Agriculture
For many rural residents of Karnataka, agriculture is the major occupation. A total of 123,100 km² of land is cultivated in Karnataka constituting 64.6% of the total geographical area of the state. According to the 2001 census, farmers and agricultural labourers formed 56% of the workforce of Karnataka. Agriculture in Karnataka is heavily dependent on the southwest monsoon since the extent of arid land in the state is second only to Rajasthan. Only 26.5% of sown area (30,900 km²) is subjected to irrigation. The state has three agricultural seasons – Kharif (April to September), Rabi (October to December) and Summer (January to March). The main crops grown here are rice, ragi, jowar, maize, and pulses (Tur and gram) besides oilseeds and number of cash crops. Cashews, coconut, arecanut, cardamom, chillies, cotton, sugarcane and tobacco are among the other crops produced in the state. Karnataka is the largest producer of coarse cereals, coffee and raw silk among the states in India. Horticultural crops are grown in an area of 16,300 km² and the annual production is about 9.58 million tons. The income generated from horticulture constitutes over 40% of income generated from agriculture and its is about 17% of the state's GDP. In floriculture, Karnataka occupies the second position in India in terms of production and 700 tons of flowers (worth Rs. 500 million) were produced in 2004-05.
A majority of the 3500 crore silk industry in India is headquartered in Karnataka State, particularly in the North Bangalore regions of Muddenahalli, Kanivenarayanapura, and Doddaballapura the upcoming sites of a 70 crore "Silk City".
Read more about this topic: Economy Of Karnataka
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“But the nomads were the terror of all those whom the soil or the advantages of the market had induced to build towns. Agriculture therefore was a religious injunction, because of the perils of the state from nomadism.”
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