Question

Indian agriculture greatly depends on
A) South-east monsoons
B) South-west monsoons
C) Retreating Monsoons
D) North-east Monsoons

Answer 1

Hint: Agriculture, along with its related industries, is India's most important source of income. 70% of rural households still rely on agriculture as their primary source of income, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. Total foodgrain output was predicted to be 275 million tonnes in 2017-18. (MT).

Complete answer:
The Indian economy is mainly reliant on agriculture, and Indian farmers' livelihoods are greatly reliant on the Monsoon rains. The Southwest Monsoon, also known as the summer monsoon, is a four-month period in India that lasts from June to September and produces more than 75% of the country's annual rainfall. The southwest Monsoon determines the fate of the Kharif crops, which are crucial to India's economy and survival.

The climate in India ranges from humid and dry tropical in the south to temperate alpine in the north, with a wide range of ecosystems. India is home to four of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots and 15 of the WWF's worldwide 200 eco-regions. Despite accounting for only 2.4 percent of the world's surface area, India is home to over 8% of all documented species, including approximately 45,000 plant and 91,000 animal species.

Changes in the social dimensions of agriculture have also been seen. Agriculture is becoming more feminised as males migrate from rural to urban areas, the number of women-headed families rises, and the output of labour-intensive cash crops increases.

Indian agriculture greatly depends on Southwest monsoons. Thus the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: However, India continues to face a number of developing concerns. Agriculture's proportion to GDP has steadily fallen from 1951 to 2011, as the Indian economy has diversified and risen. Despite reaching food self-sufficiency in production, India still has a quarter of the world's hungry people and over 190 million people who are undernourished.