Agriculture Case Study: India vs USA

Introduction

• Agriculture is crucial for providing sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life.
• Larger holdings are more suitable for commercial agriculture as in USA, Canada, and Australia.

Agriculture in India and the USA

• A small village in India, Adilabad, Uttar Pradesh, is used as a case study.
• Munna Lal, a small farmer in Adilabad has about 1.5 hectares of farmland.
• He grows two crops a year on the fertile land, usually wheat, rice, and pulses.
• Munna Lal uses high-yielding varieties of seeds, takes advice from friends, elders, and government agricultural officers, and utilizes a tractor to plough his fields.
• He also uses a tubewell for irrigation, has two buffaloes, and a few hens.
• He sells milk at a cooperative store, receives advice from the society on fodder and livestock health, and sometimes gets credit from a bank or agricultural cooperative society.
• The average size of a farm in the USA is much larger than in India, typically 250 hectares.
• Joe Horan in Iowa, USA, owns 300 hectares and grows corn after ensuring soil and water resources are suitable.
• Horan focuses on pest control using chemical pesticides and makes use of a computer linked to a satellite for precise field imaging.
• He uses tractors, seed drills, levellers, combines harvesters, and threshers for various agricultural operations.
• Farmers in the USA are often seen as businessmen, unlike peasant farmers.

Different Types of Farming

• Subsistence Farming:
  • Practiced to meet the needs of the farmer's family.
  • Typically utilizes low levels of technology and household labor with a small output.
  • Can be further classified as intensive subsistence and primitive subsistence farming.
• Intensive Subsistence Farming:
  • Farmers cultivate small plots of land using simple tools and more labor.
  • More than one crop can be grown annually on the same plot due to favorable climatic conditions.
  • Rice is the primary crop, with others being wheat, maize, pulses, and oilseeds.
  • Prevalent in densely populated monsoon regions of South, Southeast, and East Asia.
• Commercial Farming:
  • Farms are large and employ modern technology and scientific methods for efficient production of crops
  • Primarily produced for profit.
  • Production is done in large quantities with the aim of supplying to the market.
  • Examples include cotton, grain, and livestock farming

Interesting Fact

• Organic Farming:
  • Uses organic manure and natural pesticides instead of chemicals.
  • Doesn't involve genetic modification to increase crop yields.