MPPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 34 of 100

Correct — B, Milk, Pulses and Spices. India is the world's largest producer of all three. It has been the largest milk producer since 1998 and accounts for roughly a quarter of global milk output. It is the largest producer of pulses — chana, tur/arhar, urad, moong, masur — and, remarkably, also their largest consumer and importer. And it is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices: the ISO recognises 109 spices, of which India grows about 75. No other option has India in first place on all three items.

• (a)Rice, Wheat and Cotton — India is the world's second-largest producer of both rice and wheat — China is first in each. India is among the top two in cotton, but the option already fails on two of its three items.
• (c)Tea, Coffee and Jute — India is the largest producer of jute, but China is the largest tea producer (India is second) and Brazil dominates coffee, where India is a mid-table producer. Two items out of three are wrong.
• (d)Sugarcane, Maize and Oilseeds — Brazil is the world's largest sugarcane producer and the United States the largest maize producer. India is a major oilseed producer but not the largest — indeed it is the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils.

India's 'who is number one' list splits into two groups. India leads the world in milk, pulses, spices, jute, mango and banana — commodities where huge domestic demand and diverse agro-climatic zones favour it. It comes second, behind China, in the big cereal staples rice and wheat, and behind Brazil and the USA in sugarcane and maize. Being the largest producer also does not mean being the largest exporter: India is the largest producer AND the largest importer of pulses, and the largest importer of edible oils.

Grouped options like this are best cracked by elimination — find one item in an option where India is clearly not first and the whole option falls. Rice and wheat (China first) kill option (a); tea and coffee kill option (c); sugarcane and maize kill option (d). What remains is the milk-pulses-spices trio, which is also the standard 'India is world No. 1' list that both MPPSC and UPSC keep returning to.

• India has been the world's largest milk producer since 1998 and contributes roughly a quarter of global milk output.
• India is simultaneously the largest producer, the largest consumer and the largest importer of pulses.
• India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices; the ISO lists 109 spices and India grows about 75 of them.
• India is second to China in both rice and wheat production; Brazil leads in sugarcane and the USA in maize.

• Assuming largest producer means largest exporter — India is No. 1 in pulses production and still imports pulses
• Placing India first in rice or wheat; China leads in both
• Mixing up sugar (where India has in some years been world No. 1) with sugarcane (Brazil is far ahead)

MPPSC asks the grouped 'India is the largest producer of...' form directly. UPSC narrows it to one commodity — turmeric, silk, sugar — inside a statement-based question and asks whether the 'largest producer/exporter' claim is correct.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India ranks second in the world in the production of which of the following pairs?

  • (a)Milk and pulses
  • (b)Rice and wheat
  • (c)Spices and jute
  • (d)Mango and banana

  Answer(b) Rice and wheat — India is second to China in both; it is first in milk, pulses, spices, jute, mango and banana.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India is NOT the world's largest producer of which one of the following?

  • (a)Milk
  • (b)Pulses
  • (c)Jute
  • (d)Sugarcane

  Answer(d) Sugarcane — Brazil is the world's largest sugarcane producer.