What was the position of Madhya Pradesh in the production of pulses in the year 2021-22 in India?
- (a)First
- (b)Second
- (c)Third
- (d)Fourth
Correct — A, First. In 2021-22 Madhya Pradesh was the largest pulse-producing state in India, ahead of Rajasthan and Maharashtra; those three together account for roughly half of the national output. That was also the year India recorded its highest-ever pulses production, about 273 lakh tonnes (27.3 million tonnes). Madhya Pradesh gets there on the strength of its rabi pulses — above all gram (chana), with tur/arhar, urad and masoor alongside — grown on the black soils of Malwa, the Narmada valley and Nimar, where residual soil moisture supports a rabi pulse crop after the kharif harvest. Note the detail MPPSC likes to exploit: the state was only second in area under pulses (Rajasthan has more) but first in production.
- (b)Second — Second place in production belonged to Rajasthan. This is the trap for anyone who has memorised that Rajasthan leads in area under pulses and assumes area rank equals production rank — for Madhya Pradesh it is the other way round.
- (c)Third — Maharashtra was the third-largest pulse producer; Madhya Pradesh was comfortably ahead of it.
- (d)Fourth — Fourth place goes to the next tier of producers such as Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Madhya Pradesh's output was far above that level.
Pulses are India's protein crop and the country is simultaneously the world's largest producer, largest consumer and largest importer of them. They are split by season: the rabi pulses are gram (chana) and lentil (masoor), the kharif pulses are tur/arhar, urad, moong and cowpea. Gram alone is the single biggest pulse crop of the country. Most pulses are grown rainfed on relatively marginal land, which keeps yields low, and being legumes they fix atmospheric nitrogen through Rhizobium bacteria in root nodules — which is why they are the standard rotation and green-manure crop. Production climbed to a record of about 273 lakh tonnes in 2021-22, with Madhya Pradesh at the head of the state list.
Rank questions like this come straight out of the state Economic Survey and MPPSC repeats them year after year with the same 2021-22 base — so the safe habit is to fix both the area rank and the production rank for the state, not just one of them. The classic confusion is Rajasthan (largest area under pulses) versus Madhya Pradesh (largest production): higher yields on black soil with rabi moisture put MP first despite the smaller area. Keep this separate from the foodgrain league table, where Uttar Pradesh leads.
- 2021-22 pulses production: Madhya Pradesh first, Rajasthan second, Maharashtra third
- Madhya Pradesh ranked second in area under pulses (behind Rajasthan) but first in production
- India's pulses output in 2021-22 was a record of about 273 lakh tonnes (27.3 million tonnes)
- Gram (chana) is India's largest single pulse crop and a rabi crop; tur/arhar, urad and moong are kharif pulses
- India is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses
- Reading 'first in area' as 'first in production' — Rajasthan leads in area, Madhya Pradesh in production
- Confusing the largest pulses producer (Madhya Pradesh) with the largest foodgrain producer (Uttar Pradesh)
- Assuming India's record production means self-sufficiency — India remains the world's largest importer of pulses
MPPSC asks the flat rank for a stated year, lifted from the Economic Survey of Madhya Pradesh, and likes to add the area-versus-production twist. UPSC almost never asks a rank; it asks the structure instead — which pulse is kharif or rabi, whether MSP procurement is unlimited, which commodity India imports most.
With reference to the production of pulses in India, consider the following statements: 1. Black gram (urad) can be cultivated both as Kharif and Rabi crop. 2. Green-gram (moong) alone accounts for nearly half of pulse production. 3. In the last three decades, while the production of Kharif pulses has increased, the production of Rabi pulses has decreased. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 2 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(a) 1 only — only the statement on black gram being both a kharif and a rabi crop is correct.
The same subject — the structure of India's pulses output — tested the UPSC way: season, crop share and trend rather than a state rank.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence in the decreasing order of production (in million tonnes) of the given food grains in India?
- (a) Wheat – Rice – Pulses – Coarse Cereals
- (b) Rice – Wheat – Pulses – Coarse Cereals
- (c) Wheat – Rice – Coarse Cereals – Pulses
- (d) Rice – Wheat – Coarse Cereals – Pulses
Answer(d) Rice – Wheat – Coarse Cereals – Pulses
Also a production-ranking question on foodgrains, and it places pulses at the bottom of the national output table — useful scale to carry into any pulses rank question.
In the year 2021-22, which State of India had the first rank in production of pulses?
- (a) Uttar Pradesh
- (b) Rajasthan
- (c) Madhya Pradesh
- (d) Gujarat
Answer(c) Madhya Pradesh
The identical fact for the identical year, asked two papers earlier — the 2026 paper simply inverted it into 'what was MP's position'.
During the year 2021 - 22, which of these states was ranked second in area and first in production of pulses in the country ?
- (a) Maharashtra
- (b) Rajasthan
- (c) Gujarat
- (d) Madhya Pradesh
Answer(d) Madhya Pradesh
The same 2021-22 pulses fact one year earlier, and the version that spells out the area-vs-production distinction the 2026 question depends on.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following is the largest pulse crop of India in terms of production?
- (a)Tur (arhar)
- (b)Gram (chana)
- (c)Urad
- (d)Moong
Answer(b) Gram (chana) — the biggest single pulse crop of the country, grown mainly in the rabi season.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements about pulses in India: 1. India is the world's largest producer as well as the largest importer of pulses. 2. Gram and lentil (masoor) are rabi pulses. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2 — India leads the world in production and still imports the most, and gram and masoor are the principal rabi pulses.