NCERT 8th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Agriculture

Question: Give reasons.
(i) In India agriculture is a primary activity.
(ii) Different crops are grown in different regions.

Answer:

1. Agriculture is an activity of growing crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers and rearing of livestock. It is a primary activity since it directly involves in natural resources. In India, a huge number of people derive the activity from their ancestors. Due to lack of literacy in general, farmers prefer agriculture since they acquire the required skills from their ancestors, and so feel comfortable with it.
2. The growing of crops depends on a lot of factors. Climate, rainfall, humidity, etc are important factors. In absence of certain conditions, it may not be possible to grow a certain crop. So, different crops are grown in different regions.

Question: Find out the difference between the lifestyle of farmers in the USA and India on the basis of pictures collected from magazines, books, newspapers and the internet.

Answer: The lifestyle of an Indian farmer is quite different from that of a farmer in the USA. An Indian farmer does not have much land whereas the average size of a farm in the USA is about 250 hectares. An Indian farmer lives in his house but an American farmer lives in his farm. A farmer in India applies his own experience, and advice of other farmers and elders regarding farming practices. But a farmer in the USA gets his soil tested in laboratories to assess the nutrients of the soil. An Indian farmer does not know of any technical advancements whereas a farmer in the USA has a computer which is linked to the satellite. In comparison to an Indian farmer, an American farmer is much more advanced in every aspect.

Question: Write a short note on the types of economic activities. Give examples.

Answer: The three types of economic activities are primary, secondary and tertiary.

Primary Activities: Activities which involve direct extraction and production of natural resources are called primary activities. Examples: agriculture, fishing, mining.

Secondary Activities: Activities which are concerned with the processing of natural resources are called secondary activities. Examples: manufacturing of finished products.

Tertiary Activities: Activities which fall neither in the primary category nor the secondary category are called tertiary activities. They form a support to primary and secondary activities. Examples: selling goods, advertising and banking.

Question: Name the inputs and outputs of agriculture in general. Also mention the various operations involved.

Answer: The inputs in agriculture are seeds, fertilizers, machinery, labour, etc. The operations involved in agriculture are ploughing, sowing, irrigation, weeding and harvesting. As outputs of the farming activity, a farmer gets crops, wool, dairy products and poultry products.