UPSC Prelims 2020 · Question 13 of 100
UPSC Prelims 2020 question on Indigo Cultivation Decline
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2020
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicEconomic Policies of British
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeDirect
Indigo cultivation in India declined by the beginning of the 20th century because of
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Answer: B. its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions
Indigo cultivation in India declined primarily because towards the end of the nineteenth century, German synthetic dyes forced indigo out of the market.
German chemists had already started their search for making synthetic indigo. Adolf Baeyer succeeded in synthesizing it in 1882. This was followed by research by other German chemists — Johannes Pfleger and Karl Heumann — in the first decade of the 20th century.
The synthetic dye was much cheaper and blew the final blow to the natural plant-produced indigo dye, making indigo crop a part of history. Now most of the indigo dye used world-over is made synthetically.
Hence option (b) — its unprofitability in the world market because of new inventions — is the correct answer.