Which of the following crop is cultivated in the highlands of Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu?

coffee

The correct answer is Option 2: coffee

Sugarcane: This is Incorrect. Sugarcane is primarily grown in tropical regions with fertile, flat alluvial plains and high water availability, such as the river valleys of Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh. It is not a characteristic crop of the rugged, high-altitude terrain of the Western Ghats.

Tobacco: This is Incorrect. Commercial tobacco cultivation is typically concentrated in regions like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, which have different soil and climatic requirements than the high-altitude, humid hill slopes of the Western Ghats.

Rice: This is Incorrect. While rice is grown in the foothills and coastal plains of these states due to high rainfall, it is not the defining crop of the high-altitude highlands of the Western Ghats. Rice cultivation requires flat, flooded fields, which are not characteristic of the steep, elevated mountain slopes where coffee thrives.

NCERT: Coffee is a tropical plantation crop. Its seeds are roasted, ground and are used for preparing a beverage. There are three varieties of coffee i.e. arabica, robusta and liberica. India mostly grows superior quality coffee, arabica, which is in great demand in International market. But India produces only about 3.4 per cent coffee of the world and ranks eighth after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Honduras, Ethopia and Peru in 2017. Coffee is cultivated in the highlands of Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka alone accounts for more than two-third of total production of coffee in the country.