Which one of the following pairs (Crop – Peculiarity) is not correctly matched ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Bihar's contribution to rice production – 15·7%. This is the pair that does not hold. Bihar is a significant rice state but a middling one: its share of India's rice output runs at roughly seven per cent, and it does not appear among the top three producers. A figure of 15.7 per cent would put Bihar comfortably ahead of West Bengal, which is in fact the country's largest rice producer year after year, and ahead of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab as well — which is simply not the case. The other three pairs stand. West Bengal really does take three rice crops off the same land in one year — aus, aman and boro — thanks to its heat, humidity and irrigation. Uttar Pradesh carries the largest area under rice in most years (the area ranking does shift between Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal depending on the year and the dataset, but the examiner is using the common textbook statement, and it is West Bengal, not UP, that leads on output). And the 100 cm isohyet is the conventional western limit of rain-fed rice in India: east of that line rice can be raised on rainfall alone, while to its west — Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan — rice is grown only with canal and tube-well irrigation. So the odd pair out, and the answer, is (b).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) This pair is correct, so it cannot be the answer. West Bengal's three rice seasons are aus (sown before the monsoon, harvested in autumn), aman (the main monsoon crop, harvested in winter) and boro (a summer crop grown on low-lying land with irrigation).  (c) This pair is correct as the examiner intends it: Uttar Pradesh carries the largest area under rice in most years. Note the distinction the question is exploiting — the largest area is not the largest output, and on output West Bengal leads, because its yields are higher.  (d) This pair is correct too. The 100 cm isohyet is the standard textbook boundary of rain-fed rice in India; the crop is grown west of it, but only where canal or tube-well irrigation makes up for the deficit.

Concept: Rice is a tropical crop of high temperature and standing water: it wants a mean temperature above roughly 25°C during the growing season, high humidity, and around 100 cm of water. Where rainfall supplies that, rice is rain-fed and follows the monsoon as a kharif crop; where rainfall falls short, the crop survives only on irrigation. That single fact organises India's rice map — the eastern, north-eastern and coastal belt grows it naturally, while Punjab and Haryana grow it on pumped groundwater and canals.

State PCS 2024 Q35 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q35 — Geography PYQ with Answer