Consider the following crops : 1. Cotton 2. Groundnut 3. Rice 4. Wheat Which of these are Kharif crops?

Cotton, groundnut and rice are all kharif crops. They are sown with the southwest monsoon around June to July and harvested in September to October. Wheat is a rabi crop, sown in October to November on residual winter moisture and harvested in March to April. So statement 4 is the odd one out, and the answer is C.

Why the other options fail: Option A includes wheat, so it is wrong. Option B leaves out cotton, a major kharif fibre crop in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. Option D includes wheat as well.

Core concept: Indian crop seasons are defined by sowing time, which is tied to monsoon and temperature. Kharif is the monsoon season, rabi is the winter season, and zaid is the summer season. This matters for Mains GS-III on agriculture, MSP announcements and food security, since the kharif and rabi MSP cycles follow this same classification.

Trap: candidates sometimes classify groundnut as rabi because it is grown in winter in some irrigated pockets. Use the standard classification, where groundnut is kharif.