The important Non-Food crops or Cash-Crops in India are listed below:
Non-Food Crops
1. Tea:
India is the largest tea producing country in the world. It is mainly grown in Assam, West Bengal, the Nilgiris, Kerala, Uttaranchal and Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
2. Coffee:
It requires a warm moist climate, and height of 450 m to 700 m. It is mainly grown in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Nearly half the annual production of coffee is consumed in India and the other half is exported to U.K., Germany, Holland, Belgium, Australia and Iraq. Coffee is gradually emerging as one of Indian’s largest exchange earners.
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Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world.
3. Tobacco:
India occupies the third place as a tobacco producing country in the world; U.S.A. comes first. It is mainly produced in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar. Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and in some parts of Punjab. India is the fifth largest exporter of tobacco in the world.
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4. Oilseeds:
India is one of the biggest oilseed producing countries. These are grown chiefly in Bihar, Orissa, U.P., Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra and Punjab. There is an acute shortage of edible oils in India in some years.
5. Cotton:
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra are the chief producers. Before the partition, India was self-sufficient in cotton, and exported a part of it. But after the partition, it has to import cotton to meet the growing requirements of the textile mills. In the field of cotton, India is the first to evolve a cotton hybrid.
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U.S.A. produces more than 50 per cent of the total production of world cotton and India is the second largest cotton producing country. Egypt, Pakistan and Japan come next.
6. Jute:
It is chiefly grown in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa and some parts of U.P. India is almost self-sufficient in the production of raw jute; Bangladesh is the largest exporter of raw jute. The jute mills are mostly situated near Kolkata.
7. Rubber:
It is mainly grown in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Rubber industry is fast developing in India. Malaysia is the largest producer of rubber in the world. Kerala produces 95 per cent of rubber in India. Production of rubber has been undertaken in Tripura, the results have been encouraging.
8. Silk:
In India, silk is produced in Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Kashmir. The silkworm is fed on mulberry leaves, or on the leaves of castor plant and it produces cocoons, which when boiled, give the silk thread.
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China produces the largest quantity of silk in the world.
9. Artificial Silk or Rayon:
It is prepared from wood pulp. U.S.A., Japan and England are the chief artificial silk manufacturing countries. India is also making rapid progress in this field.
10 Hemp:
Russia is the largest producer of hemp (a kind of fibre); Italy, U.S.A., India and China come next.
11. Wool:
It is obtained from the hilly tracts of Uttaranchal, U.P., and Kashmir and also in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan; Kalimpong (Bengal) is a main wool collecting centre.
Australia is the largest wool producing country in the world. A special type of wool is obtained from merino (sheep), U.S.A., Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Pakistan also produce wool.
12. Coconut:
The Philippines comes first and India ranks second in the production of coconut (Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu).