Test: World Geography - Banking Exams MCQ

Mediterranean Agriculture:

• The term ‘Mediterranean agriculture’ applies to the agriculture done in those regions which are having the Mediterranean type of climate.
• Mediterranean agriculture is unique because it is a mixture of diverse bio-cultural activities (both animal husbandry and crop farming) that has developed in five major world regions.
• This type of agriculture is determined by climatic conditions, which exert such an influence that both traditional and commercial agriculture flourish with a dominance of the agriculture of citrus fruits along with horticulture and floriculture.

Main aspects of Mediterranean agriculture:

Orchard fanning:

• It represents highly specialized commercial agriculture here.
• The world supply of citrus fruits, olives, and figs comes almost exclusively from Mediterranean lands.
• Fruit culture has long been a traditional Mediterranean occupation because of the very special climatic features in Mediterranean areas. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

​Viticulture:

• ​Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region.
• It represents a very intensive form of farming requiring not only good conditions of moisture, temperature, and soil but also much personal care if the grapes are to be of high quality. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

​Cereal and vegetable cultivation:

• ​In acreage, cereal crops are the most important in Mediterranean agriculture.
• Wheat, especially hard winter wheat, is the principal food grain, and barley is grown in the poorer areas. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Limited animal husbandry:

• ​Mediterranean agriculture is also characterised by limited animal husbandry, which survives on grasslands available here.
• In areas like Lombardy plain, Ebro basin, and the San Joaquin valley of California, dairy farming is important.
• In mountain areas, the practice of ‘transhumance’, moving the cattle up to mountain pastures in the summer and returning them to the valleys in winter, is very common.

The winter solstice is on December 21 in the Northern hemisphere. The summer solstice is on June 21.

• In India, the first plant of coffee was planted in Baba Budan Hills, Karnataka.
• 3 types of coffee planted in India
  • Coffee Robusta
  • Coffee Arabica
  • Coffee Liberia
• Karnataka is the leading producer of coffee in India.

Through a small telescope, it is possible to see Venus undergo phases, just like the Moon. This occurs because, from our point of view on Earth, we see only the parts of Venus that are illuminated by sunlight at any given time. However, unlike the Moon, though, Venus is usually brighter to our view in its crescent phase than in its full phase.

• Intensive Subsistence Farming:
  • It is largely found in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
  • It is dominated by rice, wheat and soyabean crop.
  • Land holdings are very small due to the high density of the population.
  • The Use of machinery is limited and most of the agricultural operations are done by manual labour.
  • It is practised in the region having continuous availability of sunlight throughout the year and significant monsoon season.
  • In this type of agriculture yield per unit area is high but per labour productivity is low.
• Tea and cotton are plantation crops and it is not widely cultivated in the Intensive Subsistence Farming system. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.
• Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation:
  • It is practised in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid-latitudes temperate region.
  • The size of farms is very large and the region is sparsely populated.
  • The entire operation from ploughing to harvesting is mechanized.
  • In this type of cultivation, mostly monocropping cultivation is preferred i.e. Single crop is cultivated in a year.
  • Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like maize, barley, oats and rye are also grown.
  • This type of agriculture is best developed in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Edaphology is concerned with the influence of soils on living things. This in particularly is related to plants. It is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. It includes the study of how soil influences humankind’s use of land for plants.

Shifting Cultivation

• It is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, South and Central America and south and southeast Asia.
• In shifting agriculture, a plot of land is cleared and cultivated for a short period of time and then it is abandoned and allowed to revert to its natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot.
• Thus it is also known as 'Burn and Slash cultivation'
• It is prevalent in the tropical regions under different names:
  • Jhuming in Northeast India. Hence pair 1 is correct.
  • Milpa in Central America and Mexico.  Hence pair 2 is incorrect.
  • Ladang in Indonesia. Hence pair 3 is incorrect.
  • Taungya in Myanmar.  Hence pair 4 is correct.
• Advantages of Shifting Cultivation:
  • Quickly prepare the area for agriculture.
  • Better removal of weeds and unwanted bushes from the field before cultivation.
  • Helps in faster growth of crops
• Disadvantages of Shifting Cultivation:
  • It leads to the cutting of forests and trees and thus leads to soil erosion.
  • This method damages topsoil fertility.

The Atacama Desert is a desert in Chile. It is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains.

• Maginot Line is a Defensive line in France.
• It was constructed in 1930.
• The Maginot Line was an extremely well-developed chain of fortifications for defence against the German attack during the first world war.

The capital of Australia is Canberra. The Capital of South Australia is Adelaide. Australia is divided into 6 zones.Perth is the capital of West Australia. Darwin is the capital of Northern territory.