Which one of the following crops is not cultivated under dryland farming?
Explanation
According to the textbook context, dryland farming is confined to regions having annual rainfall less than 75 cm, where hardy and drought resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram and guar are grown. On the other hand, wetland farming areas grow water intensive crops such as rice, jute and sugarcane. Therefore, sugarcane is cultivated under wetland farming, not dryland farming. Ragi is explicitly mentioned as a dryland crop. Groundnut is grown in the drylands of Malwa plateau, Marathwada, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Rayalseema and Karnataka plateau. Jowar, though not explicitly mentioned in the dryland crops list, is a coarse cereal like bajra and ragi that is typically grown in semi-arid conditions.
Solution Steps
Step 1: Identify dryland farming crops from context - ragi, bajra, moong, gram, guar (hardy and drought resistant crops)
Step 2: Identify wetland farming crops from context - rice, jute, sugarcane (water intensive crops)
Step 3: Compare each option - Ragi is dryland crop, Groundnut grows in drylands, Sugarcane is wetland crop
Step 4: Select the crop that belongs to wetland farming - Sugarcane (Option D)