Cash crops

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect on its causal logic. A duty-free import window is designed to increase the supply of cotton in the domestic market, which tends to suppress — not raise — domestic cotton prices. This benefits textile mills (downstream) by reducing their raw-material costs, but works against farmers (upstream) who receive lower prices for their crop. The statement inverts these effects by claiming the window 'benefits farmers' and 'adversely affects mills.' Statement 2 is correct. The MSP (Minimum Support Price) acts as a floor price guaranteed by the government. When prevailing market prices rise above the MSP, it is an indicator that supply is tighter than the floor-price scenario anticipated. This supply-demand imbalance — domestic prices rising above the government's own floor — is precisely the kind of condition that justifies a temporary import duty waiver to cool prices and ease supply constraints for processing industries. Statement 3 is correct. The stock-to-use ratio measures ending stocks of a commodity as a proportion of total annual consumption. A falling or low stock-to-use ratio means carryover inventories are shrinking relative to demand, indicating tightening market conditions. Policymakers and commodity analysts treat this ratio as a key structural indicator when deciding whether to ease import restrictions — a five-year low in this ratio strengthens the case for import duty relief to supplement domestic supply.

Explanation

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is one of India's most important kharif oilseeds. It is sown with the onset of the southwest monsoon (June–July) and harvested in October–November, placing it firmly in the kharif cropping calendar — Statement 1 is correct. The crop is overwhelmingly rain-fed across India, particularly in the black-soil and red-laterite belts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Since groundnut requires well-distributed rainfall during pod formation but does not tolerate waterlogging, its yield is acutely sensitive to both the adequacy and distribution of monsoon rain — Statement 2 is correct. Statement 3 is incorrect on two counts: Saurashtra's groundnut is a kharif, not a rabi, crop; and it is grown under rain-fed conditions, not irrigated conditions. The very reason the Solvent Extractors' Association's 2026-27 survey flagged a ~20% production decline was deficient rainfall in Saurashtra districts — precisely because the crop's yield is monsoon-dependent, not insulated from it. Gujarat is India's leading groundnut-producing state, contributing roughly 40–45% of national output, and Saurashtra accounts for the dominant share within Gujarat — all under rain-fed kharif cultivation.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct. India's non-GM-only import policy for soybeans restricts sourcing to countries that cultivate non-GM varieties — primarily a handful of West African nations. This regulatory constraint reduces supply competition and elevates the price at which compliant imports clear customs, which is a structural feature of India's soybean import parity framework. Statement 2 is correct. When domestic soybean prices surge, the cost of raw material for Indian crushing mills rises sharply. Since soymeal is a by-product of soybean crushing, its production cost rises proportionally, eroding the price advantage that Indian soymeal enjoyed in global markets (particularly in Southeast Asia and the Middle East). This inverse relationship between domestic soybean prices and soymeal export competitiveness is a well-established feature of India's oilseed economy. Statement 3 is incorrect. Palm oil — not soybean oil — is historically the dominant vegetable oil import in India, accounting for roughly 60–65% of India's total edible oil import volume and value. India's edible oil import dependence is anchored in palm oil (from Indonesia and Malaysia), with soybean oil and sunflower oil playing secondary roles. India is actually a significant soybean processor for soymeal (an animal-feed export) rather than a large importer of soybean oil relative to palm oil.

Explanation

All three pairs are correctly matched. The Rubber Board is a statutory body established under the Rubber Act, 1947, and functions under the Union Ministry of Commerce; it publishes daily price reports and oversees rubber development in India. El Niño is a periodic climate pattern that causes erratic rainfall and drought conditions across major rubber-producing countries in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia), reducing latex yields and tightening global supply — exactly the dynamic that drives international prices higher. Synthetic rubber is manufactured from petrochemical feedstocks (butadiene, styrene, isoprene) derived from crude oil; when Brent crude prices rise, the production cost of synthetic rubber rises correspondingly, making natural rubber relatively more attractive and pulling its price upward. Understanding the crude-oil linkage is central to analysing natural rubber price formation, because synthetic rubber serves as a functional substitute and a cost-setting benchmark in the global tyre and industrial-rubber industry.

Explanation

Pair 1 is correctly matched: oil palm plantations enter the bearing stage and begin regular FFB production only after approximately three to four years from planting, making the non-bearing maintenance period a critical phase. Pair 2 is correctly matched: the NMEO-OP explicitly provides for maintenance support, drip irrigation, quality planting material, nurseries, replanting, and processing infrastructure — a wide basket that goes beyond mere area expansion. Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: oil palm is a long-duration, perennial crop that requires sustained management — regular water supply, balanced nutrition, timely field operations, pest and disease management, and continuous technical guidance. It is not a short-duration seasonal crop. Crucially, its commercial output (FFBs) does not arrive in the planting year; this long gestation makes farmer commitment and ongoing state support indispensable, distinguishing oil palm fundamentally from annual crops such as soybean or sunflower that India also relies on for edible oil.

Explanation

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Saffron cultivation in India is concentrated in the highlands of Pampore in south Kashmir and parts of Budgam district — a region with a unique agro-climatic profile that combines cold winters, snowfall, and specific soil moisture requirements essential for corm development and the crop's flowering cycle. The crop is acutely sensitive to climatic variability: inadequate snowfall, prolonged dry spells (especially in August and early September), and erratic temperature fluctuations directly impair vegetative growth and yield. Statement 3 is incorrect. Saffron is NOT a kharif crop. It is a rabi-season spice whose flowering and harvesting occur in autumn (October–November), not during the summer monsoon months. The saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) blooms in the autumn after the soil receives adequate pre-monsoon and early-autumn moisture; harvesting takes place before winter fully sets in. Classifying it as a kharif crop confuses its agro-climatic calendar with monsoon-sown crops.