NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 13 The Story of Indian Farming
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
Farming is one of the oldest occupations of humankind, and India's oldest story. Broadly, ‘agriculture’ covers farming, animal husbandry, forestry and horticulture , and in some places pisciculture and silk rearing too. A little over 18 per cent of India's GDP and about 46 per cent of its working population depend on agriculture and allied activities (2022-2023). In rural India, more than 75 per cent of those working in agriculture are women (2025). Indian farming goes back to prehistory. Rice grains appear in the Ganga Plain as early as the 7th–8th millennium BCE ; barley and millets were cultivated at Mehrgarh in the 7th millennium BCE; barley and wheat were the staples of the Harappans. Fig. 1.2 shows intercropping at Kalibangan around 2800 BCE — and the very same criss-cross furrows st
- Chapter opening
- India's Agricultural Landscape
- The monsoon and agriculture
- The rhythm of seasons and crops: kharif, rabi, and zaid
- The Arthaśhāstra on what makes a good rainy season
- Soils of India
- Soil-crop linkages
- Sustainable pathways
- The Role of the Government
- The chapter in seven points
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Worth remembering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | Preparation of soil, cultivation of plants, rearing of livestock and often growing of trees — broadly farming, animal husbandry, forestry and horticulture | Page 2, India's Agricultural Landscape | From Latin agri = field and culture = to cultivate (DON'T MISS OUT, page 2) |
| Agriculture and allied activities | The Government of India's grouping: agriculture, livestock activities, beekeeping (apiculture), fisheries, silkworm rearing and silk yarn, and fibre production such as cotton and hemp | DON'T MISS OUT, page 2 | Just over 18% of GDP; about 46% of the working population (2022-2023) |
| Threshing | Removing the edible grain from the straw or husk, manually or using a machine | Margin note, page 2 | More than 75% of rural agricultural workers are women (2025) — they sow, harvest and thresh |
| Intercropping | The practice of growing two or more different crops simultaneously | Margin note, page 4; Fig. 1.2, Fig. 1.3 | Seen in the perpendicular furrows at Kalibangan, c. 2800 BCE — and again in the 1960s |
| Grafting | Joining one plant with another so that they grow as a single plant, combining desirable traits like pest resistance or sweetness | Margin note, page 5 | The Bṛihatsamhitā describes a grafting method still in use today |
| Agroclimatic zone | A region defined by combining climate factors, soil and terrain types, and vegetation | Pages 6–7 | India has 15 — e.g. Upper Gangetic Plain, Southern Plateau and Hills, Western Dry Region |
| Kharif / rabi / zaid | The monsoon, winter and summer cropping seasons | Pages 8–9; Fig. 1.5 | Arabic words used since Mughal times; earlier kedāra, haimana, graiṣhmika |
| Humus | The dark organic matter in soil formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter; rich in nutrients, retains moisture | Margin note, page 10 | Humus is the Latin word for ‘earth' or ‘soil' |
| Weathering | The process by which rocks and minerals are broken down into soil particles by physical, chemical or biological means | Margin note, page 12 | Black, red, laterite and alpine soils are all named by how they were weathered |
| Silt | Fine, dust-like sediment of rock and mineral particles — larger than clay, smaller than sand, and easily carried by rivers | Margin note, page 12 | Silt carried from the mountains is what makes alluvial soil rich |
| Bedrock | The original rock from which new rocks and soils are derived through weathering, erosion and other processes | Margin note, page 13; Fig. 1.8 | Stage 1 of soil formation: bedrock begins to disintegrate |
| Soil conservation | Managing soil to prevent its degradation and preserve its productivity | Margin note, page 14 | Traditional: crop rotation, multiple cropping, contour ploughing · Modern: terracing, afforestation, mulching |
| Panchagavya | A fermented mixture of five cow products — dung, urine, milk, curd and ghee | DON'T MISS OUT, page 14 | Recent studies show it works as a biofertiliser and raises disease resistance |
| Beejamrit | An ICAR-developed paste of cow dung and urine with other materials, used to coat seeds before planting | Page 19 | Protects seeds from spoiling and reduces germination time |
| Phad system | A community-based irrigation system that diverts river water to fields through small canals | Page 17 | Found particularly in Maharashtra |
| Bamboo drip irrigation | Bamboo pipes used to channel water from springs to fields | Page 17; Fig. 1.14 | Traditional in parts of northeastern India |
| Kallanai | The grand anicut built by Karikāla across the Kaveri about 1,800 years ago (LET'S REMEMBER, page 17) | Page 17 | A massive water-diverting structure that still irrigates thousands of hectares |
| Drip / sprinkler irrigation | Drip (trickle) irrigation delivers water slowly and directly to the roots through tubes and emitters; sprinklers spray water into the air so it falls like artificial rain | Pages 17–18; Figs. 1.15, 1.16 | Both save water — vital because groundwater reserves are fast decreasing |
| Kulāgar | A traditional homestead farming system — Konkani kula (family) + āgar (storehouse) — growing food crops, cash crops, fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal plants around the home | DON'T MISS OUT, pages 20–21 | Common in the Konkan Plains (Goa) |
| Gokṛiṣhi | A holistic system in which cows give manure for organic fertiliser and bullocks plough the fields | DON'T MISS OUT, page 21 | Aligned with the ṛitu chakra, the cycle of seasons |
| Green Revolution | The 1960s–70s movement bringing high-yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds, increased irrigation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and mechanised equipment | Page 21 | M.S. Swaminathan, its architect, received the Bharat Ratna |
| Organic farming | Farming that avoids chemical fertilisers and pesticides, relying on compost, seed cake and animal manure | Page 22 | Sikkim is the world's first 100 per cent organic state — chemicals banned in 2014 |
| Hydroponics | Growing plants in nutrient-rich water solutions, with minerals given directly to the roots | DON'T MISS OUT, page 24 | An option for urban farming and areas with poor soil — no soil needed at all |
| Landholding / hectare | A landholding is an area of land a person owns; 1 hectare = 10,000 square metres (an acre is about 4047 sq m) | Margin notes, page 25 | India's average landholding is about three-fourths of a hectare — roughly a football field |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 1
- India's Agricultural Landscape — THINK ABOUT IT Page 2
- India's Agricultural Landscape — LET’S EXPLORE Page 3
- The monsoon and agriculture — LET’S EXPLORE Page 7
- The rhythm of seasons and crops: kharif, rabi, and zaid — LET’S EXPLORE Page 9
- The Arthaśhāstra on what makes a good rainy season — DON’T MISS OUT Page 10
- Soils of India — LET’S EXPLORE Page 11
- Soil-crop linkages — LET’S EXPLORE Page 11
- Sustainable pathways — LET’S EXPLORE Page 22
- The Role of the Government — LET’S EXPLORE Page 25
- The chapter in seven points — Before we move on … Page 26–27
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions and activities Page 27–28