How was plantation agriculture linked with the colonial export economy?

Correct answer: Products like tea coffee and rubber were grown for the market

The direct answer is A: products such as tea, coffee and rubber were grown for the market. Plantation agriculture is large-scale, commercial farming, usually organised to produce one or a few crops for sale rather than mainly for the cultivators’ own food. The reasoning is: colonial authorities or companies obtained land; plantations were established; crops with demand in domestic or foreign markets were grown; labour was organised to produce and process them; the products were sold or exported, linking plantations to the colonial export economy. Option A is correct because tea, coffee and rubber were important commercial plantation products. Option B is wrong because plantations were not mainly household food plots for forest dwellers. Option C is wrong because plantations generally encouraged foreign trade rather than stopping it. Option D is wrong because plantations required both land and labour, often in large amounts. Plantation growth could also cause forests to be cleared and local people to lose access to land. Memory cue: plantation means commercial crop, organised labour and market or export.