Commercial crops in India and its growing areas Upsc

Commercial crops in India

Commercial crops are crops that are planted mainly for the purpose of selling on the market to make exports and to make high profits. They are also called cash crop or profit crop that is grown to sell for profit. These crops are usually purchased by third parties such as agents, brokers, factories, corporates etc.

Also, these crops are readily salable crops produced or gathered mainly for the international market.

At the international level commercial crops are cocoa, oil palm, rubber, kola etc.

Commercial crops in India are crops such as fibre ( cotton, mesta, and jute), Sugar (Sugarcane), and Oilseeds (Linseed, Sunflower).

i. Sugarcane

Sugarcane is the most important cash crop in the country and India is the second-largest producer(Kindly check the latest).

It is the raw material for the sugar industry and also provides gur and khandsari, molasses for alcohol industries. For Paper producing industries it provides Bagasse.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat are the largest producer of Sugar in India. Sugarcane takes almost a year to grow.

cash crops in india map - commercial crops in india upsc
Major Cash Crops in India Map as per States

ii. Cotton

It provides raw materials for Textile Industries and India is the second-largest producer of Cotton after China.

Cotton Producing States are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab which account for 79% of the country’s production.

iii. Jute

The tropical crop grows in alluvial soil.

Provides raw materials for Gunny bags, ropes, strings, carpet, hessian, rugs, clothes, tarpaulin, and upholstery.

In the production and cultivation of jute, West Bengal stands first, other cultivators are Bihar, Meghalaya, and Assam.


iv. Oil Seeds

Crops such as Linseed, Castor, Niger seed, Groundnut, etc are oilseed crops. These provide oil and oil cakes used to make lubricant, candles, cooking oil, etc.

Gujarat is the largest oil producer followed by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

India is the second-largest groundnut producer after China.

3.Plantation crops

Cultivated in hilly areas, used mostly for exports. Tea, coffee, rubber, and spices are the major plantation crops of India.

i. Tea

It grows in tropical and subtropical regions, it is also an evergreen plant. Tea is a labor-intensive crop and light shade is required for its rapid growth.

It requires high rainfall, but its roots cannot withstand waterlogging. These two varieties of Tea are cultivated in India namely Bohea from China and Assamica.

Also, some hybrid varieties are cultivated. India is the second-largest producer after China.

Assam is the largest producer, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal are other producers.

ii. Coffee

coffee growing areas in india map
coffee-growing areas in India map By Nicahlp, modified by Dr. Blofeld – Self-made based on File: India-locator-map-blank.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12186054

Grow in shady regions above 1000 and 1500 meters above sea level. There are two main varieties of Coffee Cultivated in India one is High quality ” Arabica ” which is cultivated more and the other is Robusta which is of Inferior quality.

India is the seventh-largest producer of Coffee. Karnataka is the largest producer of Coffee in India. It produces 71% in India and 2.5% in the world.

iii. Rubber

This plantation was first established in Kerala in 1902, these crops grow where the temperature is above 20 degrees Celsius and rainfall above 300 cm.

Major rubber producers are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andaman Nicobar Islands, and Kerala.

major rubber producing states in india map

major rubber producing states in india map

iv. Spices

  • Used for flavoring of foods and for medicines.
  • Pepper, areca nut, ginger, clove, cardamom, chilies are major spices.
  • In India Kerala is the largest producer of spices.
* * All the Notes in this blog, are referred from Tamil Nadu State Board Books and Samacheer Kalvi Books. Kindly check with the original Tamil Nadu state board books and Ncert Books.
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