South Asia Today Living in South Asia 25'1

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South Asia TodayLiving in South Asia25.1
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Agriculture

• Most South Asian Farmers are subsistence farmers
• Agriculture is changing and more modern methods
  are being put to use

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Agricultural Conditions

• Vast tea and rubber plantations contrast with the
  regions small farms.
• In India, more than 1/3 of farms are less than an
  acre in area. This is the result of traditional
  inheritance practices.

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A Variety of Crops

• The major food crop is S.A. is rice which is
  grown in the tropical areas.
• India is the worlds second-largest producer of
  rice, Bangladesh is the 4th largest.
• Other major crops are wheat, peanuts, jute,
  cotton, bananas, citrus fruits, and tea.
• Jute-a fiber used to make string and cloth.

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Improved Agricultural Practices

• Agricultural production must rise dramatically if
  the regions people are to be adequately fed.
• Govt. programs train farmers to use modern
  technology.
• Crop rotation- planting 2 crops on the same piece
  of land in a single year to preserve the soil and
  increase crop yields.
• Green revolution- program begun in the 1960s to
  produce higher-yielding , more productive stains
  of wheat, rice, and other food crops.

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FISHING AND MINING

• Fishing is an important industry in Sri Lanka and
  Pakistan.
• Important exports are fresh and dried fish,
  lobsters and shrimp.
• Most of the mining takes place on the
  Indo-Gangetic Plain and in eastern India.
• India produces large amounts of mica, coal, iron
  ore, bauxite, silver, and copper.
• Precious stones such as rubies and saphires are
  also found in South Asia

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Industrial Growth-Light Industry

• The nations industries have been heavily
  regulated by the government.
• In 1980, an ease in government regulations led to
  a surge in development.
• Light industry- the production of consumer goods.
• Roughly 24 million people are employed in Indias
  textile industry producing cotton, wool, and
  silk.
• Many goods are also manufactured by laborers at
  home (weaving).
• S.A. has many privately owned small industries.

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Heavy Industry

• The heavy industries in S.A include mining,
  electric power, and iron and steel manufacturing.
• In 1990 India became a free market economy.
• Under the old economy, India didnt welcome
  foreign investments.
• All foreign-brand products had to have Indianized
  names.
• Since 1992, however, foreign investments have
  been encouraged and sold under the original names.

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Tourism

• Tourism is very important to all the economies in
  S.A. nations.
• Tourists go to Nepal to hunt, photograph
  wildlife, climb or trek in the Himalayas tourism
  is important in exotic Bhutan as well.
• Sri Lanka has many beautiful beaches, and lovely
  hotels, but violence between Sinhalese and Tamils
  limits tourism.

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PEOPLE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT Chapter 25.2

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Forests of South Asia
DEFORESTATION

• ½ the trees in N. India have been cut down in the
  last 30 yrs for commercial timbering or local
  farming
• 1/3 of Nepals forests have been cut down by
  farmers as population growth forces them further
  into rural areas
• Tourists (trekkers) use much more firewood in
  Nepal and Bhutan than the natives
• Sri Lanka struggles with slash and burn practices
  and illegal logging
• Bangladesh has two main forest areas left the
  Chittagong Hills and the Sundarbans (swampland
  full of mangrove trees)

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WILDLIFE

• Natural habitat of elephants, water buffalo,
  monkeys crocodiles and the Bengal tiger
• Many are endangered due to hunting and loss of
  habitat
• Governments are creating preserves and passing
  laws to protect them

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WATER

• Dams provide a source for irrigation and
  hydroelectric power.
• Tarbela Dam of Pakistan is the worlds largest
  earthen dam.
• The Narmada River project is a series of dams
  proposed by the govt of India. It faces much
  opposition.
• These dams can also be a source of a waterborne
  disease, and in places such as India, where water
  is considered sacred, dams can be a spiritual
  interference.