In Indian agriculture during the recent decades, the total cultivated area under which of the following crops has remained more or less stagnant compared with others?

Introduction / Context:
Agricultural trends in India show that the area under certain crops has expanded significantly due to policy support, irrigation and high yielding varieties, while for some crops the total cultivated area has remained almost stagnant. This has important implications for food security and nutritional balance. Pulses, which are the main vegetarian source of protein, have often suffered from stagnation in area and lower productivity growth compared with crops like rice and wheat. This question tests awareness of these long term trends in Indian agriculture.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- The question compares total cultivated area during roughly the last decade or so. - The crops listed are pulses, rice, oilseeds and sugarcane. - The focus is on area stability or stagnation, not on production or yield alone. - One crop is known for having relatively stagnant area despite policy attention.

Concept / Approach:
The key concept is that Green Revolution type interventions mainly benefited cereals like wheat and rice in irrigated regions, while pulses often remained on marginal lands dependent on rainfall. As a result, farmers had less incentive to expand pulse area compared with more profitable or better supported crops. Oilseeds and sugarcane have seen various campaigns and increased irrigation that helped expand their area, whereas pulses area has not changed much over long periods in many official statistics. The approach is to recall this well recorded trend from agricultural economics and geography texts.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Verification can be done by examining graphs or tables in economic surveys and agriculture yearbooks, which display trends in area under major crops. These usually show that area under pulses has not grown as much as that under rice, oilseeds or sugarcane. Many policy documents explicitly mention stagnation in pulse area as a concern, supporting the conclusion that pulses is the correct answer for this question.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Rice has benefited from large scale irrigation and research programmes and therefore does not show the same degree of long term area stagnation as pulses. Oilseeds have seen deliberate policy pushes that led to expansion in many regions. Sugarcane area has grown in many irrigated pockets due to high demand and assured purchases by mills. None of the above is incorrect because pulses clearly fit the description of a crop with stagnant cultivated area in many official analyses.

Common Pitfalls:
Students may confuse area trends with production and think that because pulses are often in short supply, the area must be increasing rapidly, when in fact stagnation is a major problem. Others might assume that sugarcane area is stagnant because of water constraints, overlooking data about expansion in certain regions. To avoid such errors, it is essential to rely on long term trend charts rather than guesswork.

Final Answer:
During recent decades, the total cultivated area in India has remained more or less stagnant mainly for pulses.