50. What relationship do ILO Conventions 138 and 182 have?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2018]
A. Child labour
B. Climate-smart agriculture
C. World food prices
D. Workplace gender parity only
Answer: A. Child labour
Explanation: Convention 138 concerns minimum age for employment and Convention 182 addresses the worst forms of child labour. Labour standards can have particular significance in agriculture, where informal and family-based work is common.
49. Which was NOT one of India’s immediate post-independence strategies for raising foodgrain production?
[UPSC CDS (General Knowledge) 2018]
A. Intensifying cropping on existing cultivated land
B. Bringing cultivable fallow land under cultivation
C. Use of high-yielding variety seeds
D. Shifting area from cash crops to food crops
Answer: C. Use of high-yielding variety seeds
Explanation: Immediately after independence the emphasis was on extending cultivated area, using existing land more intensively and shifting towards food crops. The major high-yielding seed programme arrived later, during the Green Revolution beginning in the mid-1960s.
48. Which activity belongs to the primary sector of the economy?
[RRB Group D 2018]
A. Banking
B. Education
C. Healthcare
D. Agriculture
Answer: D. Agriculture
Explanation: The primary sector derives output directly from natural resources, encompassing cultivation and related extractive activities. Banking, education and healthcare belong mainly to services, rather than primary production.
47. What are advantages of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM):
1. A pan-India electronic trading portal;
2. Broader market access and quality-linked price discovery?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2017]
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither
Answer: C. Both 1 and 2
Explanation: e-NAM links participating regulated markets and facilitates transparent trading and price discovery. It provides agricultural producers and buyers improved access to market information, although physical logistics still matter.
46. The Soil Health Card Scheme seeks:
1. Expanding irrigated area;
2. Determining farmers’ bank loans;
3. Checking overuse of fertilisers.
Which is correct?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2017]
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 3 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. All three
Answer: B. 3 only
Explanation: The scheme tests soil and supplies nutrient-management guidance. Better informed application of fertilisers is its objective; irrigation expansion and bank credit sanction are not its essential functions.
45. Which statements about agricultural soils are true:
1. Organic matter markedly lowers water retention;
2. Soil is outside sulphur cycling;
3. Long-term irrigation can cause salinisation?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2017]
A. 1 and 2
B. 3 only
C. 1 and 3
D. All three
Answer: B. 3 only
Explanation: Organic matter usually improves soil structure and moisture retention, and soils participate in sulphur cycling. Inadequate drainage under continued irrigation may accumulate soluble salts, harming productivity.
44. From which financial year was the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation implemented in Chhattisgarh?
[CGPSC Civil Service Prelims 2017]
A. 2012–13
B. 2013–14
C. 2014–15
D. 2015–16
Answer: C. 2014–15
Explanation: The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation commenced in 2014–15. It supports equipment access, including machinery banks and custom-hiring facilities, particularly for small cultivators who cannot efficiently purchase expensive machinery for their individual fragmented holdings.
43. In WTO discussions of farm support, what do amber box, blue box and green box refer to?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2016]
A. Atmospheric pollutant categories
B. Agricultural domestic-support measures
C. Seed certification grades
D. Food storage grades
Answer: B. Agricultural domestic-support measures
Explanation: The coloured boxes categorise domestic support under WTO agriculture rules. Amber-box measures are potentially trade-distorting, blue-box support meets specified production-limiting conditions, and green-box support is subject to minimal-distortion criteria.
42. About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:
1. Every crop in every season carries a uniform 2% farmer premium;
2. Specified post-harvest cyclone and unseasonal rain losses are covered.
Which is correct?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2016]
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both
D. Neither
Answer: B. 2 only
Explanation: PMFBY differentiates premium caps by crop season and category, so a universal two-percent rate is wrong. The scheme includes specified post-harvest losses from notified localised risks such as cyclone and unseasonal rainfall.
41. Why has India promoted neem-coated urea?
[UPSC CSE Prelims 2016]
A. It directly fixes atmospheric nitrogen
B. The coating slows urea dissolution and nitrogen loss
C. It removes all nitrous oxide emissions
D. It substitutes for herbicides
Answer: B. The coating slows urea dissolution and nitrogen loss
Explanation: Neem coating slows the conversion and release of nitrogen from urea, improving nutrient-use efficiency. This may reduce losses and discourage diversion of subsidised urea away from farming.
