RAS question
Which of the following IGNP-benefiting districts is known as the 'Food Basket of Rajasthan'?
Correct answer: (B) Sri Ganganagar.
Sri Ganganagar is known as the Food Basket of Rajasthan because canal irrigation from the Gang Canal and the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana supports large-scale wheat, cotton and mustard cultivation.
Explanation
Sri Ganganagar fits the title Food Basket of Rajasthan because the district's agriculture is built around assured canal irrigation. The Gang Canal and the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana are the key irrigation sources behind its large output of wheat, cotton and mustard. The District Environment Plan for Sri Ganganagar, Government of Rajasthan supports this irrigation logic: the district is drained by the Bhakra canal system, the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana and the Gang Canal system, and the Gang Canal irrigates a significant part of Sri Ganganagar district. IGNP Stage-I also includes the Anupgarh and Suratgarh branches or distributaries in the district. That canal-command setting explains why Sri Ganganagar, not the drier western districts listed, carries the food-basket label.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Jaisalmer is too arid to match the canal-irrigated agricultural profile that gives Sri Ganganagar the Food Basket of Rajasthan label.
- (C) Bikaner is not Rajasthan's main food basket, while Sri Ganganagar's agriculture is linked to major canal systems including the Gang Canal and IGNP.
- (D) Barmer is not the Food Basket of Rajasthan because the title is tied here to Sri Ganganagar's canal-irrigated production of wheat, cotton and mustard.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan irrigation geography, especially how the Gang Canal and IGNP transformed parts of the Thar fringe into high-output agricultural districts. It recurs in RAS because canal-command areas connect physical geography, agriculture and regional development in one question.