Geography · Ch 11 — Land Resources and Agriculture
Sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is fundamentally a tropical crop. In India, while it can grow under rainfed conditions in sub-humid and humid climates, the vast majority of its cultivation depends on irrigation. This makes it largely an irrigated crop across the country.
The geography of sugarcane cultivation in India divides into two broad belts. In the Indo-Gangetic plain, Uttar Pradesh is the dominant state, concentrating the largest share of the crop's area. In western India, the growing area spreads across Maharashtra and Gujarat. In the south, sugarcane is cultivated in the irrigated tracts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
India's position in global sugarcane production is strong. As of 2018, India was the second largest producer in the world, after Brazil. The country accounts for about 19.7 per cent of the world's total sugarcane production. Despite this massive output, sugarcane occupies only 2.4 per cent of India's total cropped area — a reminder of how productive the crop is per unit of land.
Uttar Pradesh alone produces roughly two-fifths (about 40 per cent) of the country's sugarcane. The other leading producers — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh — are notable for having high yield levels. In contrast, sugarcane yield in northern India is low. …
Figure 3.8 is a single black-and-white photograph that fills the frame with a dense, mature sugarcane crop. The canes are tall and thick, standing close together, and the long leaves arch outward, creating a wall of vegetation. There are no people, buildings, or labels in the image — the focus is entirely on the crop itself at its peak growth stage.
The photograph is placed in the section on sugarcane cultivation, and it visually reinforces the key point that sugarcane is a tall, tropical grass that requires abundant water and warmth. The dense, upright growth shown in the image matches the textbook's description of sugarcane as largely an irrigated crop in India, especially in the Indo-Gangetic plain (Uttar Pradesh) and western India (Maharashtra and Gujarat). The mature canes in the photo are ready for harvest, which typically takes 10–12 months after planting.
What the figure teaches is that sugarcane is not a delicate or sparse crop — it grows in thick stands, which is why it occupies only 2.4% of India's cropped area yet produces nearly 20% of the world's sugarcane. The visual density of the photograph helps explain why yield per hectare can be high in southern states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, where irrigation is reliable, compared to the lower yields in northern India mentioned in the text. The image also subtly shows the crop's height and leaf structure, which are adaptations to tropical climates — long leaves for maximum photosynthesis and thick stems for sugar storage. …
The map is a choropleth outline of India, titled "INDIA / SUGARCANE". It includes the country's borders, neighbouring territories, a graticule (latitude-longitude grid), the Tropic of Cancer, a scale bar, and a north arrow. A single grey shade is used to mark the sugarcane-growing tracts.
The shaded areas show two main belts. The first is the upper Ganga plain, covering much of Uttar Pradesh and extending into Bihar. The second is a western cluster in Gujarat and Saurashtra. The third and largest shaded region is a broad peninsula belt running through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
What the map teaches is that sugarcane cultivation in India is not uniformly spread — it is concentrated in three distinct geographical zones. The northern belt (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) corresponds to the Indo-Gangetic plain, where the crop is largely irrigated. The western belt (Gujarat and Saurashtra) is a smaller but significant area. The southern peninsula belt (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh) is the most extensive, covering a continuous stretch from the west coast to the east coast. This pattern reflects the crop's need for tropical conditions and irrigation, as the textbook notes that while sugarcane is a tropical crop, in India it is largely irrigated. The map visually reinforces that Uttar Pradesh is the dominant producer (about t …