UPSC CSE Prelims
Agriculture in India Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Detailed Explanation:

The correct answer is 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Option 4). Birds, dust, rain, and wind all help spread plant diseases by carrying fungi, bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens from infected plants to healthy ones.

📗 Concept 

Plant disease transmission occurs through different agents called vectors or dispersal agents. Wind and rain spread fungal spores and bacteria, while birds and other animals carry pathogens through their feathers, feet, or droppings.

Detailed Explanation:

❌ Pair 1 – Incorrect: Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) is renowned for apple cultivation and dry fruits, not areca nut. Areca nut (betel nut) is predominantly grown in Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, and West Bengal.

❌ Pair 2 – Incorrect: Mewat (Haryana) is known for wheat and mustard cultivation, not mango. Major mango-producing regions include Uttar Pradesh (Malihabad), Andhra Pradesh (Banganapalle), Bihar (Darbhanga), and Karnataka (Alphonso in coastal areas).

❌ Pair 3 – Incorrect: Coromandel Coast (Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh) is famous for paddy/rice cultivation and deltaic agriculture, not soya bean. Soya bean is primarily grown in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

Conclusion: None of the pairs is correctly matched.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Cotton is a major Kharif crop sown with the onset of monsoon (June-July) requiring high temperature and 210 frost-free days.

✅ Statement 2 – Correct: Groundnut is a Kharif oilseed crop grown during the monsoon season in India.

✅ Statement 3 – Correct: Rice is the principal Kharif crop requiring high temperature (above 25°C), high humidity, and annual rainfall above 100 cm.

❌ Statement 4 – Incorrect: Wheat is a Rabi crop sown in winter (October-December) and harvested in spring (April-June), requiring cool growing conditions.

Detailed Explanation:

Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric CO₂ in soil organic matter, helping mitigate climate change.

✅ Contour bunding: Prevents soil erosion on slopes, retains organic matter and moisture, enhancing carbon storage in soil.

✅ Relay cropping: Maintains continuous soil cover by sowing second crop before first harvest, reduces soil disturbance, increases biomass return and carbon sequestration.

✅ Zero tillage: Eliminates soil disturbance, preserves soil structure, increases organic matter retention and microbial activity, significantly enhances carbon storage.

All three practices contribute to carbon sequestration in soil.

Detailed Explanation:

Mixed farming is an agricultural system where crop cultivation and livestock rearing are practised together on the same farm.

The animals provide manure for crops while crops provide fodder for animals, creating an integrated farming system; this is distinct from mixed cropping (growing multiple crops simultaneously) or crop rotation (sequential planting).

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Cowpea is used as pulse (Lobia for consumption), fodder (high-protein livestock feed), and green manure (rapid nitrogen fixation).
✅ Green gram serves as pulse (Moong dal), fodder (plant residues post-harvest), and green manure (short-duration soil enrichment crop).
✅ Pigeon pea functions as pulse (Arhar/Tur), fodder (leaves and pods), and green manure (nitrogen enhancement in intercropping systems).

All three crops serve triple purposes.

Detailed Explanation:

✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Groundnut is predominantly rainfed (75-80% of area), mainly cultivated during Kharif season in states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: Sesamum (Til) is a drought-tolerant oilseed grown predominantly under rainfed conditions in West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
✅ Statement 3 – Correct: Pearl millet (Bajra) is a hardy cereal crop exceptionally suited to arid and semi-arid regions, cultivated almost entirely under rainfed conditions in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.