Food Crops

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Food Crops

Rice, wheat, maize, millets and pulses — the leading states in 2024-25, and the old exam answers that have changed.

On this map (23)

Rice — Uttar Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh — Rice · #1 (2024-25). No. 1 rice producer in 2024-25 (209 lakh t, ~14% of India)
Rice — Telangana · Telangana — Rice · #2. No. 2 in 2024-25 (171 lakh t) — paddy boom after new irrigation (Kaleshwaram)
Rice — West Bengal · West Bengal — Rice · 3 crops a year. Grows three rice crops a year: Aus (autumn), Aman (winter), Boro (summer)
Rice — Punjab · Punjab — Rice · highest yield. Highest rice YIELD per hectare (UPPCS) — canal + tube-well irrigated
Rice — Odisha · Odisha — Rice. Top-five rice state; Central Rice Research Institute (NRRI) at Cuttack
Rice — Chhattisgarh · Chhattisgarh — Rice · “rice bowl of India”. Called the “rice bowl of India” — thousands of traditional varieties
Wheat — Uttar Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh — Wheat · #1. No. 1 wheat producer — about a third of India (UPPCS)
Wheat — Madhya Pradesh · Madhya Pradesh — Wheat · #2 · Sharbati. No. 2 today — Malwa black soil; Sharbati wheat of Sehore
Wheat — Punjab · Punjab — Wheat · highest yield. Highest wheat yield; heart of the Green Revolution (1960s HYV: Sonalika, Kalyan Sona)
Wheat — Haryana · Haryana — Wheat. Top wheat state; Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research at Karnal
Wheat — Rajasthan · Rajasthan — Wheat · canal-irrigated. Top-five wheat state — Indira Gandhi Canal belt (Ganganagar)
Bhalia wheat — Gujarat · Gujarat — Wheat · GI. Bhalia wheat — GI-tagged, grown on residual soil moisture without irrigation
Maize — Madhya Pradesh · Madhya Pradesh — Maize · #1 (2024-25). No. 1 maize producer in 2024-25 (~15%) with the largest area
Maize — Karnataka · Karnataka — Maize · #2. No. 2 maize producer (~14%); Davanagere–Haveri belt
Maize — Bihar · Bihar — Maize · winter crop. No. 3 maize state; unusual WINTER (rabi) maize with very high yield — Kosi belt
Bajra (pearl millet) — Rajasthan · Rajasthan — Millet · pearl millet. No. 1 bajra — about 40% of India
Jowar (sorghum) — Maharashtra · Maharashtra — Millet · sorghum. No. 1 jowar — rabi jowar on moisture-holding black soil (Solapur)
Ragi (finger millet) — Karnataka · Karnataka — Millet · finger millet. No. 1 ragi — more than half of India; richest in calcium
Pulses — Madhya Pradesh · Madhya Pradesh — Pulses · #1 · gram. No. 1 pulses state (~30%) and No. 1 gram (chana) — UPPCS
Tur / arhar (pigeon pea) — Maharashtra · Maharashtra — Pulses · pigeon pea. Leading tur (arhar) state — Vidarbha, with Karnataka (Kalaburagi)
Moong (green gram) — Rajasthan · Rajasthan — Pulses · green gram. No. 1 moong (green gram); No. 2 pulses state overall
Urad (black gram) — Andhra Pradesh · Andhra Pradesh — Pulses · black gram. Black gram (urad) grows in BOTH kharif and rabi — in AP on rice fallows (UPSC 2019)
Rice — Tamil Nadu (Cauvery delta) · Tamil Nadu — Rice · Cauvery delta. Cauvery delta (Thanjavur) — the “rice bowl” of Tamil Nadu; Kuruvai, Samba, Thaladi crops

Asked in exams

UPPCSLeading producer of rice → West Bengal (old key; UP is No. 1 in 2024-25)
UPPCSFood grain: largest contributor → Uttar Pradesh
UPSC 2011Lower Gangetic plain, humid and hot → paddy and jute
UPPCSLeading producer of rice → West Bengal (old key)
UPPCSLargest producer of rice per hectare → Punjab
UPPCSLargest wheat producer → Uttar Pradesh
UPPCSTop three wheat states → UP, Punjab, Haryana
UPPCSUP first in → wheat, sugarcane, potato
UPSC 2002Wheat HYVs among Arjun, Jaya, Padma, Sonalika → Arjun and Sonalika
UPPCSMaize can be grown → all through the year
UPSC 2012Groundnut, sesamum, pearl millet → all predominantly rainfed
UPPCSLargest producer of pulses → Madhya Pradesh
UPSC 2002About 90% of the area under pulses is rainfed ✓
UPSC 2012Cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea → all used as pulse, fodder and green manure
UPSC 2019Black gram can be grown as both kharif and rabi ✓ (pulse statements)

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