India is known by many names; like Aryavarta, Jambudweep, Bharatvarsh, Bharat, Hindustan, India, etc. Out of them, India, Hindustan and Bharat are more frequently used.

India: The people from Iran and Greece came to the north west of India. Thus, they became familiar with the river Indus. They called it Indos or Hindos. The land to the east of this river came to be known as India.

Bharat: People who lived in the northwest were known as Bharatha. They are mentioned in the Rigveda. The name Bharat came because of the term ‘Bharatha’.

Minerals are components of foods that are involved in many body functions. For example, calcium helps to maintain and build strong bones and teeth and iron is needed for our red blood cells to transport oxygen.

Many stone tools have been excavated in the Deccan. This shows that the early humans lived in this area for a long time. The study on the way those tools were used would help to understand how early humans led their lives.

Scavengers are the those animals that feeds on dead organisms and carnivorous animal that eats dead animals. example:vultures, wolves etc.

Sheep and Goat are two animals that People of Sulaiman and Kirthar hills reared

The presence of starch in leaves can be tested by the Iodine test. When we remove chlorophyll from the leaf by boiling it in alcohol and then put two drops of iodine solution, it is colour change to blue indicates the presence of starch.

Perimeter is the distance around the outside of a shape. Area measures the space inside a shape. The formula for the perimeter of a rectangle is often written as P = 2l + 2w, where l is the length of the rectangle and w is the width of the rectangle. The area of a two-dimensional figure describes the amount of surface the shape covers. You measure area in square units of a fixed size. Area is 2-dimensional: it has a length and a width. Area is measured in square units such as square inches, square feet or square meters. To find the area of a rectangle, multiply the length by the width. The formula is: A = L * W where A is the area, L is the length, W is the width, and * means multiply.

Most of the food items which we eat are obtained from plants and animals. The food grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables, all are obtained from plants. Plants also provide us different kinds of oils for cooking food like mustard oil, sunflower oil, etc. and tea, coffee, spices and sugar. Thus, plants are the major source of food materials for human beings.

Animals provide us various food materials such as milk, eggs, chicken, meat, fish and honey.  Goat, camel, cow and buffalo are milk giving animals. The hens provide us chicken and eggs. Milk is an important animal product which can be converted into other useful forms like cheese, butter, cream, curd and ghee.

One of the main causes for the food problem is the increasing population in India: Production of food grains has not increased in proportion to the rise in population. Every year, the population increases by a few crores so that it is very difficult to meet the food requirements. Besides, farmers are more after cash crops than after food crops. The result is that the area under cultivation for food grains has decreased. Hoarders and black marketeers cause artificial food shortages by hoarding food grains. They purchase large quantities of food grains at the time of harvest at cheap rates. They hoard food grains to sell them at black market rates during the time of scarcity. A huge quantity of food grains is also destroyed by pests like rats. Food grains are not distributed properly. In some places the scarcity of food is due to the food habits of .the people. Rice eaters find it difficult to take to wheat eating.

India is an agricultural country. Nearly three-fourths of the population of India depends upon agriculture and allied occupations. Even then India is faced with the problem of scarcity of food grains. Of course at present the food situation in India has improved. But the future is always uncertain as far as the availability of food is concerned.

There are many causes for the shortage of food in India. The methods of cultivation in India are old-fashioned. The implements used by the farmers are outdated and crude. The seeds which they use are also not of improved quality. The farmer being a very poor person is unable to invest money for the improvement of his fields. The Indian farmers are too poor and ignorant to buy modern tools and implements. Scientific methods of cultivation are not practised. The net result is poor production. The next reason for the food problem is that Indian agriculture is a gamble during the monsoons.   Indian farmers still depend on the rain for cultivation. But the rains are very uncertain in India. If the rains are poor, the agriculture suffers. This may cause famine and drought. Similarly, if there is excessive rain, floods play havoc and cause a lot of damage to crops, resulting in famines. Irrigation facilities in India are not widespread.

One of the main causes for the food problem is the increasing population in India: Production of food grains has not increased in proportion to the rise in population. Every year, the population increases by a few crores so that it is very difficult to meet the food requirements. Besides, farmers are more after cash crops than after food crops. The result is that the area under cultivation for food grains has decreased. Hoarders and black marketeers cause artificial food shortages by hoarding food grains. They purchase large quantities of food grains at the time of harvest at cheap rates. They hoard food grains to sell them at black market rates during the time of scarcity. A huge quantity of food grains is also destroyed by pests like rats. Food grains are not distributed properly. In some places the scarcity of food is due to the food habits of .the people. Rice eaters find it difficult to take to wheat eating.

In order to solve the problem of food, the government must pay serious attention to the development of agriculture. Agricultural production must be increased. This can be done by adopting scientific methods of cultivation. The farmers should be granted easy loans to improve their lands. They should also be supplied with better implements, better seeds and fertilizers at low rates so that they can increase the agricultural production. They should be educated in modern methods of cultivation. They should be given a reasonable price for their products so that they are encouraged to introduce improvements and increase the production. Top priority should be given to the cultivation of food crops. The government must curb the activities of hoarders and black marketeers. The government should also initiate a war against the pests.   The growth rate of population must also be checked.

If any of the five geographical regions of the country are not in the country, then it will have adverse effects on foodgrain production. For example, wheat is primarily grown in the northern plains. If that region is not there, then wheat production will be affected.