RAS question
Zaid crops are grown in:
Correct answer: (B) March to June (summer season between Rabi and Kharif).
Zaid crops are grown in the short summer season between the rabi and kharif seasons, broadly from March to June.
Explanation
Zaid is not a full monsoon or winter crop season; it is the short summer window that falls between rabi and kharif. The cited NCERT-based source states that India has three cropping seasons: rabi, kharif and zaid, and describes zaid as the season during the summer months between rabi and kharif. That matches the March to June option. The usual examples are watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, vegetables, fodder crops and moong. These crops fit the summer slot because they need warm, dry weather and irrigation rather than the winter conditions of rabi or the monsoon setting of kharif.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) November to February falls within the winter rabi period, not the summer gap between rabi and kharif.
- (C) October to March describes the broad rabi season, while zaid is specifically the short summer season after rabi.
- (D) June to October is the kharif season linked with the onset of the monsoon, not the intervening zaid season.
Concept
This tests the basic cropping-season classification in Indian agriculture: rabi, kharif and zaid. It recurs in RAS because many crop, irrigation and regional-agriculture questions depend on placing crops in the correct seasonal window.