Agriculture & Livestock: previous-year questions

Answer: (A) Kerala

Kerala is called the Spice Garden of India because it grows pepper, cardamom, ginger, clove, nutmeg and other spices on a large scale, on which its historic sea trade was built. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh grow some spices but do not carry this name.

Answer: (D) Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is called the Apple State of India because apple orchards, especially in Shimla and Kinnaur, dominate its horticulture economy. Jammu & Kashmir actually produces more apples, which makes it tempting, but the title belongs to Himachal.

Answer: (C) Kerala

India's first commercial rubber plantation was set up in 1902 at Thattekad on the Periyar in Kerala, which still produces most of India's natural rubber. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka grow some rubber, and West Bengal none of note.

Answer: (A) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

ICAR, with its research institutes and the agricultural universities, adapted and spread the high-yielding varieties and practices of the Green Revolution in India. FCI handles procurement and storage, NABARD was set up only in 1982, and IRRI is an international body in the Philippines.

Answer: (B) Uttar Pradesh

Answer as of 2023 — this may have changed since.

Uttar Pradesh is India's largest producer of sugarcane, with the largest area under the crop. Maharashtra is second, but it is not among the options; Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu produce far less.

Answer: (A) PM-KUSUM

PM-KUSUM (2019) supports farmers in installing solar pumps and grid-connected solar plants for irrigation. PMFBY is crop insurance, PKVY promotes organic farming, and eNAM is an online agricultural market.

Answer: (C) Karnataka

Answer as of 2023 — this may have changed since.

Karnataka, especially Kodagu, Chikmagalur and Hassan, produces about 70% of India's coffee. Kerala is second and Tamil Nadu third, which makes Kerala the tempting wrong option.

Answer: (B) Dr. M. S. Swaminathan

M. S. Swaminathan led the introduction and adaptation of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties in India in the 1960s and is called the Father of the Green Revolution in India. Norman Borlaug is the father of the Green Revolution worldwide, which makes him tempting, and Verghese Kurien led the White Revolution.

Answer: (C) 1999

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana began on 1 April 1999, merging IRDP and allied self-employment programmes for the rural poor. It was later restructured as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission in 2011.

Answer: (B) Rajasthan

Answer as of 2023 — this may have changed since.

PSC's final answer key gives Rajasthan (the provisional key had given Uttar Pradesh), and that is recorded here. Official crop statistics do not really support either: in 2021–22 pulse yields were roughly Gujarat 1,530 kg/ha, Uttar Pradesh 1,080, Madhya Pradesh 1,065 and Rajasthan only about 630 kg/ha (RBI Handbook of Statistics on Indian States). What is true of Rajasthan is that it has the largest area under pulses, while Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer. Other facts: India is the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses; gram (chana) is the leading pulse; pulses fix atmospheric nitrogen through Rhizobium bacteria; and 10 February is World Pulses Day.

Answer: (A) first

Answer as of 2023 — this may have changed since.

India has the world's largest bovine herd: the 20th Livestock Census (2019) counted about 193 million cattle and 110 million buffaloes out of a total livestock population of roughly 536 million. Counting cattle and buffaloes together India is far ahead of Brazil, China and the USA, which is why standard textbooks rank India first in cattle rearing. India has also been the world's largest milk producer since 1998 and has more than half of the world's buffaloes. The livestock census is taken every five years; the first was in 1919.

Answer: (A) sown in S. W. Monsoon season and harvested in winter

Aman is the winter (kharif) rice crop: it is sown or transplanted in June–July with the south-west monsoon and harvested in winter, November–December. It is by far the most important rice crop of West Bengal. Aus is the autumn crop, sown with pre-monsoon showers in summer and harvested in August–September, which is what options (C) and (D) roughly describe. Boro is the irrigated summer crop, sown in winter and harvested in April–May. Memory aid: Aus – autumn, Aman – winter, Boro – summer.

Answer: (C) Chikmagalore

The Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI), started in 1925 as the Mysore Coffee Experimental Station, is at Balehonnur in Chikkamagaluru (Chikmagalur) district, Karnataka. Coffee was first grown in India on the nearby Baba Budan hills around 1670. Karnataka produces about 70% of India's coffee, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu; the Coffee Board's head office is in Bengaluru. Munnar is a tea centre, and Mysuru has the Central Food Technological Research Institute. Other crop institutes: tea – Tocklai (Jorhat), rubber – Kottayam, spices – Kozhikode, rice – Cuttack, jute – Barrackpore, cotton – Nagpur, potato – Shimla.

Answer: (B) Oranges

The hill slopes of the Eastern Himalaya — Darjeeling and Kalimpong, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the adjoining north-eastern hills — are known for mandarin oranges, which need a cool, humid climate and well-drained acidic soil. Litchi is a crop of the plains, chiefly Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Malda and Murshidabad in West Bengal. Mango belongs to the plains of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Malda, and to the Konkan. The Indian olive (jalpai) grows in the plains of Bengal and Assam. For comparison, Nagpur is called the "Orange City", and the Western Himalaya (Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh) is known for apples.

Answer: (A) Silver

The Silver Revolution refers to the rapid growth in egg and poultry production in India from about 1969 to 1978. The Golden Revolution relates to horticulture and honey, the White Revolution to milk (Operation Flood, 1970, Dr Verghese Kurien), and "Liquid" is not a recognised revolution. Others to remember: Green – food grains, Blue – fish, Yellow – oilseeds, Pink – prawns and onions, Red – meat and tomato, Grey – fertilisers, Black – petroleum, Brown – leather and cocoa, Round – potato. Andhra Pradesh is India's largest egg-producing State.

Answer: (D) All the reasons above

India is the world's largest milk producer, yet its output of processed dairy products such as cheese, butter and milk powder is comparatively small, and all three stated reasons contribute. Most milk is consumed in liquid form because demand for fresh milk is high; the purchasing power of most people for costlier value-added products is low; and the milk yield per animal is far below the world average because much of the cattle is underfed and of poor breed ("lean"). Related facts: Operation Flood (1970), NDDB at Anand, National Milk Day on 26 November (Dr Kurien's birthday) and Uttar Pradesh as the top milk-producing State.

Answer: (B) Cotton

Cotton is India's principal fibre crop and the base of its largest organised industry, cotton textiles; India has the largest area under cotton in the world and is among the top producers. It is a kharif crop that grows best on the black regur soil of the Deccan, with Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana as the leading States; Bt cotton (2002) is the only genetically modified crop approved for commercial cultivation in India. Jute, the "golden fibre", is important mainly in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam and is used for sacking. Flax yields linen and is a minor crop, and til (sesame) is an oilseed, not a fibre.

Answer: (B) Jorhat

The Tocklai Tea Research Institute at Jorhat, established in 1911, is the oldest and largest tea research station of its kind in the world. Assam produces more than half of India's tea; the industry began after wild tea was noticed in Assam in 1823, and the Assam Company was formed in 1839. Guwahati has a tea auction centre, Digboi has India's oldest oil refinery (1901) and Tezpur is a town on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The Tea Board of India has its head office in Kolkata, and a Darjeeling tea research centre is located at Kurseong.

Answer: (C) Jute

Jute is called the 'golden fibre' for its golden-brown colour and its value as a cash crop; West Bengal is India's largest producer, and the crop needs hot, humid conditions and fresh alluvial soil. Cotton, grown mainly on black soil, is sometimes called 'white gold'. Wool comes from sheep, reared mainly in Rajasthan and the Himalayan states. India is the second-largest producer of silk in the world, with Karnataka leading in mulberry silk.

Answer: (C) Continental shelf

Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.

Most of India's marine fish catch comes from the continental shelf, the shallow sea floor up to about 200 m deep, where sunlight and nutrients support abundant plankton and fish. Inland fish production as a whole has grown larger than the marine catch, but most of it comes from aquaculture in ponds and tanks rather than from natural inland waters, so (A) is only the tempting option. Deep-sea fishing remains limited because it needs large vessels and investment. Andhra Pradesh is the largest fish-producing state, mainly through inland aquaculture.