Define double cropping and provide an example region.

• A. Harvesting only one crop per year
• B. Harvesting two crops in one year from the same land, e.g., rice and wheat in parts of South Asia
• C. Harvesting two crops in a year but from different fields
• D. Harvesting two crops in one year but in different seasons

Answer: (B)

Double cropping means harvesting two crops from the same piece of land within one year, using successive growing seasons to get more output from a single field. In parts of South Asia, farmers often plant rice during the monsoon, harvest it, and then plant wheat for the dry winter season, yielding two crops from the same field in a single year. This illustrates how land is maximized by fitting multiple crops into one annual cycle.

The other descriptions don’t fit as well because they either involve only one crop per year, or two crops from different fields. The idea hinges on using the same land for two harvests in one year, which is clearly shown by the rice–wheat sequence in the region.