Question

Agro-based industries are _____
A. Those units using agricultural product for manufacturing
B. Those units using minerals for production
C. Those units using forest raw materials for manufacturing
D. None of these

Answer 1

Hint: The agro-based industry includes industries related to textiles, sugar, paper and vegetable oil. There are a number of agro-based industries in India.

Complete answer:
The agro-based industries refer to those units which use agricultural products as raw material to manufacture goods. These include food related industries like sugar, oil etc. and a number of textile industries like jute, cotton etc. Let us look at some agro-based industries in India.
Sugar – India is the second largest producer of sugar and the largest producer of khandsari and gur. There are over 450 sugar mills in India. They are spread over states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana etc. It is a seasonal industry, i.e. the sugarcane crops grow in summer and are harvested in December, thus implying that sugar production occurs in the cold seasons.

The agro-based textile industry deals with production of fabric by interweaving of threads and yarns. These industries get their raw materials from plants like bamboo, cotton, jute, lacebark, seaweeds etc. These industries also use chemical compounds obtained from plants. For e.g. acetate, rayon etc.
Jute textile – India is also the largest producer of jute. Jute production in India takes place in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Most of the jute mills are situated by the banks of river Hugli, because the location offers inexpensive water supply and transport by both land and water. Jute is extracted from the stem and outer skin of the jute plant by a process called retting.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A)

Note: All agro-based industries are important (be it food or textile), because they increase industrial products, employment, foreign exchanges and earnings. Hence they help the economy of the country as a whole.