The prairies are known as ‘Granaries of the World’. Select the conditions that…
2024
The prairies are known as ‘Granaries of the World’. Select the conditions that help in production of surplus wheat in this region.
(a) People do not use technology here.
(b) People are very hardworking here.
(c) Scientific methods of cultivation are used here.
(d) There is a lack of rainfall in this region.
Choose the correct option:
- A.
(a) and (b) are correct
- B.
(b) and (c) are correct
- C.
(a) and (d) are correct
- D.
(c) and (d) are correct
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
A region becomes a 'granary' -- a large-scale surplus grain producer -- when hardworking, skilled farm labour applies scientific and technological methods of cultivation over large, fertile landholdings; it is this combination of effort and method that converts fertile land into an exportable surplus, not favourable natural conditions occurring on their own.
Applying this to the Prairies, each stated condition can be checked in turn:
(a) does not hold: extensive mechanisation -- tractors, seed drills, and combine harvesters -- covers the wheat tracts, so an absence of technology cannot be a helping condition; it is technology's presence that enables the large-scale output.
(b) holds: farm labour in the region is hardworking, and sustained effort across very large landholdings is one of the two recognised conditions behind the surplus.
(c) holds: scientific methods of cultivation -- mechanised sowing and harvesting, fertiliser use, and improved seed varieties -- raise per-hectare yield and form the second recognised condition.
(d) does not hold: the region receives rainfall adequate for wheat cultivation, supplemented by irrigation where needed; a genuine shortage of rainfall would suppress yield rather than create a surplus.
Both (a) and (d) describe a deficit -- no technology, insufficient rainfall -- and a deficit cannot be the reason for a surplus; only the two statements naming a present, positive input, hardworking labour and scientific cultivation, fit a condition that helps production. This matches the CTET January 2024 Paper 2 official answer key.