RAS question
Which of the following pairs of plantation crops and their leading producing countries is NOT correctly matched?
Correct answer: (C) Rubber — Vietnam (world's largest producer).
Rubber and Vietnam is the incorrectly matched pair because Thailand, not Vietnam, is the world's largest natural-rubber producer.
Explanation
The mismatch is Rubber -- Vietnam. Thailand is the world's largest producer of natural rubber, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations supports that hierarchy: even while noting fast growth in Viet Nam's output, it says Thailand was expected to retain its position as the world's largest supplier and gives a higher projected output for Thailand than for Indonesia or Viet Nam. Vietnam is important in natural-rubber production and was projected to grow rapidly. But the pair overstates Vietnam's rank by treating it as the world's largest producer. Therefore, the pair fails on the country ranking, not on the crop itself.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Tea -- Kenya is correctly matched because Kenya is the third-largest tea producer after China and India.
- (B) Cocoa -- Cote d'Ivoire is correctly matched because Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer, accounting for about 40% of world cocoa.
- (D) Coffee -- Brazil is correctly matched because Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, with about one-third of global supply.
Concept
World agricultural geography covers plantation crops and their leading producing countries. Pair-matching questions in RAS often check factual command over crop regions, export commodities and global production patterns.