RICE

As a cereal grain, rice is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population. It is the grain with the third-highest worldwide production, after maize (corn) and wheat. Rice was first

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grown in Italy in the 15th century rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition
and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species. Rice provides 20 percent of the worlds dietary energy supply,
Rice cultivation is well-suited to countries and regions with low labor costs and high rainfall, as it is laborintensive to cultivate and requires ample water. Rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or mountain. centuries of trade and exportation have made it commonplace in many cultures worldwide. rice derives its color from anthocyanins and tocols. Scientific studies suggest that these color pigments have antioxidant properties that may be useful to human health.

The individual parts of the rice plant are put to a wide variety of uses. Some of the starch used in cosmetics and laundry products is manufactured from rice grains. The straw is used for thatching roofs and for making mats, garments, baskets, rope, and brooms. In the Philippines farmers sometimes grow mushrooms in beds of rice straw. The by-products of milling rice are used as livestock feed. Oil is processed both food and industrial uses. The hulls are used for fuel, packing material, and fertilizer. In Japan the roots of the rice plant are burned and used as a fertilizer for the rice fields. In the 1960s the so-called Green Revolution, an international scientific effort to diminish the threat of world hunger, produced an improved strain known as miracle rice. This variety is characterized by a short, sturdy stalk that minimizes the crop loss that can result from plants drooping and falling over. Lowland rice is grown in coastal plains, tidal deltas, and river basins of
tropical, semitropical, and temperate regions where fresh water is available to submerge the land. Rice can thrive under water because oxygen is transported from the plant's leaves to its roots. The planted land remains submerged during most of the growing season.

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Wheat
As a food crop essential to the making of bread, pastry, and pasta, wheat products are eaten by many people at every meal. Wheat products are valued for their taste and for their nutritional benefit. Wheat is one of the oldest cereal crops. It was cultivated as long as 9,000 years ago in the Euphrates Valley of the Middle East. Egyptian pharaohs were buried with an ancient variety of wheat to help nourish them on their voyage into the afterlife. Weather that is comfortable for humans is also good for wheat. Wheat needs 12 to 15 inches (31 to 38 centimeters) of water to produce a good crop. It grows best when temperatures are warm, from 70 to 75 F (21 to 24C), but not too hot. Wheat also needs a lot of sunshine, especially when the grains are filling. Areas with low humidity are better since many wheat diseases thrive in damp weather. Wheat grows in many types of soil, but it grows best in well-drained loam or clay-loam soils. Two major threats to the wheat plant's growth are poor soil drainage and high levels of soil acidity. The large amount of aluminum usually contained in acidic soils is poisonous to wheat. Some of the elements necessary for growth that are provided by the soil are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, zinc, copper, boron, manganese, iron, and magnesium. Of these, nitrogen is required in the largest amount because it is part of all the proteins in the plant. Wheat also needs a lot of phosphorus, most of which ends up in the grain. Other nutrients from the soil are needed in smaller amounts, but all must be present for healthy plant growth and color. Wherever wheat grows there are many enemies that attack it, reducing yields or even destroying the crop. The worst enemies are diseasescaused by fungi, bacteria, or virusesinsects, and weeds. In most regions fungal diseases are the greatest threat to wheat crops. Many problems are controlled by using resistant varieties or by using herbicides and pesticides to destroy or deter the invading enemy. wheat is grown mostly in northern India mainly uttarpradesh and second comes
Punjab., Bihar, Gujarat , Madhya Pradesh

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Crop duster spraying pesticide on a wheat crop

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Tea garden

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Cotton
People use cotton in some form every day. In summer cotton clothes are worn because they are cool and easy to clean. For all seasons there are cotton towels, sheets, rugs, draperies, gloves, and countless other products that range from sewing thread to cooking oils. Despite the increasing use of synthetic fibers, such as rayon and nylon, cotton still provides the world with over half its textiles. Millions of people in India, Egypt, and China wear cotton the year around. Even in the bitter winters of northern China most people wear cotton coats padded with cotton. As the days grow colder, they simply add another padded coat, saying it is two -coat weather or three-coat weather. Some 60 nations grow the cotton plant. Shortly after World War II the Southern states grew almost no cash crop except cotton. Southern farmers were so dependent on it that it was called King Cotton and White Gold.
Today cotton is still the chief cash crop. Cotton ranks as one of the most valuable agricultural products, worth about 4 billion dollars each year.

Cotton is a warm-climate crop. To develop fully, the plant usually needs a growing season of 250 days free from frost. The cotton planting season ranges from February 1 in northern India to early June. To get warmth from the sun, the seeds are planted shallowly, from one to two inches deep. Some farmers plant their seed in hills, some in furrows, and others in flat seed beds. The seeds should be planted in well-prepared moist soil with high nutrient supplying capacity. Deep, silty loam soil is excellent for growing cotton. It is composed of a perfect proportion of 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt and 20 percent clay. Sand provides good drainage and

aeration for cotton seedlings. Silt contains nutrients and organic matter, washed from different areas and soils and deposited by water. Clay holds water and provides stability for roots because it is denser and heavier. The lower percentage of clay in this soil is key, because too much clay can lead to standing water and root rot for many crops, including cotton. Cotton is primarily grown in dry tropical and subtropical climates at temperatures between 11C and 25C. It is a warm climate crop. Cotton is mostly grown in the
states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Cotton productivity has been highest in Karnataka at 670 kgs, in Gujarat at 633 kgs per hectare in 2008-09.

Tea Tea is beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis (scientific
name) plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea

is the most widely consumed beverage in the world.[2] It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavour which many enjoy. Tea is a drink made from the leaves and buds and is the most important non-alcoholic beverage in the world. The medicinal effects of tea have a history dating back almost 5000 years in China. The use of tea in traditional Chinese medicine is well-documented and it is suggested that it could be used as a cure for over 200 illnesses and symptoms! A related compound found in tea is theophylline, which is a licensed medicine for the treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma. Tea also contains flavonoids, compounds reported to have anti-oxidant properties. These effects may be beneficial to health such as in the prevention of heart disease and cancer. Tea flavonoids are also reported to reduce inflammation and to have antimicrobial effects. Tea requires a moderately hot and humid climate. Climate influences yield, crop distribution and quality. Therefore, before cultivating tea in a new area, the suitability of the climate is the first point to be considered. Tea grows best on well-drained fertile acid soil on high lands. Tea plants grow best with even temperatures all year round, very wet summers and dry winters The tea plant needs a hot, moist climate. It grows in temperatures ranging from 10 -30 degrees Centigrade, in areas with an average yearly rainfall of 2,000 mm. and at a ground level of between 600-2000 meters above sea

level.
Assam, located in India's remote north east, is the largest tea producing region in the country. Mostly grown in the Brahmaputra Valley, malty Assamese tea is brightly colored. Jorhat, in the central part of the valley, is often referred to as the "Tea Capital of the World". Darjeeling, as well as being one of India's most popular hill stations, is surrounded by tea plantations that produce prized light coloured, floral smelling tea. Around 25% of India's total tea output comes from Darjeeling. As you enter Munnar, a popular hill station in south India, you'll be greeted by miles upon miles of lush tea plantations. Once owned by Tata, the largest tea manufacturing company in India, they've now been sold to employees. The mountainous Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu, in south India, is known for its distinctive dark and intensely aromatic tea. Tea has been grown there for more than 100 years, and is the most important industry in the region. Wayanad, a lush mountainous agricultural area of Kerala, also produces a significant amount of tea
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