Test: Agriculture In The National Economy - UPSC MCQ

• Economic Cost of foodgrains consists of three components: Pooled cost of grains, which is the weighted MSP of the stock of foodgrains available with FCI, procurement incidentals, cost of distribution
• Thus answer is (c).

• Majority of the external debt is by the private sector’s external commercial borrowing (ECB). So #1 is wrong.
• Second statement is extreme worded hyperbole so it’s wrong. But just to crosscheck: Page 154 of 154 Economic Survey 2016-17: US dollar denominated debt accounted for 55.6 per cent of India’s total external debt at end- September 2016, followed by Indian rupee (30.1 per cent), SDR (5.8 per cent), Japanese Yen (4.8 per cent) Pound Sterling (0.7 per cent), Euro (2.4 per cent) and others (0.6 per cent).

• National IPR Policy 2016 shifted the Copyright Office and its statutory body Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) from HRD ministry to commerce ministry.
• India Patent Act : Chapter 2: Inventions not patentable: Bullet (j): plants and animals in whole or any part thereof, including seeds, varieties and species. So, #1 is wrong, #3 is right, answer is C.

Encyclopedia Britannica: In the 15th and 16th centuries, during the Columbian Exchange: numerous plants, animals, and microbes from old world (Europe, Asia, and Africa) were introduced to the new world (Americas) and vice versa. From the image given in the link, it’s evident that Cocoa and Tobacco were introduced from new world to old world so only A fits.

First is correct as per BIS website. And AGMARK is issued under Indian Act. Besides, it's an 'extreme statement', FAO would not bother with small things.

From the statistical appendix given in the economic survey 2015-16 the answer is "B". While it's possible that in some years, FDI and world share in exports would have declined than previous years because of global financial crisis, but by and large compared to Pre-LPG and Post-LPG, there is definitely an increase.

(i) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will also seek to address a long standing demand of farmers and provide farm level assessment for localised calamities including hailstorms, unseasonal rains, landslides and inundation.
(ii) Post-harvest loss is included so #2 is right. But Under the new scheme, farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of two per cent for all kharif crops and 1.5 per cent for all rabi crops. For annual commercial and horticultural crops, farmers will have to pay a premium of 5 per cent. So, #1 is wrong. Therefore, answer (b) only 2.

(i) Spraying urea with Neem oil slows the release of nitrogen, by about 10 to 15 per cent, concomitantly reducing consumption of the fertiliser. Many research studies in India have conclusively established that Neem oil acts as an effective nitrification inhibitor if coated onto urea.
(ii) Spraying urea with neem oil slows the release of nitrogen, by about 10 to 15 per cent, concomitantly reducing consumption of the fertiliser. Hence B is the closest answer.

As per Tamilnadu Agriculture University: Advantages of drip irrigation system: Water saving and higher yield, High quality and increased fruit size, Suitable for all types of soil, Easy method of fertigation and chemigation, saving in labour, reduces weed formation and soil erosion. Whereas Disadvantage of drip irrigation system: High initial investment, Clogging of emitters, Possible damage of system components due to animals, etc. After the exam, experts were divided between A and C since both soil salinity and soil erosion are reduced depending on various books. But in its official Answer key, UPSC has kept "C" as the answer.

We have a National Seed policy made in 2002. So 1 is not a constraint. The private sector produces high-priced seeds but in lower volume. It supplies nearly the entire hybrid seeds required for vegetables. So 2 is not a constraint. In the case of low value and high volume crops such as wheat and rice, farmers tend to use their own preserved seeds as there is demand and supply gap. So 3 is a constraint.