming – (vi) method of farming on hillsides
(e) Alpine soil – (iii) thin, rough and rocky soil found in mountainous regions
(f) Zaid crops – (iv) crops grown in summer

A crop thrives only where all its needs are met: the right climate (temperature, rainfall, season), the right soil, enough water at the right time, and suitable terrain. For example, cotton grows well on moisture-holding black soil, tea on the hill slopes of the Northeast and the Nilgiris, and wheat in Punjab’s cool winter. Where a need is missing, the crop fails or needs costly irrigation.

Modern technology has helped farmers in these ways:

1. Higher yields — HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation (the Green Revolution) made India self-sufficient in food.
2. Less hard labour — tractors, harvesters and threshers make work faster and easier.
3. Saving water — drip and sprinkler irrigation.
4. Better decisions — weather forecasts, drones and digital market information.
5. Farming without soil — hydroponics.

Sustainable agriculture is important because it lets us grow enough food today without destroying the soil, water and living things that future farming depends on. Modern methods raised output but caused poorer soil, falling groundwater, pollution by chemicals, and harm to health and to bees. Sustainable farming — organic manure, neem-based pesticides, drip irrigation, crop rotation — balances good yields with care for Nature, as in Sikkim.

Challenges: small and shrinking landholdings; low income; costly machines; climate change (untimely rain, droughts, floods); debt; and falling groundwater.

Impact on people: farmers lose income, and some leave farming and move to cities. Harvests become smaller and less certain, so food prices rise for everyone, and the country’s food supply and economy suffer.

Sample points for the debate. For: traditional methods (phad systems, bamboo drip irrigation, farm ponds, Kallanai) are cheap, run by the community, use local materials, recharge groundwater and have lasted for centuries. Against: modern drip and sprinkler irrigation waste far less water, work even in low-rainfall areas and raise yields. Conclusion: the best system combines both — store rainwater the traditional way and deliver it to plants the modern way.

Sample answer (short essay): When I am sixty, around 2075, farming will look very different. Water will be precious, so farms will use drip irrigation and farm ponds. Small machines and drones will help on small plots. Some vegetables will grow in city buildings by hydroponics. More farmers will use neem pesticides and compost. But climate change will make the weather harder, so farmers will need crop insurance and hardy seeds. I hope women will finally be called farmers.

Issues (page 26): Himalayan glaciers melting because of global warming; too much water taken for irrigation; groundwater over-pumped by farms and industry; hundreds of dams blocking the natural flow.

Sample solutions and reasons: use drip irrigation (same crop, less water); harvest rainwater and recharge groundwater (refills the ground that feeds the river); release a minimum flow from dams (keeps the river alive); cut chemicals and treat sewage (cleaner water); plant trees and reduce pollution (slows warming).

In my home we use rice, wheat, barley (in sattu), millets, sesame, mustard, green gram, black gram, fenugreek, cotton (clothes), jute (bags), mango, grapes, dates and jamun.

Conclusion: most crops grown thousands of years ago are still part of our daily life. Indian farming and food habits have continued without a break, even though farming methods have changed.