In the year 2021-22, contribution of Rajasthan in total production of Bajra in the country (in percentage) was
- (1)46.30
- (2)87.69
- (3)38.98
- (4)34.69
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), 38.98.
The figure comes from Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24, published by the state's Directorate of Economics & Statistics. Its Table 2.3, "Comparative Status in Major Crop Production", draws on the Government of India's Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2022.
For 2021-22 the table lists bajra with Rajasthan first, Uttar Pradesh second and Haryana third. Rajasthan's contribution to the country's total bajra production is given as 38.98 per cent.
That makes Rajasthan the largest producer without a majority share. The same table's figure for guar is far higher, and that number appears here as option (2).
In a crop-share question, match three things: the crop, the year and the source table. A figure right for one of them can be wrong for the others.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)46.30 — This is not the bajra figure for 2021-22; the Economic Review 2023-24 gives 38.98.
No row of that table reads 46.30. Figures in the mid-40s do appear, but for other crops or years: the same table gives Rajasthan 46.63% of India's rape & mustard in 2021-22, and the Economic Review 2024-25 gives bajra 44.66% for 2022-23. Neither is the number the stem asks for.
- (2)87.69 — This number is in the same table, but it is Rajasthan's share of India's guar production, and the table notes it is for 2020-21, not 2021-22.
Guar is a crop in which Rajasthan dominates national output. Bajra is different: Rajasthan leads, but with well under half of the country's production.
- (4)34.69 — This understates Rajasthan's share. The Economic Review 2023-24 gives 38.98% for bajra in 2021-22.
In the neighbouring years Rajasthan's share was higher still — 41.71% in 2020-21 and 44.66% in 2022-23, as reported in the Economic Reviews for 2022-23 and 2024-25 — so a figure in the mid-30s does not fit any of these years.
Concept
Bajra (pearl millet) is a kharif millet that tolerates heat, sandy soils and low, uncertain rain. Those conditions cover much of western and eastern Rajasthan.
The Economic Review 2023-24 lists bajra among the major kharif crops of six of the state's ten agro-climatic zones, from the arid western plain to the flood-prone eastern plain.
Each year the Review compares Rajasthan's crop output with other states. For 2021-22 it places Rajasthan first in bajra, rape & mustard and total oilseeds; second in nutri-cereals and groundnut; and third in gram, total pulses, jowar and soyabean. Guar, where Rajasthan is also first, is shown with 2020-21 data.
RPSC's 2024 Prelims syllabus lists "Major Crops- Wheat, Maize, Barley, Cotton, Sugarcane & Bajra" under the Geography of Rajasthan, and "Major Agricultural, Industrial and Service Sector Issues" under the Economy of Rajasthan. Bajra belongs to both heads: it is a crop of the dry lands and a measure of the state's farm economy.
Rajasthan's annual Economic Review compares the state's crop output with other states using Government of India data. Each edition reports an earlier crop year, so shares move: 41.71% in 2020-21, 38.98% in 2021-22 and 44.66% in 2022-23.
A share on its own says little. Rank, share and year belong together.
Key facts
- Per Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24, Rajasthan produced 38.98% of India's bajra in 2021-22 and ranked first.
- In 2021-22 bajra production, Uttar Pradesh ranked second and Haryana third, per the Economic Review 2023-24.
- The same table gives Rajasthan 87.69% of India's guar production, for the year 2020-21.
- Rajasthan's bajra share was 41.71% in 2020-21 (Economic Review 2022-23) and 44.66% in 2022-23 (Economic Review 2024-25).
- The Economic Review 2023-24 lists bajra among the major kharif crops of six of Rajasthan's ten agro-climatic zones.
Option (2), 87.69, is the guar share for 2020-21 from the same table as the keyed bajra figure.
Study next
Common traps
- The stem fixes the year. Rajasthan's bajra share was 41.71% in 2020-21, 38.98% in 2021-22 and 44.66% in 2022-23, so another year's figure gives a wrong option.
- 87.69 sits in the same Economic Review table, but it is the guar share, and for 2020-21. A number remembered from the right table can still belong to the wrong crop.
- First position does not mean a majority share. Rajasthan ranked first in bajra in 2021-22 with under 40% of national output.
A question can quote a year and ask for Rajasthan's share or rank in a crop, as this one does.
A question can also ask in which crops Rajasthan ranked first, second or third in a given year, or which crops are major in an agro-climatic zone.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2013 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24, in which of the following crops did Rajasthan rank first in the country in production in 2021-22 ?
- (a)Groundnut
- (b)Rape & Mustard
- (c)Gram
- (d)Soyabean
Answer(2) — Rajasthan ranked first in rape & mustard, with 46.63% of national output. Option (1), groundnut: Gujarat was first and Rajasthan second. Option (3), gram: Maharashtra was first and Rajasthan third. Option (4), soyabean: Maharashtra was first and Rajasthan third. - practice — not a real PYQ
As per Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24, which State ranked second in bajra production in the country in 2021-22 ?
- (a)Haryana
- (b)Gujarat
- (c)Uttar Pradesh
- (d)Maharashtra
Answer(3) — Uttar Pradesh ranked second, after Rajasthan. Option (1), Haryana, ranked third in 2021-22. Option (2), Gujarat, is not among the top three for that year in the Review's table. Option (4), Maharashtra, is not among the top three either.