Railway
The fibrous residue left after the sweet juice is extracted from sugarcane is called:
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Answer: Option C — Bagasse
Detailed Solution
Bagasse is the dry, fibrous material that remains after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice. For every tonne of sugarcane crushed, roughly 250 to 300 kg of bagasse is produced.
Composition of bagasse:
- It consists mainly of cellulose (about 45 to 55 per cent), hemicellulose and lignin.
- Fresh bagasse contains about 50 per cent moisture.
Uses of bagasse:
Fuel: most sugar mills burn bagasse in their boilers to produce steam and electricity for their own needs. Surplus electricity is sold to the grid. This is called cogeneration.
Paper and pulp: bagasse is used to make paper, newsprint and cardboard, reducing the demand for wood.
Eco-friendly tableware: biodegradable plates, bowls, cups and food containers made from bagasse are replacing single-use plastic.
Board and building materials: particle board, fibreboard and insulation panels.
Biofuels: bagasse can be used to produce second-generation (2G) ethanol, made from cellulosic waste.
Animal feed (after treatment), mushroom cultivation and compost.
Other by-products of the sugar industry:
Molasses: a thick, dark syrup left after sugar crystals are separated from the concentrated juice. It is used to make ethanol (for blending with petrol), alcohol, yeast and cattle feed.
Press mud (filter cake): the solid residue left after the juice is filtered. It is used as organic manure and for making biogas.
Sugarcane trash (dry leaves): used as mulch or fuel.
Related products:
- Gur (jaggery): unrefined sugar made by boiling sugarcane juice in open pans.
- Khandsari: a semi-refined, small-scale sugar made in rural units.
- Sugar: refined crystalline sugar produced in modern mills.
- The term "bagasse" also applies to the residue left after extracting juice from sorghum stalks and agave.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Molasses is the syrup left after sugar crystals are separated.
- ✗Press mud is the solid residue left after filtering the juice.
- ✗Khandsari is a type of semi-refined sugar.
Quick tip
Remember: Bagasse = fibrous sugarcane waste (used for cogeneration, paper and tableware); molasses = syrup used to make ethanol; press mud = filter residue used as manure.
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Agriculture in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Agriculture in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers agriculture in India: cropping seasons (kharif, rabi and zaid), major food and cash crops and their leading producer states, irrigation, the Green, White, Blue and other agricultural revolutions, and allied activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries. Questions usually ask which crop belongs to which season, which state is the largest producer of a crop, and which revolution relates to which product. For example, the White Revolution relates to milk and was led by Verghese Kurien, and the Blue Revolution relates to fisheries. Producer rankings can change from year to year, so check the latest data for those questions. Practise the agriculture in India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.