RAS question
Cotton is primarily a crop of which season in India?
Correct answer: (C) Kharif (sown June-July, harvested Oct-Jan).
Cotton is primarily a kharif crop in India, sown with the monsoon around June-July and harvested from October to January.
Explanation
Cotton belongs to India's kharif crop group. It is sown in June-July, with the onset of the monsoon, and harvested from October to January. The NCERT Science Textbook, Chapter 12: Improvement in Food Resources classifies kharif as the rainy-season crop cycle and lists cotton along with paddy, soyabean, pigeon pea, maize, green gram and black gram as kharif crops. For cotton, the defining classification point is its monsoon-linked crop season rather than its commercial importance. Cotton is not an all-season or winter crop; it is tied to the monsoon-linked kharif calendar. India also has a leading position in cotton production, with Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh as major producing states.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) A perennial crop is grown across seasons, but cotton is an annual kharif crop tied to a June-July sowing window.
- (B) Zaid is not the right season because cotton has a 5-6 month crop cycle and is classified as a kharif crop.
- (D) Rabi is the winter crop season, whereas NCERT lists cotton under kharif crops and cotton is linked to monsoon sowing.
Concept
Indian agriculture uses crop seasons to distinguish kharif, rabi and zaid crops. RAS Rajasthan and India geography questions often use familiar crops to check whether candidates understand climate-linked cropping calendars.