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Farming Systems in India are strategically utilized, according to the locations where they are most suitable. The farming systems that significantly contribute to the domestic GDP of India are subsistence farming, organic farming, and industrial farming.〔("India's Role in World Agriculture." ) Monitoring Agricultural trade Policy. European Commission, December 2007.〕 Regions throughout India differ in types of farming they use; some are based on horticulture, ley farming, agroforestry, and many more.〔 Due to India's geographical location, certain parts experience different climates, thus affecting each region's agricultural productivity differently. India is very dependent on its monsoon cycle for large crop yields. India's agriculture has an extensive background which goes back to at least 10 thousand years. Currently the country holds the second position in agricultural production in the world. In 2007, agriculture and other indu made up more than 16% of India's GDP. Despite the steady decline in agriculture's contribution to the country's GDP, India agriculture is the biggest industry in the country and plays a key role in the socioeconomic growth of the country. India is the second biggest producer of wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane, silk, groundnuts, and dozens more. It is also the second biggest harvester of vegetables and fruit, representing 8.6% and 10.9% of overall production, respectively. The major fruits produced by India are mangoes, papayas, sapota, and bananas. India also has the biggest number of livestock in the world, holding 281 million. In 2008, the country housed the second largest number of cattle in the world with 175 million.〔Krishna, K. L., and Uma Kapila (eds) (2009). (''Readings in Indian Agriculture and Industry'' ). Darya Ganj, New Delhi: Academic Foundation. ISBN 8171887384〕 ==Brief history== Agriculture in India began in about 9000 BCE when Indians learned to cultivate plants and domesticate crops such as wheat, barley, and jujube and animals such as goat and sheep.〔("History of Organic Farming." ) WWOOF India. 2007.〕 Cotton was cultivated around the 5th millennium BCE and became a well developed industry with the continuation of many methods of cotton spinning and fabrication into the modern industrialization of India. By 4500 BCE, the development of irrigation made the Indian continent prosper. As a result, Indian civilization grew, leading to more planned settlements that made use of drainage and sewers and introduced the development of storage systems such as artificial reservoirs and canals, making irrigation much more sophisticated.〔 Around 200 CE, the Tamil people, who were an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India, cultivated a vide variety of crops such as rice, sugarcane, black pepper, various grains, coconuts, beans, etc. The spice trade gained momentum in Indian agriculture as spices native to India such as cinnamon and black pepper were being shipped to the Mediterranean.〔 Crystallized sugar was discovered around 320 CE and soon after technology for sugar-refining developed.〔 As technologies were being further advanced, irrigation systems were introduced which gave rise to economic growth. The landscape was divided into agricultural 'zones', each producing rice, wheat or millets. Rice production was dominant in Gujarat while wheat dominated north and central India. Other crops to be cultivated were introduced during this period such as tobacco, tea, coffee, pineapples and papaya. From the 18th to the 20th century, India was under British control. The combination of various factors, especially the war in 1918(world war 1) and being under British rule stagnated India's agricultural economy. Very few of India's commercial crops such as cotton, indigo, opium, and rice made it to the global market.〔 Food and nonfood outputs were declining as population was increasing, leaving India in an acute crisis. As the market for irrigation developed, community effort and private investment soared. This eventually helped get India's agriculture back on its feet. Since India's independence, food and cash crop supply has greatly improved with the establishment of special programs such as The Grow More Food Campaign〔 in the 1940s and the Integrated Production Program in the 1950s. Land reclamation and development, mechanisation, electrification, and the use of chemicals soon followed agricultural development. Before India's agricultural and economic fall under British control, India's entire agriculture was practised organically; materials like fertilizers and pesticides were obtained from plant and animal products. Organic farming shifted to chemical farming in the 1960s when the Green Revolution became the government's most important program for sustaining a rich and stable agricultural economy. India has become one of the largest producers of wheat, edible oil, potatoes, spices, rubber, tea, fishing, fruits, and vegetables in the world. Between 2003 and 2004, agriculture accounted for 22% of India's GDP and employed 58% of the country's workforce and continues to hold these statistics today〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Farming systems in India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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