Cash Crops in India
What is the meaning of Cash crop?
A crop that has good demand and has a ready market for sale,
An agricultural crop that is grown with the object of making profit by selling them,
A crop that is grown for sale rather than for personal use by the grower or cultivator.
Cash Crops in India
The cash crops in India can be divided into three groups, viz. (1) Fibers, (2) Drugs and Beverages, and (3) Oilseeds.
- Fibers
1.1 Cotton: Cotton is a major cash crop in India. Cotton grows in a warm and equable climate. As a rule, it is a dry region crop though it can grow also in the deltaic legion of West Bengal. The best soil for cotton cultivation is the regur or black cotton soil found in the Deccan.
The most important cotton growing regions in India are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
1.2 Jute: Jute is an important best firer. India is one of the principle producers of jute in the world. It is widely grown in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. The major jute producing states of India are West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa (Odisha), Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Jute grows in a hot and damp climate and requires a clayey and sandy soil. Jute is very largely exported from India.
- Drugs and Beverages
2.1 Tea: India is the second largest producer of tea in the world. Tea is generally grown on hillsides. It requires a deep, fertile, well-drained soil and a high temperature.
West Bengal, North-east India, and South India are the chief tea-growing regions in India.
2.2 Coffee: It is principally grown in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
- Oilseeds
Linseed, groundnut and castors are the three principal oilseeds grown in India. Linseed is grown principally in the Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Groundnut is grown principally in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Sesamum or til is grown extensively in Maharashtra. A large quantity of oil seeds is exported each year to foreign countries.
