Cash Crops — Part 1: Sugarcane, oilseeds and cotton: visual lesson, ICSE Class 10 Geography (H.C.G. Paper 2)

Lesson

Crops grown for sale

Part 1 — Cash crops are grown mainly for sale and as raw materials for industry: sugar mills, oil mills and textile mills. They bring farmers money income and feed India’s agro-based industries and exports.

In this lesson you will

State the climatic and soil needs of sugarcane, explain ratooning, and explain why yields are higher in peninsular India
State the season, requirements and leading states for groundnut, mustard and soya bean
Explain why black soil and a long frost-free period suit cotton and name the leading states

Table of five cash crops with season, a leading state and the industry they supply
Crop	Season	A leading state (early 2020s)	Industry
Sugarcane	Long, year-round	Uttar Pradesh	Sugar, gur
Groundnut	Mainly kharif	Gujarat	Edible oil
Cotton	Kharif	Gujarat	Textiles
Jute	Kharif	West Bengal	Sacking, ropes
Tea	Plantation, year-round	Assam	Beverage, export

Concept

Sugarcane: what it needs

Sugarcane is a tropical and sub-tropical crop with a long growing period of ten to eighteen months, so it does not fit a single season. Temperature: hot and humid, about 21–27 °C; frost and the dry, hot loo harm it. Rainfall: about 75–150 cm; elsewhere irrigation is essential. Soil: deep, fertile, well-drained alluvial or black soil, with plenty of manure and fertiliser. Labour: much labour for planting, weeding, irrigating and cutting. Sugar mills must be close, because cut cane loses sugar within a day and is bulky.

Table of the conditions needed for sugarcane
Condition	Sugarcane needs
Temperature	About 21–27 °C, no frost
Rainfall	About 75–150 cm or irrigation
Soil	Deep alluvial or black soil
Growing period	Ten to eighteen months
Other	Much labour; mill nearby

Diagram

Planting and ratooning

Sugarcane is planted from setts — pieces of stem with two or three buds — laid in furrows. After the first harvest, the stubble left in the ground sprouts again and gives a second crop, called the ratoon crop; this practice is ratooning. Advantages: no new setts or ploughing needed, so it saves money and time; the crop matures sooner. Disadvantages: yields fall with each ratoon, and pests and diseases build up, so after two or three ratoons the field is replanted.

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