Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Pulses
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question relates to Indian agriculture and economic geography. Various crops have different leading producers across the world. Exams often ask about the commodity for which India is both the largest producer and the largest consumer. Understanding this helps in topics such as food security, trade policy, and rural development.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
India cultivates many important crops. It is a very large producer of tea and sugar and has significant coffee production, but the commodity for which India is clearly identified as the largest producer and largest consumer at the global level is pulses. Pulses include chickpea, lentil, pigeon pea, black gram, green gram, and others. Due to dietary preferences and population size, India both produces and consumes more pulses than any other country.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall which commodities have India as a clear global leader in both production and consumption.
Step 2: Note that India is an important tea producer but shares the top positions with countries like China and is not always the largest consumer in every dataset.
Step 3: Consider sugar and coffee and remember that other countries such as Brazil often lead in production of these crops.
Step 4: Remember that pulses are staple protein sources for a large part of the Indian population and that India also imports pulses despite high domestic production, reflecting very high consumption.
Step 5: Conclude that pulses is the correct answer and that All of the above is not accurate.
Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by looking up basic agriculture statistics or exam preparation material on Indian agriculture. These sources usually mention that India is the largest producer, importer, and consumer of pulses. While India ranks very high for other commodities too, the specific phrase largest producer and consumer is strongly and consistently associated with pulses in general knowledge references.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Common Pitfalls:
Students may quickly select All of the above when they see multiple important crops listed, assuming India leads in all. Others may confuse tea statistics due to India very high domestic consumption. To avoid such mistakes, it is important to memorise specific well known fact statements such as India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses.
Final Answer:
India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses, so the correct option is Pulses.
Discussion & Comments