Agro-based industries

Geography glossary

Topic: Secondary Activities: Manufacturing and Industrial Location · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 6 "Manufacturing Industries"; Class 12, Ch 5 "Secondary Activities"

Meaning

Agro-based industries use farm produce as their raw material and turn it into finished goods for rural and urban markets. They include:

  • food processing, sugar, pickles, fruit juices and spices;
  • beverages such as tea, coffee and cocoa;
  • oils and fats;
  • textiles from cotton, jute and silk;
  • rubber.

Many farm inputs are bulky or spoil quickly, so these industries often locate close to the farms.

Example

In the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, tea factories are built inside the tea gardens. Plucked tea leaf spoils quickly, so it must be processed close to where it is picked.

Don't confuse with

  • Food processing: this is only one part of agro-based industry. Agro-based industry also covers non-food goods such as cotton textiles and rubber.

Related concepts

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