RAS question
Which of the following crops requires waterlogged conditions?
Correct answer: (D) Rice (Paddy).
Rice, grown as paddy, is the crop among these options that requires standing or waterlogged field conditions during cultivation.
Explanation
Rice is the right answer because paddy cultivation is associated with controlled standing water, not just moist or well-drained soil. Rice needs 5-10 cm of standing water during its growing period, 100-200 cm rainfall or equivalent irrigation, and temperatures of 20-30 degrees C. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Kharif Agro-Advisory 2025 supports this by treating rice as paddy, advising standing water in rice nursery/transplanted fields, and asking farmers to maintain bunds so that water is retained in the field. Wheat, maize and cotton are not described with this standing-water requirement, so paddy is the clear match for waterlogged conditions.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Wheat is ruled out because it belongs in well-drained alluvial soils, not in fields kept under standing water.
- (B) Maize is wrong because it grows in well-drained soil, whereas the condition being tested is waterlogging or standing water.
- (C) Cotton is not the answer because it is linked with black soil and moderate water, not with waterlogged paddy-style fields.
Concept
This tests crop-climate and crop-soil requirements in Indian geography. It recurs in RAS because water requirement is a quick way to distinguish paddy from well-drained or moderate-water crops.