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Farming Types and Green Revolution | ISC Class 12 Geography

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GeographyISC Class 12 · Agriculture

Farming Types, Green Revolution and Diversification (ISC Class 12 Geography)

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Wet farming suits areas with over about 200 cm of rain or assured irrigation, and dry farming suits areas under about 75 cm. Cropping intensity is gross cropped area divided by net sown area, times 100. The first Green Revolution used HYV seeds, fertilisers, irrigation and machinery; the Second stresses micro-irrigation, organic, precision and green farming. Animal husbandry, market gardening and orchards diversify income.

Notice how rainfall sets the farming type: under 75 cm needs dry farming, over 200 cm allows wet farming with two or three crops a year.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification

1. Wet farming. Practised where rainfall exceeds about 200 cm or irrigation is assured (north-east, west coast, West Bengal, deltas). Water-loving crops such as rice, jute and sugarcane are grown, and two or three crops a year are possible. Problems include floods and leaching of soil.

2. Dry farming. Practised in areas with under about 75 cm of rain and no irrigation (western Rajasthan, parts of Gujarat, the rain-shadow Deccan). Drought-resistant crops such as bajra, jowar, ragi, pulses and groundnut are grown. Moisture is conserved by deep ploughing, mulching, contour bunding, fallowing, low plant density and short-duration varieties. Yields are low and uncertain. Rain-fed areas between 75 and 200 cm grow a mix of crops.

3. Crop rotation. Growing different crops in succession on the same field instead of the same crop repeatedly, for example rice (kharif), wheat (rabi) and a pulse (zaid), or a cereal followed by a legume. Benefits: restores fertility (legumes fix nitrogen), breaks pest and disease cycles, controls weeds, uses nutrients from different depths and spreads risk.

4. Intensity of cropping. The number of crops raised on the same field in a year: gross cropped area divided by net sown area, times 100. It is high in irrigated Punjab, Haryana and West Bengal and low in dry areas. Crops linked to high intensity are short-duration HYV rice and wheat, vegetables and zaid pulses.

5. Problems of Indian agriculture. Dependence on the monsoon (about half the sown area is rain-fed); small and fragmented holdings (average about 1 hectare); low productivity; soil degradation (erosion, salinity, waterlogging, over-use of chemicals); lack of capital and credit and indebtedness to moneylenders; inadequate seeds, fertilisers and irrigation; poor marketing and storage with middlemen and post-harvest loss; disguised unemployment; limited mechanisation; over-use of groundwater and chemicals in Green Revolution areas; climate change; and insecure tenancy.

6. First Green Revolution. Need: food shortages and imports, the droughts of 1965-67, rapid population growth and stagnant yields. Inputs from 1966-67 in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh: HYV seeds of wheat and rice, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, assured irrigation, machinery and rural electrification, credit, minimum support prices and procurement, agricultural universities and extension, and consolidation of holdings. Results: large increases in wheat and later rice output, and self-sufficiency in food grains. Limitations: regional and crop imbalance, a widening gap between rich and poor farmers, soil degradation, groundwater depletion and pesticide pollution.

7. Subsistence to commercial. The Green Revolution produced surpluses for sale. Irrigation, credit, electrification, roads, markets and price support encouraged growing crops for profit (wheat, rice, sugarcane, cotton, fruit and vegetables) with purchased inputs. Subsistence farming for the family's own needs survives on small rain-fed farms.

8. Second Green Revolution. It aims to raise productivity sustainably, spread gains to rain-fed and eastern regions and more crops, and repair damage from the first. Strategies: micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler) and watershed development; organic farming; precision farming (soil testing, remote sensing, GPS, sensors); green agriculture (integrated pest, nutrient and natural resource management); eco-agriculture; white agriculture (micro-organisms as bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides); biotechnology and drought-, salinity- and pest-tolerant varieties; diversification into horticulture, dairy, poultry and fisheries; extending the gains to eastern India and to pulses and oilseeds; and better credit, insurance and market access. The first relied on more inputs; the second on smarter, sustainable use.

9. Animal husbandry. The rearing of livestock (cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry) for milk, meat, eggs, wool, hides and draught power. Importance: supplementary income and employment, especially for small and landless farmers and women; insurance against crop failure; manure and fuel (dung cakes, biogas); draught power; nutrition (India is the largest milk producer, through Operation Flood or the White Revolution); and raw materials for leather, wool and dairy.

10. Market gardening and orchards. Market gardening is the intensive cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers on small plots near cities for urban markets; orchard farming grows fruit trees (mango, banana, apple, citrus, grapes, pomegranate) commercially. Growth reasons: rising urban demand and incomes, changing diets and health awareness; high value per hectare, suiting small holdings; better transport, cold storage and processing; export chances; support from the National Horticulture Mission (now MIDH); diverse climates and employment. Major states: Maharashtra (grapes, pomegranates, onions), Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (apples), Uttar Pradesh (mangoes), Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (bananas).

Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification: key facts

Cropping intensity
  • Gross cropped area
  • divided by net sown area
  • multiplied by 100
Wet farming
Rain over about 200 cm or irrigation | rice, jute, sugarcane
Dry farming
  • Rain under about 75 cm
  • no irrigation
  • bajra, jowar, ragi, pulses, groundnut
First Green Revolution inputs
  • HYV seeds
  • fertilisers and pesticides
  • irrigation
  • machinery
  • credit and support prices
Second Green Revolution strategies
  • Micro-irrigation
  • organic farming
  • precision farming
  • green agriculture
  • biotechnology
  • diversification

How to answer Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification questions

For farming questions, define, give conditions and crops, and add one benefit and one problem.

  1. 1Define the term in one line (wet farming, crop rotation, cropping intensity).
  2. 2Give the rainfall or condition limit with numbers.
  3. 3Name two crops and a region.
  4. 4For Green Revolution answers, list inputs for the first and strategies for the second separately.
  5. 5Close with a benefit and a limitation.

Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Calculating cropping intensity on a farm

Suppose a farmer owns 4 hectares of irrigated land, grows rice and wheat on all of it and a pulse in the zaid season on 2 hectares.

Find the gross cropped area, the cropping intensity and the area sown more than once.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Gross cropped area = 4 (rice) + 4 (wheat) + 2 (pulse) = 10 hectares.
  2. Net sown area = 4 hectares.
  3. Cropping intensity = 10 / 4 x 100 = 250 per cent; area sown more than once = 10 - 4 = 6 hectares.

Answer: Gross cropped area 10 ha; cropping intensity 250 per cent; area sown more than once 6 ha.

Memory hook: Count the land once, count the crops every time.

Why a farmer rotates with a pulse

Suppose a farmer has noticed that wheat after wheat gives less and less grain, while a field that grew gram last year gives a better wheat crop.

Explain the observation using crop rotation.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Legumes such as gram fix nitrogen in the soil, restoring fertility.
  2. Rotation also breaks pest and disease cycles.

Answer: The pulse restores nitrogen and breaks pest cycles, so the following wheat does better.

Memory hook: Pulses pay back the soil.

Tricks to remember Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

  • 200 and 75

    Wet farming: over about 200 cm. Dry farming: under about 75 cm.

    Use it when: Farming types.

  • First: more; Second: smarter

    First Green Revolution = more inputs. Second = precise, organic, micro-irrigated, diversified.

    Use it when: Comparing the two revolutions.

  • S-F-I-M-C

    Seeds, Fertilisers, Irrigation, Machines, Credit: inputs of the first Green Revolution.

    Use it when: Inputs.

Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Crop rotation · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level

What is crop rotation? State two advantages.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Crop rotation is growing different crops in succession on the same field.
  2. Advantages: restores fertility (legumes fix nitrogen); breaks pest and disease cycles.

Answer: Growing different crops in turn on a field; restores fertility and breaks pest cycles.

Example 2: Cropping intensity calculation · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level

Invented data: a village has a net sown area of 800 hectares and a gross cropped area of 1,280 hectares. Find the cropping intensity and the area sown more than once.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. Cropping intensity = 1,280 / 800 x 100 = 160 per cent.
  2. Area sown more than once = 1,280 - 800 = 480 hectares.

Answer: 160 per cent; 480 hectares.

Example 3: Wet versus dry farming · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Two farmers ask what to grow. Farmer P lives in a delta with over 200 cm of rain; Farmer Q lives in western Rajasthan with under 75 cm and no canal. Name the type of farming for each, suggest two crops each, and say how Q can protect the crop from drought.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. P: wet farming; crops such as rice and jute (or sugarcane); two or three crops a year are possible.
  2. Q: dry farming; crops such as bajra and jowar (or ragi, pulses, groundnut).
  3. Q conserves moisture by deep ploughing, mulching, contour bunding or fallowing, and chooses short-duration varieties.

Answer: P: wet farming (rice, jute). Q: dry farming (bajra, jowar) with moisture conservation.

Example 4: Two Green Revolutions · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

Compare the first and the Second Green Revolution on inputs or strategies, regions and a limitation or aim.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. First: HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, assured irrigation, machinery and rural electrification, credit and support prices.
  2. Second: micro-irrigation, organic and precision farming, green and white agriculture, biotechnology and diversification.
  3. Regions: first mainly Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh; second aims to spread gains to rain-fed and eastern regions.
  4. Limitation of the first: regional and crop imbalance, soil degradation and groundwater depletion.
  5. Aim of the second: sustainable productivity growth that repairs this damage.

Answer: The first used more inputs in the north-west and caused imbalance and degradation; the second uses smarter, sustainable methods and spreads gains to other regions.

Example 5: Evaluate a statement · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Case: A leader says, 'The Green Revolution solved all the problems of Indian agriculture.' (a) Give two achievements. (b) Give three problems that remain or were created. (c) Name two measures of the Second Green Revolution that respond to them.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
  1. (a) Large increases in wheat and later rice, and self-sufficiency in food grains.
  2. (b) Regional and crop imbalance; widening gap between rich and poor farmers; soil degradation, groundwater depletion and pesticide pollution; also small holdings and monsoon dependence remain.
  3. (c) Micro-irrigation to save water; organic and integrated nutrient management to reduce chemical use; diversification and extending gains to eastern India.

Answer: (a) Higher output, food self-sufficiency (b) imbalance, inequality, degradation (c) micro-irrigation, organic and integrated management, diversification.

Where students lose marks in Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

  • Mistake: Confusing the inputs of the first Green Revolution with the strategies of the second

    Both lists are learnt together.

    Do this: First: seeds, chemicals, irrigation, machines. Second: micro-irrigation, organic and precision farming.

    Usually costs: 2 marks.

  • Mistake: Wrong cropping intensity formula

    Net and gross are swapped.

    Wrong working

    Intensity = 800 / 1,280 x 100 = 62.5 per cent

    Right working

    Intensity = 1,280 / 800 x 100 = 160 per cent

    Do this: Gross over net.

    Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks.

  • Mistake: Describing dry farming as farming without crops

    It is farming of drought-resistant crops with moisture conservation.

    Do this: Add the crops and methods.

    Usually costs: 1 mark.

  • Mistake: Listing problems without examples

    Problems of Indian agriculture are stated as one-word points.

    Do this: Give a short reason for each.

    Usually costs: 1 to 2 marks.

Exam tips

  • Quote rainfall limits for wet and dry farming.
  • Show the formula and each step in cropping intensity.
  • Give a limitation of the first Green Revolution before the second.
  • Crop-by-crop conditions and states are on the next topic page.

Practice questions on Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

  1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

    Cropping intensity is calculated as:
    (a) net sown area / gross cropped area x 100
    (b) gross cropped area / net sown area x 100
    (c) gross cropped area - net sown area
    (d) fallow land / net sown area x 100

    Hint

    Crops counted every time.

    Answer

    (b).

  2. Q2 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    State four methods of conserving moisture in dry farming.

    Hint

    Ploughing, mulching, bunding, fallow.

    Answer

    Deep ploughing, mulching, contour bunding, keeping land fallow; also low plant density and short-duration varieties.

  3. Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

    Invented data: a state has a net sown area of 6.5 million hectares and an area sown more than once of 5.2 million hectares. Find the gross cropped area and the cropping intensity.

    Hint

    Gross = net + sown more than once.

    Answer

    Gross cropped area = 6.5 + 5.2 = 11.7 million ha; cropping intensity = 11.7 / 6.5 x 100 = 180 per cent.

  4. Q4 · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level

    Invented case: a small farmer with one hectare loses her crop to drought but earns from two buffaloes and uses their dung as manure and fuel. Which four advantages of animal husbandry does her case show, and which programme made India the largest milk producer?

    Hint

    Income, insurance, manure and fuel, nutrition.

    Answer

    It gives supplementary income, insures against crop failure, supplies manure and fuel (dung), and provides nutrition through milk. The programme is Operation Flood, the White Revolution.

  5. Q5 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

    A passage says that fruit and vegetable farming is growing faster than cereal farming. (a) Give four reasons. (b) Name two states and a produce for each. (c) Explain why it suits small farmers.

    Hint

    Demand, value per hectare, transport, schemes.

    Answer

    (a) Rising urban demand and incomes, higher value per hectare, better transport and cold storage, and support such as the National Horticulture Mission. (b) Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir (apples); Maharashtra (grapes). (c) The high value per hectare allows a good income from small plots.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

  1. 1.Rainfall limit for dry farming?Show answer

    Under about 75 cm.

  2. 2.Which state group started the Green Revolution?Show answer

    Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

  3. 3.What is precision farming?Show answer

    Using technology to apply exact amounts of inputs where needed.

  4. 4.What is Operation Flood also called?Show answer

    The White Revolution.

  5. 5.Name one gain of crop rotation.Show answer

    Restores soil fertility, as legumes fix nitrogen.

Wet and Dry Farming, Green Revolution, Problems and Diversification: frequently asked questions

Why was the Green Revolution needed?

Food shortages, droughts of 1965-67, population growth and stagnant yields.

What is market gardening?

Intensive cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers near cities for urban markets.

How is subsistence different from commercial farming?

Subsistence grows mainly for the family's own needs; commercial grows for sale.

What is the average holding size in India?

About 1 hectare.