Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. To implement the Sustainable Development Goals and to achieve zero-hunger goal, monoculture agriculture practices are inevitable even if they do not address malnutrition. 2. Dependence on a few crops has negative consequences for human health and the ecosystem. 3. Government policies regarding food planning need to incorporate nutritional security. 4. For the present monoculture agriculture practices, farmers receive subsidies in various ways and government offers remunerative prices for grains and therefore they do not tend to consider crop diversity. Which of the above assumptions are valid?

UPSC CSAT 2023 Q35: Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: — Answer & Explanation

Passage—3

Food consumption patterns have changed substantially in India over the past few decades. This has resulted in the disappearance of many nutritious foods such as millets. While food grain production has increased over five times since independence, it has not sufficiently addressed the issue of malnutrition. For long, the agriculture sector focussed on increasing food production particularly staples, which led to lower production and consumption of indigenous traditional crops/grains, fruits and other vegetables, impacting food and nutrition security in the process. Further, intensive, monoculture agriculture practices can perpetuate the food and nutrition security problem by degrading the quality of land, water and food derived through them.

CSAT 2023 · Q35

Reading comprehension Medium

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1.To implement the Sustainable Development Goals and to achieve zero-hunger goal, monoculture agriculture practices are inevitable even if they do not address malnutrition.
2.Dependence on a few crops has negative consequences for human health and the ecosystem.
3.Government policies regarding food planning need to incorporate nutritional security.
4.For the present monoculture agriculture practices, farmers receive subsidies in various ways and government offers remunerative prices for grains and therefore they do not tend to consider crop diversity.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

The passage blames the long focus on staples and intensive monoculture for the decline of nutritious crops and for degrading land, water and food, even as grain output rose without ending malnutrition. It therefore assumes that dependence on a few crops harms health and ecosystems, and that food planning must include nutrition.

✗ 1. The passage criticises monoculture for perpetuating the nutrition problem; it never calls it inevitable for the SDGs or zero hunger.
✓ 2. The focus on staples pushed out nutritious crops (health), and monoculture degrades 'land, water and food' (ecosystem).
✓ 3. Grain output rose over five times yet malnutrition persists, so food planning must aim at nutrition, not quantity alone.
✗ 4. Subsidies and remunerative prices are not mentioned; this explanation is brought in from outside the passage.

Remember · Valid assumptions follow from the passage's own reasoning; reject facts brought in from outside, even if true in real life.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

Based on the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

Passage—3

CSAT 2023 · Q35

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