In Madhya Pradesh, which vegetable recorded the highest productivity in 2023 - 24 ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Tomato. 'Productivity' in agricultural statistics means yield per unit area — tonnes per hectare — not total output. Among the four vegetables listed, tomato recorded the highest per-hectare yield in Madhya Pradesh in 2023-24. That fits the agronomy: tomato is a short-duration, heavily irrigated crop, usually raised from hybrid seed, transplanted, staked and increasingly grown under protected cultivation, so a hectare of tomato returns far more tonnage than a hectare of a bulb crop like onion or a long-duration crop like brinjal. Madhya Pradesh is also among India's biggest tomato-growing states, so both its area and its yield are closely tracked.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Onion is a major MP crop by volume and area, which is exactly what makes it tempting — but a bulb crop yields less per hectare than tomato, and the question asks about productivity, not production.  (b) Potato is high-yielding and widely grown in MP's Malwa belt, and it is the closest rival here — but the official key marks tomato as the highest-productivity vegetable of the four in 2023-24.  (c) Brinjal is grown across the state but has a lower per-hectare yield than tomato; it does not top MP's productivity table for this year.

Concept: Three different numbers describe any crop and exams switch between them deliberately: area (hectares sown), production (total tonnes harvested) and productivity or yield (production ÷ area, i.e. tonnes per hectare). A state can lead the country in production simply because it sows a huge area, while its productivity stays modest — and a crop can top the productivity table while contributing a small share of total output.

State PCS 2025 Q40 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q40 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer