Which of the following is NOT a kharif crop?

Correct — C. Wheat is India's principal rabi crop, not a kharif one.

Kharif crops are sown with the arrival of the south-west monsoon in June-July and harvested at its retreat in September-October. Cotton, paddy and soyabean all run on that calendar.

Wheat runs on the opposite half of the year. It is sown from October to December and harvested in April-June, because it needs a cool growing season and a dry, bright ripening period rather than standing monsoon rain.

So the crop that does not fit the kharif list is wheat, option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Cotton — Cotton is a kharif crop, sown with the onset of the monsoon in June-July and picked from October onwards in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. It fits the season the question asks you to find the exception to.
• (b)
  Paddy — Paddy is the textbook kharif crop. It needs standing water and high temperature, which is exactly what the June-September monsoon supplies, and it is harvested in September-October.
• (d)
  Soyabean — Soyabean — spelt that way in the paper — is a kharif oilseed, sown in June-July across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and harvested around October. It belongs to the kharif list, so it is not the exception.

India's cropping year is cut into three seasons by the monsoon.

Kharif crops are sown at the onset of the south-west monsoon in June-July and harvested at its retreat in September-October: paddy, jowar, bajra, maize, cotton, groundnut, soyabean and tur.

Rabi crops are sown from October to December and harvested in April-June, living on residual soil moisture and winter rain: wheat, barley, gram, mustard and peas.

Zaid is the short summer season between the two, used for muskmelon, watermelon, cucumber and fodder crops.

Key facts

• Kharif crops are sown with the onset of the south-west monsoon in June-July and harvested in September-October.
• Rabi crops are sown from October to December and harvested in April-June, wheat being the leading rabi crop by area.
• Wheat needs a cool growing season and a dry ripening period, which is why it is not a monsoon-season crop in India.
• Zaid is the short season between the rabi harvest and kharif sowing, used for muskmelon, watermelon and cucumber.

Common traps

• Reading past the word NOT and marking the first crop you recognise as kharif.
• Judging a crop's season from where it is grown rather than when it is sown.
• Putting watermelon and muskmelon in rabi when they are zaid crops.

No directly related past PYQ was found.