Agriculture & crops

Answer: (d) I, II and III

UPSC's key treats all three statements as correct. The Spices Board and ICAR-IISR describe India as a leading producer and exporter, many varieties and local cultivars are grown (23 improved varieties in the manual's Table 1 alone, plus local cultivars such as Duggirala, Erode local, Salem, Alleppey and Lakdong), and Telangana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are among the top producing States, with Karnataka listed among the other important producers.

• ✓ I The Spices Board manual calls India a leading producer and exporter of turmeric. UPSC's official key treats the statement as correct; we could not confirm the rest of the statement from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
• ✓ II The manual's Table 1 lists 23 improved varieties (from ICAR-IISR Kozhikode, TNAU, OUAT, KAU and others), and it names local cultivars such as Duggirala, Tekkurpet, Amalapuram, Erode local, Salem, Alleppey, Moovattupuzha and Lakdong, so more than 30 are grown.
• ✓ III The manual says Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh together give 63.4% of India's turmeric, and lists Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Meghalaya and Assam as other important producers.

Remember · Turmeric: India is a leading producer and exporter; more than 30 varieties and cultivars; Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh lead, with Karnataka and Odisha among other important producers.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only three

Cassava (woody shrub), ginger (herb with a pseudostem) and Malabar spinach (climber) are matched correctly. Mint is a herbaceous perennial, not an annual shrub, and papaya is a tree-like herb, not a woody shrub. That makes three correct pairs.

• ✓ I FAO describes cassava as a woody perennial shrub that grows 1 m to 5 m tall.
• ✓ II Ginger is a slender perennial herb; its leafy shoot is a pseudostem formed by the leaf sheaths, not a true stem.
• ✓ III Malabar spinach (Basella) has soft, succulent, branched climbing stems, so it is a herbaceous climber.
• ✗ IV Mint is a herbaceous perennial that spreads by stolons; it is a herb, not a shrub.
• ✗ V FAO calls papaya a fast-growing tree-like herb, so it is not a woody shrub.

Remember · Cassava = woody shrub; ginger = herb with a pseudostem; Malabar spinach = climber; mint = herbaceous perennial; papaya = tree-like herb (not woody).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Statement I is not correct but Statement II is correct

Statement I is wrong because the United States, not Brazil, is the world's largest ethanol producer. Statement II is correct: corn is the main feedstock in the United States and sugarcane in Brazil.

• ✗ Statement-I The United States produced over 16 billion gallons of ethanol in 2024; the same data table puts Brazil at roughly 9 billion gallons, so Brazil is second.
• ✓ Statement-II Most US ethanol is made from corn, while Brazil mainly uses sugarcane.

Remember · The US is the top ethanol producer (mostly from corn); Brazil is second (mainly from sugarcane). Together they make about 80 per cent of the world's ethanol.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) All the three

All three fruits are New World plants that reached India through Portuguese contact: pineapple in the sixteenth century, papaya through Portuguese (and Spanish) sailors carrying seeds to India, and guava in the seventeenth century.

• ✓ I Papaya spread from Central America; an FAO history says Spanish and Portuguese sailors took its seeds to India in the century after 1500.
• ✓ II The National Horticulture Board records that pineapple cultivation was introduced to India by the Portuguese in 1548.
• ✓ III Guava is native to tropical America; an ICAR journal states it was introduced in India by the Portuguese during the seventeenth century.

Remember · Pineapple (1548), papaya and guava are all New World fruits that the Portuguese brought to India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Cocoa needs a hot, wet equatorial climate, and West Africa's Gulf of Guinea coast supplies most of the world's crop. Côte d'Ivoire is the largest producer and Ghana the second; the other pairs lie in drier parts of Africa and are not significant cocoa growers.

• ✓ (c) Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer, and it and Ghana are the largest cocoa exporters; with Cameroon they account for nearly two-thirds of global cocoa exports.
• ✗ (a) Algeria and Morocco lie in North Africa's dry belt; neither is among the handful of countries that grow almost all of the world's cocoa.
• ✗ (d) Neither Madagascar nor Mozambique is among the nine countries that the International Cocoa Organization says produce over 93% of world cocoa.

Remember · Cocoa belt = West Africa's Gulf of Guinea coast. Côte d'Ivoire is No. 1, Ghana No. 2; together they dominate world cocoa supply.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only three

A parasitoid is an insect whose larva lives on or inside a single host and eventually kills it. Almost all parasitoids are wasps and flies, with a smaller number of beetles, including some carabid (ground) beetles. Centipedes are free-living predators and termites are social decomposers, so only three groups qualify.

• ✓ 1. Some carabid beetles are parasitoids: for example, the larvae of Lebia grandis develop on and kill the pupae of the Colorado potato beetle.
• ✗ 2. Centipedes are active predators that kill prey with venomous claws; they do not develop inside a host.
• ✓ 3. Many flies are parasitoids — tachinid and conopid flies, for example, grow inside other insects and kill them.
• ✗ 4. Termites are social insects that feed on wood and plant matter; none lives as a parasitoid.
• ✓ 5. Parasitic wasps are the largest parasitoid group: they lay eggs inside other insects and the host dies, which is why they are used in biological pest control.

Remember · Parasitoids kill their host (unlike true parasites). Main groups: wasps (Hymenoptera), flies (Diptera), some beetles. Used widely for biological pest control.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) All three

The pea family is Fabaceae (Leguminosae), the legumes — plants that bear pods and host nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), horse-gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) and soybean (Glycine max) are all legumes, so all three belong to it.

• ✓ 1. Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is an oilseed legume whose pods ripen underground.
• ✓ 2. Horse-gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum, kulthi) is a drought-hardy pulse legume grown mainly in peninsular India.
• ✓ 3. Soybean (Glycine max) is a legume with the highest protein content among them, grown for oil and food.

Remember · Pea family = Fabaceae/Leguminosae: pulses (gram, horse-gram, lentil, pea) and oilseed legumes (groundnut, soybean) — all fix nitrogen via root nodules.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Only one

Only red sanders is Indian by origin: it grows wild in a small tract of the southern Eastern Ghats. Cashew and papaya are both American plants brought to India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, even though India is now a leading grower of both.

• ✗ 1. Cashew (Anacardium occidentale) is a native of eastern Brazil. The Portuguese introduced it to India in the 16th century, first in Goa, from where it spread along the coasts.
• ✗ 2. Papaya came from the New World (the Americas) along with the pineapple, tomato, potato and chilli during the Mughal period, as NCERT's history text notes.
• ✓ 3. Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus, 'rakta chandan') is native to southern India, found on dry, rocky hills of the south-eastern peninsula; it is prized and heavily smuggled for its red heartwood.

Remember · Red sanders = native, endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats (mainly Andhra Pradesh). Cashew (Brazil) and papaya (tropical America) were introduced by the Portuguese.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Only one

Only the first statement holds. India's arable land (about 155 million hectares) is second only to the USA's and larger than China's, but China irrigates a bigger share of its cropland and harvests far more per hectare.

• ✓ 1. FAO figures compiled by India's Agriculture Ministry put India's arable land at 155.37 million hectares in 2020, second in the world after the USA, which places it ahead of China.
• ✗ 2. About half of India's net sown area is irrigated and the rest depends on rainfall, while China irrigates a larger share of its smaller cropland.
• ✗ 3. China's yields are much higher: in 2020 its paddy yield was 7,043 kg per hectare against India's 4,138, and its wheat yield 5,742 kg against India's 3,440.

Remember · India: more arable land than China (second only to the USA). China: higher irrigation share of cropland and much higher yields per hectare.

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

Answer: (b) Many marginal farmers in an area organize themselves into groups and synchronize and harmonize selected agricultural operations

UPSC's official key marks option (b) as correct; we could not confirm the definition of this concept from an official source, so we do not explain it here. A company that supplies loans, inputs and know-how to farmers for the crop it needs is contract farming (NCERT).

• ✓ (b) UPSC's official key marks this option as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
• ✗ (d) A company supplying loans, inputs and know-how so that farmers grow the crop it needs is contract farming. NCERT describes it: the company identifies the crop, provides seeds and other inputs, and the know-how.
• ✗ (c) This option describes farmers handing their land to a corporate body for a fixed term against a payment; UPSC's official key does not mark it correct.

Remember · Company-led inputs-plus-buyback = contract farming (NCERT).

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) All three

Nigerseed is one of the kharif crops for which the Centre announces a Minimum Support Price every year, and it is sown in the rainy season. UPSC's key counts all three statements as correct.

• ✓ 1. Nigerseed appears in the government's list of Minimum Support Prices for kharif crops; for 2022-23 the MSP was ₹7,287 per quintal.
• ✓ 2. Niger is sown in June–September as a kharif (and late-kharif) crop; official crop calendars list 'Niger (Kharif)' and 'Niger (Late Kharif)' seasons.
• ✓ 3. UPSC's official key counts this statement as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.

Remember · Nigerseed (Guizotia abyssinica): a kharif oilseed with an MSP notified every year.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Devaraya I

Devaraya I of the Sangama dynasty built the great dam on the Tungabhadra and the long aqueduct that carried its water to Vijayanagara, according to the Portuguese chronicler Nuniz. NCERT confirms that the Hiriya canal drawing water from a dam across the river was built by Sangama kings.

• ✓ (a) Nuniz's account, as summarised by Robert Sewell, credits the ruler of this time, identified as Deva Raya I, with a huge dam on the Tungabhadra and an aqueduct fifteen miles long into the city.
• ✗ (b) Mallikarjuna was also a Sangama king, but Nuniz's account, as read by Sewell, names the ruler identified as Deva Raya I, not Mallikarjuna, as the builder.
• ✗ (c) Vira Vijaya is not the king named in Nuniz's account of the dam and aqueduct.
• ✗ (d) Virupaksha is likewise not named in that account; several of these kings were Sangamas, so the dynasty alone cannot pick the answer.

Remember · Devaraya I (Sangama): dam on the Tungabhadra and a long canal-aqueduct to Vijayanagara; the Hiriya canal is one of the surviving waterworks.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

Statements 1 and 2 are counted as correct, and statement 3 is wrong. A biofilter is the waste-treatment unit of a recirculating fish farm: its bacteria turn toxic ammonia from fish waste and feed into less harmful nitrate, and it does not add phosphorus.

• ✓ 1. Waste treatment in a recirculating system includes removing waste solids, both faeces and uneaten feed, and the biofilter is part of that treatment train. Strictly, the mechanical filter removes solids and the biofilter handles dissolved nitrogen; UPSC's key counts this statement as correct.
• ✓ 2. Nitrifying bacteria in the biofilter convert ammonia into nitrite and finally into nitrate, which is far less toxic to fish than ammonia.
• ✗ 3. The biofilter removes toxic ammonia; it does not add phosphorus. Phosphate is an inert dissolved compound that simply passes through the filtration stage.

Remember · In a recirculating aquaculture system, the biofilter's nitrifying bacteria convert toxic ammonia to nitrite and then to less toxic nitrate. It adds no phosphorus.

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

Answer: (b) Rice

Paddy is grown in standing water, and bacteria decomposing organic matter in that oxygen-free soil release methane; the heavy nitrogen fertiliser used on rice, poorly taken up by the plant, adds nitrous oxide. No other field crop contributes so much of both gases.

• ✓ (b) Flooded paddy fields are one of the largest human-made sources of methane (about a tenth of global methane emissions), and fertiliser applied to rice releases nitrous oxide as well.
• ✗ (d) Wheat is grown on drained, aerated soil, so it produces little methane; its fertiliser gives some nitrous oxide but not both gases on rice's scale.
• ✗ (c) Sugarcane is a heavy user of water and fertiliser, but it is not grown under continuous flooding, so it is not a major methane source.

Remember · Flooded rice = anaerobic soil = methane; nitrogen fertiliser = nitrous oxide. Alternate wetting and drying, SRI and direct-seeded rice cut paddy methane.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

SRI transplants young seedlings singly at wide spacing and keeps the field moist rather than flooded. Fewer seedlings means far less seed; drying the soil between irrigations curbs methane-producing bacteria; and less irrigation means less pumping, so less electricity. All three follow.

• ✓ 1. Because one young seedling is planted per hill at wide spacing, SRI needs only a small fraction of the seed used in conventional transplanted rice.
• ✓ 2. Methane forms in oxygen-free, waterlogged soil. Alternate wetting and drying lets air into the soil, so methane emission falls; ICAR lists SRI among its methane-mitigation technologies for rice.
• ✓ 3. SRI uses roughly a fifth to a third less water than flooded paddy. Where fields are irrigated by electric pumps, less water pumped means lower electricity use.

Remember · SRI: young single seedlings, wide square spacing, moist (not flooded) soil, weeding that aerates the soil — less seed, less water, less methane, similar or higher yield.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 2

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Gucchi is the morel mushroom (genus Morchella), an edible fungus that grows wild in Himalayan forests such as those of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. It is gathered from the forest; Indian research describes commercial cultivation as unsuccessful, and it is not farmed in north-eastern India.

• ✓ 1. Gucchi is a mushroom of the genus Morchella, which belongs to the fungal group Ascomycota (family Morchellaceae).
• ✓ 2. Gucchi grows on the ground in coniferous and mixed coniferous forests; in J&K and Himachal Pradesh it is collected from forests.
• ✗ 3. Gucchi is a wild-collected forest produce of the western Himalaya. ICAR's Mushroom Research journal notes that commercial cultivation of Morchella has not succeeded, and no source shows it being farmed in north-eastern India.

Remember · Gucchi = morel (Morchella), a wild Himalayan forest fungus from J&K and Himachal; hand-collected, not commercially farmed.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1, 3 and 4 only

Only alfalfa, chickpea and clover fix nitrogen, because they are legumes. Legume roots carry nodules housing Rhizobium bacteria that turn nitrogen from the air into a form the plant can use. Amaranth, purslane and spinach are not legumes.

• ✓ 1. Alfalfa (lucerne) is a legume with its own Rhizobium partner, Rhizobium meliloti, in nodules on its roots.
• ✗ 2. Amaranth is a leafy green and grain crop, not a legume, so it has no Rhizobium root nodules.
• ✓ 3. Chickpea (gram) is a pulse and a legume crop, so its root nodules host nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium.
• ✓ 4. Clover is a legume; its roots form nodules with Rhizobium bacteria (the clover group).
• ✗ 5. Purslane (kulfa) is a leafy vegetable, not a legume, and does not fix nitrogen.
• ✗ 6. Spinach is a leafy vegetable, not a legume, and does not fix nitrogen.

Remember · Nitrogen fixers here are legumes: alfalfa, chickpea, clover. Rhizobium in root nodules does the fixing. Leafy greens such as spinach, amaranth and purslane are not legumes.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) All four States

All four States grow tea. Kerala is one of the major tea-producing States, and Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are named among the other tea-producing States.

• ✓ 1. Andhra Pradesh is listed among the other tea-producing States.
• ✓ 2. Kerala is one of the major tea States, along with Assam, West Bengal (Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri) and Tamil Nadu.
• ✓ 3. Himachal Pradesh is also named among the tea-producing States.
• ✓ 4. Tripura is also named among the tea-producing States.

Remember · Major tea States: Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala. Also tea-growing: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4

Statements 1, 2 and 4 describe real differences: permaculture is built on diverse plantings, builds soil with compost and mulch rather than depending on the fertiliser-and-irrigation practices that salinise soil, and relies on mulch cover. Statement 3 is the odd one out, because permaculture is not held back in dry regions and chemical farming there is itself prone to salt build-up.

• ✓ 1. Permaculture is a design system that stresses diversity, with many different species and perennial polyculture, whereas conventional chemical farming typically grows one crop over large areas.
• ✓ 2. FAO notes that soils become salt-affected through poorly managed irrigation or fertilisation, both of which chemical farming leans on. Permaculture builds soil with on-site compost and mulch instead.
• ✗ 3. UPSC's key treats this as wrong. Food production in arid and semi-arid regions needs irrigation, and FAO notes that most salt-affected soils lie in those climates, so chemical farming there is itself exposed to salinity; permaculture is not held back in dry regions.
• ✓ 4. Mulching means covering the soil with straw, leaves or similar material to protect it. It is a core soil-building habit in permaculture (growing and mulching with cover crops), while chemical farming relies on fertilisers instead.

Remember · Permaculture means diverse perennial polyculture, compost and mulched soil; chemical farming with heavy fertiliser and irrigation tends towards soil salinity.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

The oil palm is native to West Africa, not Southeast Asia, so statement 1 is wrong; statements 2 and 3 are correct. Palm oil goes into cosmetics and other industrial products, and it is also processed into biodiesel.

• ✗ 1. The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) originated in the tropical forests of West Africa. It reached Southeast Asia later, first as an ornamental plant, and became a major plantation crop there.
• ✓ 2. Processing crude palm oil gives food products, manufactured goods such as cosmetics and soaps, and fuel. Cosmetic industries, including lipstick and perfume makers, use it as a raw material.
• ✓ 3. Biodiesel is the fuel product made from palm oil, which is why palm oil is counted as a biofuel feedstock.

Remember · Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is African in origin; its oil feeds food, cosmetics, soap and biodiesel industries. India's NMEO-Oil Palm mission promotes it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Sugarcane

Sugarcane is the least water-efficient of the four, because it needs a very large amount of water for each tonne of crop and is normally grown with irrigation. Pearl millet and red gram are hardy dryland crops that manage on little water.

• ✓ (a) NCERT lists sugarcane with rice and jute as crops whose water requirement is very high and can be met only through irrigation.
• ✗ (c) Pearl millet (bajra) is sown in hot, dry regions and resists dry spells and drought, so it is among the most water-efficient crops.
• ✗ (d) Red gram (tur) is a pulse grown as a rainfed crop of drylands, so it does not need heavy irrigation.

Remember · Water-hungry crops: sugarcane, rice, jute (irrigation needed). Water-thrifty crops: bajra, ragi, pulses such as gram and tur (dryland, drought-hardy).

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements are correct. CCAFS is a CGIAR research programme, it set up Climate-Smart Villages in several Indian states, CGIAR is based in Montpellier, France, and ICRISAT (Patancheru, near Hyderabad) is one of its research centres.

• ✓ 1. CCAFS, the CGIAR programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, tests adaptation options in Climate-Smart Villages. Its list of villages includes sites in Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
• ✓ 2. CCAFS is a CGIAR research programme, and the CGIAR System Organization has its address in Montpellier, France.
• ✓ 3. CGIAR lists ICRISAT, whose headquarters are at Patancheru in India, among its research centres.

Remember · CCAFS is a CGIAR programme; CGIAR is based in Montpellier, France; ICRISAT (Patancheru, Hyderabad) is a CGIAR centre; Climate-Smart Villages began in 2011.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 3, 4 and 5

UPSC's key marks statements 3, 4 and 5 correct, while 1 and 2 are wrong: moringa is a deciduous tree of its own family, not a legume, and tamarind is not endemic to South Asia, having originated in Madagascar (Spices Board).

• ✗ 1. Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a small deciduous tree of the family Moringaceae, so it is neither a legume nor evergreen.
• ✗ 2. The Spices Board says tamarind originated in Madagascar and is now cultivated widely in India and other countries, so it is not endemic to South Asia.
• ✓ 3. Tamarind, with seeds and de-seeded, is on the Ministry of Tribal Affairs' list of minor forest produce with a minimum support price, the gathering of which is a livelihood for tribal collectors.
• ✓ 4. UPSC's official key treats this statement as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
• ✓ 5. UPSC's official key treats this statement as correct; we could not confirm the detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.

Remember · Moringa is a deciduous Moringaceae tree, not a legume; tamarind originated in Madagascar and is a listed minor forest produce with an MSP.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) developing genetically modified crop plants

Bollgard I and Bollgard II are brand names of Bt cotton technology, that is, genetically modified cotton carrying Bt genes that protect it from bollworm pests. So they belong to developing genetically modified crop plants.

• ✓ (b) Bt cotton is a genetically modified crop: a Bt toxin gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is expressed in the plant to resist insects. In Bollgard II hybrids, both the Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab proteins are present in the transgenic plant.
• ✗ (a) Clonal propagation copies plants from cuttings or tissue culture without adding genes; Bollgard involves inserted genes.
• ✗ (c) Plant growth substances are hormones such as auxins; Bollgard is not a hormone-making technology.
• ✗ (d) Biofertilizers are living microbes added to soil, whereas Bollgard is a trait built into the cotton plant itself.

Remember · Bollgard I and Bollgard II = Bt cotton (GM cotton); Bollgard II carries two Bt proteins, Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab.

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Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three statements are correct: biochar, the porous charcoal made by heating plant waste without oxygen, can be mixed into growing media, it supports biological nitrogen fixation, and it helps the medium hold water for longer.

• ✓ 1. Biochar is a stable, porous carbon material that can be blended into potting and soil-less growing mixes, which is how vertical farms grow plants; UPSC's key accepts this use.
• ✓ 2. The IPCC lists enhanced biological nitrogen fixation among the effects of adding biochar to soil, along with lower nitrogen losses and less fertiliser need.
• ✓ 3. The IPCC notes that applying biochar enhances soil water-holding capacity, which raises resilience to drought.

Remember · Biochar (pyrolysed plant waste) locks up carbon and improves soil: more water held, more nitrogen fixed, less fertiliser needed.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (d). Statement 3 says carbon sequestration 'is possible', which is the standard claim for no-till with residue retention — FAO's own account is that such systems accumulate more carbon in the soil and turn it into a net sink; the IPCC's caution that the evidence for net sequestration from no-till alone is not compelling qualifies the size of the gain, not the possibility. Statements 1 and 2 describe zero-till wheat sown through paddy stubble and no-till direct-seeded rice, both established practices. In the exam, read 'is possible' as a soft claim: one documented mechanism is enough.

Zero tillage means sowing the next crop directly into undisturbed soil without ploughing. All three are its advantages: wheat can be sown straight through paddy stubble without burning it, paddy can be direct-seeded without raising a nursery, and the undisturbed, residue-covered soil accumulates organic carbon.

• ✓ 1. Zero-till drills such as the Happy Seeder sow wheat straight through paddy stubble, so the residue need not be burnt; the Government promotes them for in-situ crop residue management in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
• ✓ 2. Direct seeding of rice into unpuddled, untilled soil skips the nursery and transplanting; trials in the Indo-Gangetic Plains found yields equal to puddled transplanting with 35–40 per cent less irrigation water.
• ✓ 3. Leaving the soil unploughed with residue on the surface slows the breakdown of organic matter; FAO notes that systems based on high residue addition and no tillage accumulate more carbon in the soil than plough-based tillage, turning the soil into a net carbon sink. It also cuts erosion and nutrient loss.

Remember · Zero tillage means sowing without ploughing: it lets farmers skip stubble burning and the rice nursery, cuts soil erosion, and builds up carbon in the soil.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct: black gram (urad) is sown in both the kharif and rabi seasons. Green gram (moong) gives only about a tenth of India's pulses, and rabi pulses have not shrunk; they now make up the larger share of production.

• ✓ 1. Government crop statistics list urad separately for the kharif and the rabi season, so it is grown in both.
• ✗ 2. ICAR-IIPR says mungbean (green gram) accounts for 10% of India's pulse production; it is gram (chickpea), at about 10.4 of 23.4 million tonnes, that comes close to half.
• ✗ 3. Rabi pulses have not decreased: in the 2016-17 to 2020-21 average, rabi pulses gave 14.69 million tonnes against 8.73 million tonnes from kharif pulses.

Remember · Gram (chickpea) is about 45% of India's pulses; moong is about 10% and urad about 11%; rabi pulses give the larger share.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Cotton

The clue that decides it is '210 frost-free days': NCERT gives this requirement for cotton, a kharif crop that needs high temperature, light rainfall and bright sunshine and dislikes frost.

• ✓ (a) Cotton needs high temperature, light rainfall or irrigation, 210 frost-free days and bright sunshine, and takes 6 to 8 months to mature.
• ✗ (b) Jute needs high temperature and well-drained fertile flood-plain soil renewed every year, and is grown in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam; there is no 210-day frost-free rule.
• ✗ (c) Sugarcane wants hot, humid weather at 21°C to 27°C with 75 to 100 cm of rainfall, and needs irrigation where rainfall is low.
• ✗ (d) Tea needs warm, moist, frost-free weather and deep, humus-rich, well-drained soil, and is a plantation crop of humid hill and plain areas.

Remember · '210 frost-free days' is cotton's signature requirement; also high temperature, light rain and bright sunshine.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Contemporary India – II, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 Contemporary India – II, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1 and 4 only

Statements 1 and 4 are correct: bud-chip nursery seedlings save a lot of seed cane, and tissue-culture plantlets can be used to raise sugarcane. Statements 2 and 3 are wrong because single-budded setts are the weaker option, with poorer germination and survival than larger setts.

• ✓ 1. ICAR-SBI says sugarcane needs nearly 7.5 to 10 tonnes of seed cane per hectare and calls planting of pre-germinated settlings the best answer for seed multiplication. In the bud-chip method only a bud with a small piece of stem is cut and raised in a nursery, so far less seed cane is needed.
• ✗ 2. Setts with several buds germinate better than single-budded setts, because the extra buds and reserves give a better chance of sprouting.
• ✗ 3. In bad weather, larger setts survive better, since they hold more food and moisture; single-budded setts are the more fragile.
• ✓ 4. ICAR-SBI produces virus-free tissue-culture seedlings of sugarcane and supplies them to sugar factories and farmers, so sugarcane can be raised from such seedlings.

Remember · Sugarcane seed saving: bud-chip and tissue-culture settlings use far less seed cane; single-budded direct planting is riskier than multi-budded setts.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3 only

Crop diversification, legume intensification and tensiometer use are eco-friendly practices: they cut risk and chemical inputs and save water. Vertical farming, a factory-like indoor system, is not counted among India's eco-friendly farming practices.

• ✓ 1. Diversification means changing the cropping pattern and adding other activities. The Centre's Crop Diversification Programme shifts water-guzzling paddy to pulses, oilseeds and other crops, and restores soil fertility through leguminous crops.
• ✓ 2. ICAR's review calls legumes in cropping systems a pathway to sustainable production, because they fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility while cutting water use and pest pressure.
• ✓ 3. A tensiometer measures soil matric potential, which ICAR research uses to schedule irrigation by the soil's need instead of a fixed interval, so water is not wasted.
• ✗ 4. Vertical farming is a high-technology indoor system whose benefits the IPCC calls unproven so far, so it is not treated as an established eco-friendly practice in India.

Remember · Eco-friendly farming: diversify crops, put legumes in rotation, irrigate by soil-moisture readings (tensiometer); vertical farming is not on this list.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Economic Development, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error