UPSC 2023: Consider the following statements: 1. India has more arable area than China. 2. The proportion of irrigated area is more in India as compared to China. 3. The average productivity per hectare in Indian agriculture is higher than that in China. How many of the above statements are correct?

FAO data show India has about 160 million ha of arable land versus roughly 120 million ha in China, so statement 1 is correct. A larger share of China’s cropland (≈52 %) is irrigated than India’s (≈48 %), making statement 2 incorrect. Chinese crop yields (e.g., rice ~7 t/ha, wheat ~4.7 t/ha) exceed India’s (~4.3 t/ha rice, ~2.9 t/ha wheat), so average productivity per hectare is higher in China, not India; statement 3 is incorrect. Hence only one statement is correct. ([iasexpress.net](https://www.iasexpress.net/upsc-prelims-2023-general-studies-gs-paper-1-answer-key-detailed-solutions/?utm_source=openai))