How is science interwoven deeply with our lives? What are the striking changes in agriculture triggered off by the science-based technologies?
Approach · directive: “how / what”
What it asks · Show with examples how science shapes daily life, then pick the biggest science-driven changes in agriculture, including their limits.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Show how science is interwoven with our daily lives
- Identify the striking changes that science-based technologies have brought to agriculture
Open with · From the food on the plate to the phone in the hand, science shapes daily life, usually unnoticed; nowhere is the change more visible than on the farm.
Cover
- Daily life: vaccines and diagnostics, mobile phones and UPI, electricity and LEDs, water purification, weather forecasts, transport and household devices.
- Mind and society: scientific temper (Article 51A(h)), evidence-based policy, data-driven governance, and space and remote-sensing services from ISRO.
- Green Revolution: high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, with fertiliser and irrigation, made India self-sufficient in foodgrains.
- Biotechnology and breeding: Bt cotton (2002), hybrids, tissue culture and better livestock breeds; Operation Flood helped make India the largest milk producer.
- Precision and digital farming: drones, satellite crop and soil monitoring, soil health cards, weather advisories, e-NAM and mobile advisory apps.
- Water and inputs: drip and sprinkler irrigation, bio-fertilisers, integrated pest management, cold chains and climate-resilient seeds.
- Concerns: soil and groundwater damage, pesticide residue, monoculture and loss of biodiversity, and unequal access; science must serve sustainable, inclusive farming.
Close with · Science made a food-deficit nation a grain-surplus one; its next task on the farm is to raise yields sustainably, guided by the scientific temper of Article 51A(h).
Add value (verified)
- Economic Survey 2020-21: foodgrain production in 2019-20 (fourth advance estimates) was a record 296.65 million tonnes, 11.44 million tonnes above 2018-19.Economic Survey 2020-21, Volume 2, Chapter 7 ↗“In the year 2019-20 (as per fourth advance estimates), total food grain production in the country is estimated at record 296.65 million tonnes which is higher by 11.44 million tonnes than the production of food grain of 285.21 million tonnes achieved during 2018- 19.”
- PIB factsheet: the Soil Health Card Scheme was launched on 19 February 2015 at Suratgarh, Rajasthan; 10,73,48,416 cards were issued in Cycle I (2015-17) and 11,97,73,040 in Cycle II (2017-19).PIB factsheet: Soil Health Card Scheme ↗“In Cycle- I (2015-17), 107348416 Soil Health Cards were issued to farmers. In Cycle-II (2017-19), 119773040 Soil Health Cards have been issued to farmers across the country.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS
From the food on the plate to the phone in the hand, science shapes daily life, usually unnoticed; nowhere is the change more visible than on the farm.
How science is interwoven with our lives
- Health: vaccines, antibiotics and diagnostics lengthen lives.
- Connectivity and money: mobile phones, the internet and UPI run on semiconductors and satellites.
- Energy and home: electricity, LEDs, refrigeration; ISRO's forecasts and remote sensing guide farmers and disaster response.
- Mind and State: scientific temper is a fundamental duty under Article 51A(h).
Striking changes in agriculture triggered by science-based technologies
- 1960s: Green Revolution
- 1970s: Operation Flood
- 2002: Bt cotton
- 2015: Soil Health Cards
- Green Revolution: HYV wheat and rice with fertiliser and irrigation broke colonial stagnation; foodgrain output hit a record 296.65 million tonnes in 2019-20.
- White Revolution: Operation Flood's pooled, graded milk raised output about twelve-fold over 1951–2021.
- Biotechnology: Bt cotton (2002), hybrids, tissue culture and better livestock breeds.
- Precision and digital farming: 10.7 crore Soil Health Cards in 2015-17 and about 12 crore in 2017-19, drones and e-NAM.
- The cost and the correction: soil and groundwater damage, pesticide residues and monoculture, now answered by drip irrigation, bio-fertilisers, integrated pest management and climate-resilient seeds.
Science made a food-deficit nation a grain-surplus one; its next task on the farm is to raise yields sustainably, guided by the scientific temper of Article 51A(h).
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
