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UPSC Prelims 2023 · Agriculture · Farm Money
Consider the following statements:
- The Government of India provides Minimum Support Price for niger (Guizotia abyssinica) seeds.
- Niger is cultivated as a Kharif crop.
- Some tribal people in India use niger seed oil for cooking.
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All three
- (d) None
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) All three
MSP ✓, kharif ✓, tribal cooking oil ✓.
Statement by statement
1. ✓ CORRECT Nigerseed is one of the 22 mandated crops with an MSP, in the kharif list.
2. ✓ CORRECT It is sown in July–August, mainly on the hill slopes of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
3. ✓ CORRECT It grows on poor tribal-area soils and its oil is a staple cooking oil there.
The idea
MSP covers 22 mandated crops (14 kharif, 6 rabi, 2 commercial) plus FRP for sugarcane. It is announced on the recommendation of the CACP and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Why the others are wrong
(a) Keeps only the tribal-oil fact and doubts the MSP — assuming a minor oilseed can’t be on the MSP list. Nigerseed is one of the 22 mandated crops.
(b) Usually drops the kharif statement. Niger is sown in July–August on rainfed hill slopes, so it is a kharif crop.
(d) Obscurity is not falsehood — all three are official facts.
The trap
Niger is so obscure that people assume the Government can’t be setting its price. It is on the official MSP list.
🔒 MSP: 22 crops, CACP recommends, CCEA approves. Niger = kharif minor oilseed of tribal areas.