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Which Indian state is often referred to as India's 'Spice Garden'?
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Answer: Option C — Kerala
Detailed Solution
Kerala is called the "Spice Garden of India" (and also the "Land of Spices") because it produces a wide variety of spices, especially black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Its spices have been famous across the world for thousands of years.
Why Kerala is suited for spices:
- A warm, humid tropical climate with heavy rainfall from two monsoons.
- The slopes of the Western Ghats, with fertile forest soils and shade from forest trees.
- The Idukki and Wayanad districts in the hills are major spice-growing areas.
Major spices of Kerala:
Black pepper: called the "King of Spices" and "black gold". Kerala and Karnataka are the main producers in India.
Small cardamom: called the "Queen of Spices". It is grown mainly in the Cardamom Hills of Idukki district (Kerala), and in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, cloves and cinnamon are also grown.
History of the spice trade:
Kerala's Malabar coast traded spices with the Romans, Arabs, Chinese and others since ancient times. The ancient port of Muziris (near present-day Kodungallur) was an important trading centre.
The search for a sea route to India's spices led the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama to land near Kozhikode (Calicut) in 1498.
Spices Board of India:
The Spices Board, set up in 1987 under the Ministry of Commerce, has its headquarters in Kochi (Kerala). It promotes the export of 52 scheduled spices and the development of cardamom.
India and spices:
- India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices.
- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana are also large producers, especially of seed spices such as cumin and coriander, and chillies.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Karnataka produces coffee, pepper and cardamom, but is not called the "Spice Garden".
- ✗Tamil Nadu produces turmeric (Erode) and other spices, but is not known by this name.
- ✗Sikkim is the largest producer of large cardamom in India, but is known as India's first fully organic state.
Quick tip
Remember: Kerala = "Spice Garden of India"; pepper = "King of Spices" ("black gold"); cardamom = "Queen of Spices"; Spices Board HQ = Kochi.
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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.