With reference to pulse production in India, consider the following statements:
- 1.Black gram can be cultivated as both kharif and rabi crop.
- 2.Green-gram alone accounts for nearly half of pulse production.
- 3.In the last three decades, while the production of kharif pulses has increased, the production of rabi pulses has decreased.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 only
Only statement 1 is correct: black gram (urad) is sown in both the kharif and rabi seasons. Green gram (moong) gives only about a tenth of India's pulses, and rabi pulses have not shrunk; they now make up the larger share of production.
- ✓ 1. Government crop statistics list urad separately for the kharif and the rabi season, so it is grown in both.
- ✗ 2. ICAR-IIPR says mungbean (green gram) accounts for 10% of India's pulse production; it is gram (chickpea), at about 10.4 of 23.4 million tonnes, that comes close to half.
- ✗ 3. Rabi pulses have not decreased: in the 2016-17 to 2020-21 average, rabi pulses gave 14.69 million tonnes against 8.73 million tonnes from kharif pulses.
Remember · Gram (chickpea) is about 45% of India's pulses; moong is about 10% and urad about 11%; rabi pulses give the larger share.
Sources
- Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022, Table 2.1 (normal estimates 2016-17 to 2020-21), Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare ↗ “Gram Rabi 9.86 10.44 1059 Total Pulses Kharif 14.17 8.73 616 Rabi 14.94 14.69 983 Total 29.10 23.41 805 … Urad Kharif 386 412 475 419 363 557 523 606 490 516 459 626 632 500 359 469 534 Rabi 540 640 405 506 586 489 621 682 768 891 773 656 798 796 904 778 878”
- Mungbean, ICAR-Indian Institute of Pulses Research (Internet Archive copy) ↗ “The Mungbean alone accounts for 10% of production and 16% of area for all pulses.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·