Geography · Ch 11 — Land Resources and Agriculture
Fibre Crops
Fibre Crops
Fibre Crops: The Backbone of the Textile Industry
Fibre crops are plants cultivated primarily for the fibres they produce. These fibres are the raw material for making cloth, bags, sacks, ropes, and a wide range of other everyday items. In India, two fibre crops dominate the agricultural landscape: cotton and jute.
Cotton
Cotton is a tropical crop grown during the kharif season. It thrives in semi-arid areas of the country.
Historical Context and Expansion
India lost a very large proportion of its cotton-growing area to Pakistan during the Partition of 1947. However, over the last 50 years, the acreage under cotton has increased considerably, compensating for that loss.
Types of Cotton
India grows two main types of cotton:
- Short staple (Indian) cotton – the traditional variety.
- Long staple (American) cotton – known locally as ‘narma’ in the north-western parts of the country.
Climatic Requirement
A clear sky during the flowering stage is critical for a good cotton crop. Cloudy or rainy weather at this time can severely damage the yield.
Major Producing States
The leading cotton-growing states are Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana.
Yield Variations
- High per-hectare output is achieved under irrigated conditions, especially in the north-western region of the country.
- Very low yield is observed in Maharashtra, where cotton is largely grown under rainfed (unirrigated) conditions.
The contrast in yield between irrigated north-western India and rainfed Maharashtra highlights the critical role of irrigation in cotton productivity.
Jute
Jute is a versatile fibre used for making coarse cloth, bags, sacks, and decorative items. It is a major cash crop in West Bengal and the adjoining eastern parts of the country.
Historical Context
Like cotton, India lost large jute-growing areas to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during Partition.
Global and National Significance
- India currently produces about three-fifths (60%) of the world’s total jute production.
- West Bengal alone accounts for about three-fourths (75%) of India’s jute output.
Other Growing Areas …
This map is a thematic choropleth of India, designed to show the geographical distribution of the country’s two main fibre crops: cotton and jute. The base is an outline map of India, including neighbouring countries, the graticule (latitude-longitude grid), the Tropic of Cancer, a scale bar, and a north arrow. The title at the top reads “INDIA / COTTON AND JUTE”.
The legend uses two distinct hatch patterns. Cross-hatching (a grid of intersecting lines) represents jute. Diagonal hatching (parallel slanted lines) represents cotton.
Jute is shown only in a small, concentrated area: West Bengal and the adjoining eastern parts of the country. This matches the textbook’s statement that West Bengal accounts for about three-fourths of India’s jute production, with Bihar and Assam as other growing areas. The map makes clear that jute is a highly localised crop, not spread across the nation.
Cotton, by contrast, appears in two broad belts. One is in the north-west: Punjab, Haryana, northern Rajasthan, and Gujarat. The other stretches across the Deccan plateau, covering Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. This dual distribution reflects the textbook’s distinction between the irrigated, high-yield cotton of the north-west (where the long-staple ‘narma’ variety is grown) and the rainfed, lower-yield cotton of the Deccan. …