Plantation Crops and Spices

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Plantation Crops and Spices

Tea, coffee, rubber, pepper, cardamom, saffron, coconut and cashew, with the UPSC 2022 tea question.

On this map (21)

Tea — Assam · Assam — Tea · ~50% of India. About half of India’s tea — Brahmaputra valley (Dibrugarh, Jorhat) and Barak valley
Darjeeling tea — West Bengal · West Bengal — Tea · first GI of India. India’s FIRST GI-tagged product (2004)
Nilgiri tea — Tamil Nadu · Tamil Nadu — Tea · No. 3 · also coffee. No. 3 tea state; winter-flush tea
Munnar tea — Kerala · Kerala — Tea. Munnar (Idukki) high-range tea — Kerala is tea state No. 4
Kangra tea — Himachal Pradesh · Himachal Pradesh — Tea · GI. Kangra tea (GI) — Himachal IS a tea state (UPSC 2022: AP, Kerala, HP, Tripura → all four)
Tea — Tripura · Tripura — Tea. Tripura grows tea — counted in UPSC 2022
Araku Valley — Andhra Pradesh · Andhra Pradesh — Coffee · tea. Araku Valley arabica — tribal coffee, GI-tagged
Coffee — Karnataka · Karnataka — Coffee · ~70% of India. About 70% of India’s coffee — Chikmagalur, Kodagu (Coorg), Hassan
Coffee — Kerala (Wayanad) · Kerala — Coffee · robusta. No. 2 coffee state — Wayanad robusta
Natural rubber — Kerala · Kerala — Rubber · ~75% of India. About three-fourths of India’s natural rubber; Rubber Board HQ at Kottayam
Natural rubber — Tripura · Tripura — Rubber · No. 2. No. 2 rubber state — the North-East is the new rubber frontier
Black pepper — Karnataka · Karnataka — Spice · pepper No. 1. No. 1 black pepper today — Kodagu, Chikmagalur (vines on coffee shade trees)
Small cardamom — Kerala · Kerala — Spice · small cardamom No. 1. No. 1 small cardamom — Idukki, the Cardamom Hills (UPPCS)
Large cardamom — Sikkim · Sikkim — Spice · large cardamom No. 1. No. 1 LARGE (black) cardamom — Sikkim; also organic state (2016)
Saffron — Kashmir · Jammu & Kashmir — Spice · GI 2020. Pampore — “saffron town” on karewa (lake-deposit) soils (UPPCS)
Chilli — Andhra Pradesh + Telangana · Andhra Pradesh — Spice · chilli. AP and Telangana lead chilli — Guntur has Asia’s largest chilli market
Turmeric — Telangana · Telangana — Spice · turmeric. Nizamabad — National Turmeric Board HQ (set up January 2025)
Cumin — Gujarat + Rajasthan · Gujarat — Spice · seed spice. Seed-spice belt: cumin, fennel, coriander — Unjha (Gujarat) is the biggest cumin market
Coconut — Karnataka · Karnataka — Coconut · No. 1 (2023-24). No. 1 coconut in 2023-24 (CDB) — Tumakuru, Hassan; Kerala still has the largest AREA
Cashew — Maharashtra · Maharashtra — Cashew · No. 1. No. 1 cashew producer — Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri (UPPCS)
Orchids — Arunachal Pradesh · Arunachal Pradesh — Floriculture. UPSC 2011: most suitable state for many orchids at low cost → Arunachal Pradesh

Asked in exams

UPPCSLargest producer of tea → Assam
UPSC 1979Maximum foreign exchange (then) → tea
UPSC 2022AP, Kerala, HP, Tripura — how many are tea states? → all four
UPSC 2022Counted among tea-producing states ✓
UPSC 2022Andhra Pradesh counted as a tea state ✓
UPSC 2008Chikmagalur for sugar ✗, Mandya for coffee ✗ → neither
UPPCSHighest coffee production → Karnataka
UPPCSBritish first started coffee in → Chikmagalur district
UPPCSMost rubber-producing state → Kerala
UPSC 2019Tobacco, cocoa, rubber → domesticated in the New World
UPPCSLargest producer of cardamom and pepper → Kerala (old key; Karnataka leads pepper now)
UPSC 2010Hot humid, 200 cm rain, slopes to 1,100 m, 15–30°C → pepper
UPPCSIdukki, a major cardamom producer, is in → Kerala
UPPCSNot known for cardamom → Odisha
UPPCSMost saffron is produced in → Kashmir
UPPCSLargest coconut producer → Tamil Nadu / Kerala (older keys — Karnataka leads in 2023-24)
UPPCSCoconut in Lakshadweep — both statements correct
UPPCSMajor cashew-producing state → Maharashtra
UPSC 2011Best climate for many orchids at minimum cost → Arunachal Pradesh

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