SSC
The headquarters of the ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (CIAH) is at:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option D — Bikaner, Rajasthan
Detailed Solution
The ICAR-Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (CIAH) is located at Bikaner, Rajasthan.
About the CIAH:
- It was set up in 1993 as the "National Research Centre for Arid Horticulture" and was upgraded to the Central Institute for Arid Horticulture in 2000.
- It works under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
- It carries out research on fruits, vegetables and other horticultural crops that can grow in hot, dry (arid) regions with low rainfall, high temperatures and poor sandy soils.
- It has a regional research station at Godhra (Panchmahal), Gujarat.
Crops studied by the CIAH:
- Fruits: ber (Indian jujube), pomegranate, aonla (Indian gooseberry), date palm, bael, khejri, kair, lasora, phalsa, karonda, custard apple and fig.
- Vegetables: cucurbits such as melons, kachri and tinda, and drought-tolerant beans.
- It has developed improved varieties suited to arid regions, such as "Thar Sevika" (ber) and "Thar Bhubharaj".
- It promotes water-saving techniques such as drip irrigation and mulching.
About the Thar Desert and arid zones:
About 12 per cent of India's land area is classified as hot arid zone, most of it in Rajasthan, with parts in Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Ladakh is a cold arid zone.
About Bikaner:
- It was founded in 1488 by Rao Bika, a son of Rao Jodha (the founder of Jodhpur).
- It is famous for the Junagarh Fort, Lalgarh Palace, the Karni Mata Temple at Deshnok, "Bikaneri bhujia" (a snack with a GI tag), and its camels.
- The ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel is also located in Bikaner, and the Bikaner Camel Festival is held every January.
Other arid-zone research institutes:
- ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI): Jodhpur (1959).
- Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI): Jodhpur.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Jodhpur has CAZRI and the Arid Forest Research Institute.
- ✗Jaisalmer has the Desert National Park.
- ✗Bhuj (Gujarat) has the Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology.
Quick tip
Remember: Central Institute for Arid Horticulture = Bikaner, Rajasthan (1993/2000; ber, pomegranate, date palm); CAZRI = Jodhpur; NRC on Camel = Bikaner; Bikaner founded by Rao Bika (1488).
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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.