National Research Centre on camel is located at

Correct — option (3), Bikaner.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) lists the ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel (NRCC) at Bikaner among its national research centres, under its Animal Science division.

The centre is in the State that holds most of India's camels. The Government of Rajasthan's Economic Review 2022-23, citing Livestock Census 2019, says Rajasthan accounts for 84.43 per cent of the country's camels.

Bikaner also has another ICAR institute, the Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, so the city alone is not the clue; the subject is. The national centre for the camel is at Bikaner.

The other three places in the options each host a different ICAR institute: Jodhpur the arid zone institute, Avikanagar the sheep and wool institute, and Ajmer the seed spices centre.

The idea to remember: camel – Bikaner; sheep and wool – Avikanagar; arid zone – Jodhpur; seed spices – Ajmer.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Jodhpur — Jodhpur is the home of the ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), which ICAR places under its Natural Resource Management division.

  ICAR also lists its Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute for Zone II at Jodhpur. Neither is the camel centre, which is at Bikaner.

• (2)
  Avikanagar — Avikanagar is the seat of the ICAR-Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), which ICAR lists under its Animal Science division.

  So Avikanagar and Bikaner both host animal science institutes, but for different animals: sheep and wool at Avikanagar, camel at Bikaner.

• (4)
  Ajmer — Ajmer has the ICAR-National Research Centre on Seed Spices (NRCSS), a national research centre under ICAR's Crop Science division.

  It shares the title "National Research Centre" with the camel centre, but it works on seed spices, a crop subject, not on an animal.

ICAR's list of its research bodies has headings such as deemed universities, institutes, national research centres, national bureaux and directorates. Several of its national research centres are named for a crop, a crop group or an animal.

ICAR's list of national research centres includes several named for animals: camel at Bikaner, equines at Hisar, mithun at Medziphema in Nagaland, pig at Guwahati, and yak.

Rajasthan hosts several ICAR bodies, among them the arid zone institute and the Zone II technology application institute at Jodhpur, arid horticulture and the camel centre at Bikaner, sheep and wool at Avikanagar, and seed spices at Ajmer.

Key facts

• ICAR lists the National Research Centre on Camel (NRCC) at Bikaner, under its Animal Science division.
• ICAR lists the Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute at Avikanagar and the Central Arid Zone Research Institute at Jodhpur.
• ICAR lists the National Research Centre on Seed Spices at Ajmer and the Central Institute for Arid Horticulture at Bikaner.
• Economic Review 2022-23 (Livestock Census 2019): Rajasthan has 84.43 per cent of India's camels and about 10.60 per cent of its livestock.
• The Economic Review 2022-23 records a plan of ₹10,000 to camel breeders in two instalments for each calf, with a ₹2.50 crore provision.

Common traps

• ICAR's list of institutes and centres places two of them at Bikaner, the camel centre and the arid horticulture institute. Match the subject of the institute, not just the city.
• Avikanagar and Bikaner both host animal science institutes, but for different animals: sheep and wool at Avikanagar, camel at Bikaner.
• "National Research Centre" appears in the names of both the camel centre (Bikaner) and the seed spices centre (Ajmer); the words after it decide the place.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2016 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The ICAR-Central Sheep & Wool Research Institute is located at :

  • (a)Bikaner
  • (b)Avikanagar
  • (c)Jodhpur
  • (d)Ajmer
  Answer(2) — ICAR lists CSWRI at Avikanagar. Bikaner has the National Research Centre on Camel and the Central Institute for Arid Horticulture, Jodhpur the Central Arid Zone Research Institute, and Ajmer the National Research Centre on Seed Spices, so options (1), (3) and (4) are wrong.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Economic Review 2022-23 of Rajasthan, based on Livestock Census 2019, the State's share in the country's camels is :

  • (a)44.57 per cent
  • (b)10.64 per cent
  • (c)84.43 per cent
  • (d)41.71 per cent
  Answer(3) — The Review puts Rajasthan's share of India's camels at 84.43 per cent. Option (2), 10.64 per cent, is its share of sheep; options (1) and (4) are figures the same Review gives for the State's share of rape & mustard and bajra production in 2020-21, not livestock.