Geo-climatic, socio-cultural, economic, historical and political factors are the key determiners of the cropping pattern of any region. Substantiate with relevant examples.

Different regions have different cropping patterns and agricultural practices, but the patterns that we see today have developed across centuries, owing to a wide range of factors.

The cropping pattern of a region is influenced by various factors:

• Geo-climatic: Monsoon type of climate in India enables sowing of rice during the onset of monsoon and harvested during dry monsoon, making India one of the largest producers of rice in the world.
• Socio-cultural: People in north India as well as the greater central Asian region have traditionally consumed wheat since ancient times (Indus Valley). This trend is visible in the current cropping pattern too.
• Economic: famine in Ireland led to large scale cultivation of potato as it was a cheap and abundant source of carbohydrates.
• Historical: introduction of rice to Japan by ancient Indian traders has led to rice being a prominent crop in East Asian countries.
• Political: large scale plantation of tea in Assam by colonial government led to Assam being the largest tea producing region till date.

Cropping patterns are influenced by a myriad range of factors, providing an interesting insight to human history.

Topics: GS-III: Major Crops Cropping Patterns in Various Parts of India