MPPSC 2020 Prelims Q5: Which one of the following is not commercial

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2020 Prelims Q5?

D. Correct — D, Bajra. Commercial (cash) crops are grown chiefly for sale or industry — sugarcane, cotton and banana all qualify. Bajra (pearl millet) is a coarse food-grain cereal grown mainly for subsistence and fodder in dry regions, so it is the one that is not a commercial crop.

MPPSC 2020 Prelims Paper-I · Question 5 of 100

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

Which one of the following is not commercial crop?

(a)Sugarcane
(b)Cotton
(c)Banana
(d)Bajra

Answer

Why

Correct — D, Bajra. Commercial (cash) crops are grown chiefly for sale or industry — sugarcane, cotton and banana all qualify. Bajra (pearl millet) is a coarse food-grain cereal grown mainly for subsistence and fodder in dry regions, so it is the one that is not a commercial crop.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Sugarcane — A classic commercial crop — the raw material for the sugar and gur industry, grown to be sold and processed.
(b)Cotton — The leading commercial fibre crop, feeding the textile industry — often called 'white gold'.
(c)Banana — A horticultural commercial (cash) crop grown for the market, not for household subsistence.

Concept

Crops split broadly into food crops (grown to eat — cereals, pulses) and commercial/cash crops (grown mainly to sell or feed industry — sugarcane, cotton, jute, oilseeds, plantation and many horticultural crops). Bajra is a coarse cereal food crop; the other three are sold as cash/industrial produce.

The odd-one-out is the food grain. Three options are market or industry crops; only bajra is a subsistence cereal — so 'not commercial' points to bajra.

Key facts

Commercial/cash crops: sugarcane, cotton, jute, tobacco, oilseeds, plantation and horticultural crops.
Bajra (Pennisetum glaucum, pearl millet) is a drought-hardy coarse food-grain cereal.
Cotton = 'white gold'; sugarcane feeds the sugar industry; banana is a commercial fruit crop.
Food crops are grown chiefly to eat; commercial crops chiefly to sell or process.

Study next

Food crops vs cash/commercial cropsMillets (jowar, bajra, ragi) and the 'Shri Anna'/nutri-cereals pushFibre crops: cotton and jutePlantation crops: tea, coffee, rubberKharif vs rabi classification of these crops

Common traps

Treating banana as 'just a fruit' and missing that it is a commercial crop.
Assuming every widely grown crop is commercial — bajra is a subsistence food grain.

Usually an odd-one-out or classify-the-crop question. Remember the split: cereals/pulses = food crops; sugarcane, cotton, jute, oilseeds and horticulture = commercial.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following is a commercial (cash) crop?
- (a)Bajra
- (b)Jute
- (c)Ragi
- (d)Jowar
Answer(b) Jute — a fibre cash crop; the millets listed are food crops.
practice — not a real PYQ
Cotton, a major commercial fibre crop, is popularly called:
- (a)Golden fibre
- (b)White gold
- (c)Brown gold
- (d)Blue gold
Answer(b) White gold — 'golden fibre' is jute.