RAS question
Guar (cluster bean) production in India is dominated by which state?
Correct answer: (C) Rajasthan.
Guar, or cluster bean, production in India is dominated by Rajasthan.
Explanation
Rajasthan dominates India’s guar, or cluster bean, production because the crop is especially suited to arid and semi-arid conditions. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Indian Council of Agricultural Research identifies Rajasthan as India’s principal guar-growing state and records that it accounted for about 87.7% of production and 91.5% of acreage in 2020-21. Rajasthan’s wider dominance is also reflected in about 72% of the world’s guar produce and more than 70% of India’s production, with Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Churu as the main districts. For an RAS question, the key point is not merely that Rajasthan grows guar, but that its climate and scale make it the clearly dominant state.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Madhya Pradesh is not a major guar-producing state, and the Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Indian Council of Agricultural Research mentions it only for vegetable-purpose cultivation in some parts.
- (B) Haryana grows guar, but it ranks third, while Rajasthan is the principal state.
- (D) Gujarat has substantial acreage and production and ranks second, but it does not match Rajasthan’s dominant production share.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan’s agricultural geography, especially crop-region matching in arid and semi-arid areas. It recurs in RAS because guar links Rajasthan’s climate, district-level crop specialisation and India’s agricultural export economy.