SSC
The practice of growing two or more crops one after another on the same field in one year is called:
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Answer: Option A — Multiple cropping
Detailed Solution
Multiple cropping (multi cropping) is the practice of growing two or more crops on the same piece of land in one agricultural year. It increases the total production from a given area of land and makes better use of land, water and labour.
Types of multiple cropping:
- Double cropping: two crops in a year, such as rice in the kharif season followed by wheat in the rabi season.
- Triple cropping: three crops in a year, such as a kharif crop, a rabi crop and a short summer (zaid) crop.
- Relay cropping: the next crop is sown before the previous one is harvested, so their growth periods overlap slightly.
- Ratoon cropping: a new crop grows from the stubble or roots of the harvested crop, as in sugarcane.
Requirements for multiple cropping:
- Assured irrigation.
- Fertile soils and sufficient fertilisers to maintain fertility.
- Short-duration and high-yielding crop varieties.
- Farm machinery to speed up harvesting and sowing between seasons.
Advantages:
- More production and income from the same land.
- Better use of resources and labour throughout the year.
Disadvantages:
Heavy use of water, fertilisers and pesticides can degrade soil and deplete groundwater, if not managed well.
Multiple cropping in India:
- It is common in irrigated areas such as Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the coastal deltas.
- In Punjab and Haryana, the rice-wheat double cropping system is widespread.
- Rain-fed areas usually have only one crop in a year.
Related terms:
- Mixed cropping: growing two or more crops together on the same field at the same time, often mixed without a definite pattern, to reduce the risk of crop failure.
- Monoculture (monocropping): growing a single crop on the same land, year after year.
- Mixed farming: combining crop cultivation with livestock rearing on the same farm.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Mixed cropping refers to crops grown together at the same time, not one after another.
- ✗Monoculture means growing only one crop.
- ✗Mixed farming combines crops and animals.
Quick tip
Remember: Multiple cropping = two or more crops in a year on the same land (double or triple cropping); mixed cropping = crops grown together at the same time.
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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.