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UPSC Prelims 2002 · Agriculture · Crops and Where They Grow
With reference to Indian agriculture, which one of the following statements is correct?
- (a) About 90% of the area under pulses in India is rainfed.
- (b) The share of pulses in the gross cropped area at the national level has doubled in the last two decades.
- (c) India accounts for about 15 per cent of the total area under rice in the world.
- (d) Rice occupies about 34 per cent of the gross cropped area of India.
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (a) About 90% of the area under pulses in India is rainfed.
About 85–90% of pulse area was rainfed.
Why the others are wrong
(b) The pulse share of gross cropped area fell, not doubled.
(c) India has about 28% of world rice area, not 15%.
(d) Rice covers about 22–24% of gross cropped area, not 34%.
The trap
Each wrong option has a real-looking number — only (a) matches the data.
🔒 Pulses: mostly rainfed, grown on marginal land → low, unstable yields.
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