Agricultural Regionalization

Agricultural regionalization is needed to understand agricultural types, to understand challenges, and to plan for agriculture because Agriculture in India is diversified both in terms of crops and practices. The variations are partly due to Physical factors but mainly due to human factors.

Any region is a segment in space and so is an agricultural region. The size, boundaries, and features of the region depend on the purpose for which the region is made and also by whom the reason is made i.e Agricultural region is a subjective concept.

The main and popular agricultural regionalization methods

Dominant crop

1. first ranking crop regions
2. dividing India into rice region, wheat region, sugarcane region, cotton regions, etc
3. Either on the basis of the area coverage or quantity of production

Agricultural productivity regions

1. on the basis of agricultural yield
2. very high low and very low moderate productivity regions

Crop combinations

• The first ranking crop regions are the dominant crop regions ignore the importance of aircraft and doesn't reflect the agricultural diversity in totality India is Nova a mono cultural region and there is tremendous variety in crop and non crop combination it is not necessary that all crops which are grown is a distinguishing character for each and therefore which crops to consider and how to divide the region is a subjective excise and can vary from geographer to geographer
• In 1954 we were developed statistical technique to the market and identify the crop combination regions in Midwest us considered the aerial unit on the basis of the smallest administrative units such as districts in India we were ignored any craft that occupy less than 1% of the crop area is method is used to identify which crops are to be considered in the crop combination analysis uses statistical data he calculates deviation of actual percentage of Crop area in all possible combination against a theoretical standard deviation which was the least is considered a representative crop combination for the region deviation is calculated through a formula

Crops and socio-economic criteria

Agro-climatic regionalization and Agro-Ecological regionalization

Agro-Climatic regionalisation

A plan with a scheme with planning consideration not only for agricultural planning rather than for agriculture-based planning for India it is now established that agriculture is the most important defining sector any developmental planning has to include agriculture

Agro climatic planning and regionalisation has been accepted as the model for India's comprehensive development By Planning Commission. The scheme which have been approved was the one given by Randhawa

Aim of Agro climatic regionalisation

• Suitable for local area condition and local area resources
• Recommends non-agricultural sectors that are dependent on agriculture or that supplements or complements agricultural potential.
• Overall development social sector ecological concerns promoting trade

Criteria and bases for Agro climatic regionalisation

Randhawa divided India into following 15 Agro-Climatic regions

1. Eastern Himalayas
2. Western Himalayas
3. lower Ganga Plains
4. middle Ganga Plains
5. upper Ganga Plains
6. trans Ganga Plains
7. Western dry regions
8. Gujarat Plains
9. Eastern plateau and hills
10. Northern plateau and hills
11. Central plateau and hills
12. Southern plateau and hills
13. Eastern coastal plain and hills
14. Western Coastal Plains and Hills
15. Islands region

Agricultural Ecological Region

AER is more on the lines of the ACR concept with the modification that Ecology and local biodiversity is explicitly detailed.

The scheme suggested by NBSSLUP based on the Bio-Geographic regions of India is famous. It takes into account soil diversity while including concerns related to the overuse of chemical fertilizers. So, this scheme is more assertive about the practice of organic farming and the use of local traditional skills, and the development of agriculture based on the watershed concept.

The 8 Agro-Ecological regions are

1. Humid West Himalayan region
2. Humid Bengal and Assam plains
3. Humid Himalayas and Bay of Bengal Islands
4. The sub humid regions of Satluj Ganga basin excluding Bengal and Assam plains
5. This subhumid and humid south east highlands
   1. Eastern Ghats
   2. Chota Nagpur Plateau
   3. Bastar highlands
6. Arid Western plains
7. Sub humid and semi arid regions of Western Ghats and Karnataka plateau
8. The semi-arid Deccan Lava plateau and Central Highlands

Previous years questions

• 2019: Correlate the agro-climatic zones with agro-ecological regions of India
• 2013: Explain the method of delineating crop-association regions with reference to India.
• 2012: Divide India into agriculture regions and critically examine the role of ecological and human factors responsible for the transformation of the agriculture economy in any one region.
• 2008: Discuss the bases of identifying agro-climatic zones and explain the core strategies for agricultural development
• 1998: Discuss the cropping patterns in different agricultural regions of India.
• 1997: Divide Peninsular India into agricultural regions. Explain the basis of such a regionalization