The museum of minerals
About 70,000 tones of rock phosphate are produced in the
state. It is mainly found near Udaipur.
Marble production
The Taj Mahal and Victoria Memorial
Rajasthan is the only state in India where marble is mined. It was
Makrana (Nagaur) which supplied the marble used in building the Taj Mahal and
Victoria Memorial (Calcutta).
Rajasthan produces about 45,000 tones of marble, providing employment for over
10, 000 people in this industry.
The first to produce
asbestos, gypsum, felspar and fluorite
Rajasthan has been called ` the museum of minerals’. It is
the second largest storehouse of minerals in the country, next only to Bihar. It is the only state which produces lead, silver
and emerald, and was the first to produce asbestos, gypsum, felspar and
fluorite.
Five metallic minerals have been unearthed in Rajasthan:
copper, mainly at Khetri in districts; manganese in Banswara district and
tungsten near Degana (Jodhpur).
Apart from these, asbestos, feldspar, silica, quartz,
magnesite, vermiculite, volastonite, china clay, fire clay, dolomite, mica are
also found in the state.
Of fertilizer minerals, Rajasthan produces about ninety per
cent of the country’s gypsum, which is mainly found in Bikaner division. It is an important raw
material used in the production of fertilizers.
A part from cereal crops, grain and other dals (lentils), Rajasthan
grows mustard, cotton, groundnut, spices, potatoes and other vegetables, and
fruits, including grapes.
Agriculture is the main occupation in rural areas and
provides livelihood to about seventy per cent of the people. The cropping
pattern has been considerably improved as a result of improvised seeds,
insecticides, fertilizers and new techniques.