Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Anthropology of sports
Horticulture — 2015 Paper I
Question · 2015 · Paper I · 10 Marks
Horticulture.
Model Answer
VAID ICSApproach
- Demand of Question: Explain horticulture as a form of food production and identify its technological, ecological and social characteristics.
- Structuring the Response: Define horticulture, distinguish it from intensive agriculture, and relate it to shifting cultivation and small-scale societies.
- Key Dimensions to Cover: Simple tools, shifting cultivation, fallow, household labour, mixed cropping, slash-and-burn, subsistence and ecological adaptation.
Model Answer
Introduction: Horticulture is a form of plant cultivation based mainly on simple hand tools and relatively small plots, without intensive use of ploughs, irrigation or mechanized technology. It is common among many small-scale agricultural societies.
Major characteristics include:
- use of digging sticks, hoes and axes;
- reliance primarily on human labour;
- relatively small cultivated plots;
- mixed cropping;
- limited permanent capital investment;
- frequent integration with hunting, gathering or animal husbandry.
A common form is shifting cultivation, in which vegetation is cleared, cultivated temporarily and then left fallow.
Thus:
Clearing → Burning → Cultivation → Fallow → Regeneration
Examples in India include jhum cultivation in Northeast India and bewar practiced historically among groups such as the Baiga.
Production is often organized largely through the household and kin group, though collective labour may be important.
Horticulture can be ecologically sustainable under low population pressure and adequate fallow periods; shortened fallows may cause degradation.
Conclusion: Horticulture represents a flexible adaptation between foraging and intensive agriculture, linking simple technology, household production and local ecological knowledge.
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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2015 — Paper I
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10 Marks150 words
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