During the year 2021 - 22, which of these states was ranked second in area and first in production of pulses in the country ?

Question

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Correct — D, Madhya Pradesh. The question is built on a deliberate mismatch between area and output, and Madhya Pradesh is the state where the two ranks diverge in exactly that way: for 2021-22 it stood second in the country in area under pulses but first in pulse production. Rajasthan carries the largest pulse acreage in India, but much of it is arid and rainfed with low yields, so the larger area does not translate into the larger harvest. Madhya Pradesh combines a big rabi pulse belt — gram (chana) above all, backed by lentil and pea across Malwa, the Bundelkhand districts and the Narmada valley — with better assured moisture and higher yields, which is why it tops the production table. MPPSC keyed the same fact in its 2024 paper, where Madhya Pradesh was again the answer for the first rank in pulse production in 2021-22.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Maharashtra is a major pulse state — it has a large tur (arhar) and gram belt — and is consistently among the top three, but for 2021-22 it held neither the first rank in production nor the second rank in area that this question describes.  (b) This is the intended trap. Rajasthan has the largest area under pulses in the country, so a student who remembers only 'Rajasthan leads in pulses' picks it. But its ranks run the other way — first in area, not second — and its low, largely rainfed yields keep it below Madhya Pradesh in production.  (c) Gujarat's cropping pattern is dominated by groundnut, cotton and, in the rabi season, wheat and cumin. Pulses occupy a comparatively small share of its cropped area, and it does not appear at the top of either the area or the production table for pulses.

Concept: Area and production are two different rankings, and for pulses they routinely disagree. Area measures how much land is sown; production is area multiplied by yield. Pulses in India are overwhelmingly a rainfed, low-input crop, so states with vast dry acreage can lead in area while states with better moisture and higher yields lead in output. India is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses, and gram (chana) is its single biggest pulse crop.

State PCS 2025 Q69 — Economy PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q69 — Economy PYQ with Answer