Question

Cotton is a ___.
A) Food crop
B) Cash crop
C) Plantation crop
D) Dry crop

Answer 1

Hint: Cotton is a smooth, fluffy staple fibre that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of cotton plants in the genus Gossypium, which belongs to the Malvaceae family of mallows. The fibre is almost entirely made up of cellulose. Cotton bolls can aid seed dispersal in natural conditions.

Complete answer:
A cash crop is an agricultural crop produced for the purpose of making a profit. It's usually bought by people who aren't connected to a farm. The term is used to distinguish marketed crops from subsistence crops, which are those that are fed to the producer's own livestock or cultivated for personal consumption. Cash crops used to make up a small percentage of a farm's total yield, but today, particularly in developing countries, almost all crops are grown for profit.

Now let us look at the given options:
A) Food crop: This option is incorrect because Food crops are those that are cultivated for the purpose of feeding humans whereas cotton crops cannot be eaten.
B) Cash crop: This is the correct option. A cash crop, also known as a benefit crop, is an agricultural crop cultivated for the purpose of profit. It's usually bought by people who aren't connected to a farm. Cotton is India's most valuable fibre and cash crop, and it plays a significant role in the country's industrial and agricultural economies.
C) Plantation crop: This option is incorrect because Plantation crops are those that are grown on a large scale in a contiguous area and are owned and maintained by a person or a corporation. Tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, coconut, arecanut, oil palm, palmyrah, and cashew are among the crops grown.
D) Dry crop: This option is incorrect because instead of relying on rainfall during the growing season, these crops grow using the winter water stored in the soil. Winter wheat, corn, beans, sunflowers, and even watermelon are examples of drier farmed crops.

Thus, the correct answer is Option B.

Note: Many cereals (wheat, rye, corn, barley, oats), oil-yielding crops (e.g. grapeseed, mustard seeds), vegetables (e.g. potatoes), lumber-producing trees (e.g. Spruce, Pines, Firs), tree fruit or top fruit (e.g. apples, cherries), and soft fruit (e.g. peaches) are grown in temperate climates (e.g. strawberries, raspberries)