wheat, rice, and corn

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wheat, rice, and corn

by lingerzzzz » Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:54 pm
Can't seem to find a previous post on this practice question from one of GMAT's practice exams, can someone please explain to me why the correct answer is D and not A, I understand that "to supply an even" is better than "to supply even a", but the "the" here in answer D didn't sound right to me, and if it's correct, why is it not used in front of "wheat", "rice" or "corn"...many thx in advance!

Now the fourth most important crop worldwide after wheat, rice and corn, potatoes are expected supply even a larger share of the world's nutritional requirements in the next century if genetic engineering can increase its immunity to disease and expand its range of growing habitats.

A. potatoes are expected to supply even a
D. the potato is expected to supply an even

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by theCodeToGMAT » Fri Jan 10, 2014 3:38 am
Now the fourth most important crop worldwide after wheat, rice and corn, potatoes are expected supply even a larger share of the world's nutritional requirements in the next century if genetic engineering can increase its immunity to disease and expand its range of growing habitats.

A. potatoes are expected to supply even a
D. the potato is expected to supply an even
Non underlined part of the sentence contains "its", so we need singular Subject.
A has plural Subject.
So, {D}
R A H U L