RAS question
Sugarcane is a _____ crop.
Correct answer: (C) Kharif (but grows for about 12 months).
Sugarcane is generally classified as a Kharif crop, but it is a long-duration crop that grows for about 10-12 months.
Explanation
Sugarcane is not a neat short-season crop like many textbook examples, so the qualifying phrase matters. It is classified as Kharif, while also usually taking 10-12 months and being harvested after about a year. The ICAR Kharif Agro-Advisories for Farmers 2025 supports this classification by including sugarcane in its Kharif advisory and describing how, from June onwards, sugarcane enters its early vegetative and grand growth phase, especially for spring-planted February-March crops. That is why option C is the best answer: sugarcane belongs in the Kharif/annual frame for exam classification, but its crop duration is much longer than the monsoon season itself.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Sugarcane cannot be called strictly a winter crop because it needs tropical warmth and the ICAR Kharif advisory treats it within the Kharif-season crop-management context.
- (B) Rabi is wrong because sugarcane is planted in spring or around the monsoon/autumn cycle and is generally classified as Kharif or annual, not as a winter-sown Rabi crop.
- (D) Zaid crops are short-duration summer crops, whereas sugarcane takes about 10-12 months and is harvested after roughly a year.
Concept
This tests the Indian agriculture part of Geography: crop-season classification with exceptions. It recurs in RAS because crops like sugarcane do not fit a simple one-season memory rule and require linking season, planting time and duration.