Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A): Milk production in India is low as compared to many countries of the world.
Reason (R): The animal rearers in India are poor.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A) is correct but (R) is not correct
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, the question has two possible answers, i.e. both Option (1) and Option (3), as explained below.
Assertion (A): Milk production in India is low as compared to many countries of the world. Correct. India is the world’s largest producer of milk in total, because it has a very large number of cattle and buffaloes, but the milk given by each animal is low. The yield per animal is only a fraction of that in countries such as the USA, Israel or the Netherlands, and in this sense the assertion holds.
Reason (R): The animal rearers in India are poor. Not correct as per NTA. The low yield comes mainly from low-yielding breeds, poor feed and fodder, and weak veterinary care. Taken as a statement about all animal rearers, (R) is too sweeping: many dairy farmers, organised in cooperatives such as Amul, earn a good living from milk.
The other view: most of India’s animal rearers are small and marginal farmers or landless labourers, and their lack of money keeps them from buying better breeds, enough feed and proper veterinary care. On this reading (R) is true and is one cause of the low yield, which would make Option (1) the answer.
Tip for students: When an Assertion-Reason question can be read in two ways, mark the answer your own reading supports. If NTA’s answer key gives a different answer, challenge it when NTA opens the window for challenges.