RAS question
Coffee is primarily grown in:
Correct answer: (A) Karnataka (Coorg, Chikmagalur), Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
Coffee in India is primarily grown in the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with Karnataka’s Coorg and Chikmagalur regions among the key coffee areas.
Explanation
The answer is Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu because the Coffee Board of India identifies these southern states as India’s traditional coffee-growing areas. This matches the standard crop-region association for Indian geography: coffee is not a northern plains crop, but a plantation crop concentrated in the south. Karnataka is the leading state, producing about 70% of India’s coffee, especially from Coorg (Kodagu) and Chikmagalur. The Coffee Board of India also places the origin story of Indian coffee in Karnataka, noting Bababudangiris as the birthplace of coffee in India. It lists both Arabica and Robusta in major Karnataka regions such as Coorg and Chikmagalur.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Assam and West Bengal point to India’s tea belt, whereas the Coffee Board of India places the traditional coffee areas in the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- (C) Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not the traditional coffee-growing region; Uttar Pradesh is associated with sugarcane, while coffee is concentrated in the southern plantation belt.
- (D) Punjab and Haryana are wheat-region answers, not coffee answers, and they do not appear in the Coffee Board’s list of traditional southern coffee areas.
Concept
This tests the crop-region mapping part of Indian agriculture in Geography of India. It recurs in RAS because plantation crops such as coffee are often asked through state-region associations rather than through definitions.