Solution: (b)
Kharif crops refer to the planting, cultivation and harvesting of any domesticated plant sown in the rainy (monsoon) season on the Asian subcontinent. Such crops are planted for autumn harvest and may also be called the summer or monsoon crop in India and Pakistan. Kharif crops are usually sown with the beginning of the first rains in July, during the southwest monsoon season.

Solution: (a)
Andhra Pradesh is historically called the “Rice Bowl of India”. More than 77% of its crop is rice. Four important rivers of India, the Godavari, Krishna, Penna, and Thungabhadra flow through the state, providing irrigation.

Solution: (b)
The growing of different kinds of crops on a piece of land in a preplanned succession is known as crop rotation. In the rotation of crops, leguminous crops like pulses, beans, peas, groundnut and Bengal gram are sown in-between the seasons of cereal crops like wheat, maize and pearl millet. The leguminous plants are grown alternately with non-leguminous plants to restore the fertility of the soil. So it brings about an increase in the production of food grains. Besides, rotation of crops helps in weed control and pest control. This is because weeds and pests are very choosy about the host crop plant, which they attack. When the crop is changed the cycle is broken. Hence, pesticide cost is reduced.

Solution: (d)
Though temperature and humidity are one of the key elements of weather crucial for a good harvest, agriculture in India is said to be the handmaid of monsoon. This is on account of the lack of irrigational facilities across the country. A good monsoonal year often means a bumper harvest.

Solution: (a)
India has the biggest area under rice cultivation, as it is one of the principal food crops. India is also one of the world’s largest producers of white rice, accounting for 20% of all world rice production.