Agriculture & crops

Answer: (c) 2, 4 and 5

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key is (c). Statement 3 is plainly wrong — Conservation Agriculture governs how soil and crops are managed, not which crops may be grown — and every option other than (c) includes it, so the answer is settled whatever one makes of statement 1. 'Avoiding monoculture' is close to FAO's diversification principle, but FAO states that principle as rotations and associations of at least three crop species (statement 5), and no option pairs 1 with 2, 4 and 5 without 3. In the exam, eliminate by the clearly wrong statement first.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) rests on three practices: minimum soil disturbance (minimum or no tillage), a permanent organic cover on the soil (crop residues or mulch), and diversification of crops through rotations and associations. Statements 2, 4 and 5 are these three practices; nothing in CA asks farmers to stop growing plantation crops, and every option except (c) includes that wrong statement 3.

• ✗ 1. Not counted by UPSC's key. FAO states its diversification principle positively — rotations and associations of at least three crop species — which is statement 5; 'avoiding monoculture' is not listed as a separate practice, and no option combines 1 with 2, 4 and 5 without the wrong statement 3.
• ✓ 2. Minimum mechanical soil disturbance, meaning low-disturbance no-till or direct seeding, is the first CA principle.
• ✗ 3. CA is a way of managing the soil and crops, not a restriction on crop type. None of its principles asks a farmer to avoid plantation crops.
• ✓ 4. Keeping the soil covered with crop residue or other organic material (permanent soil organic cover) is the second CA principle.
• ✓ 5. Species diversification through crop rotation or association is the third CA principle; FAO asks for at least three different crop species in the rotation.

Remember · Conservation Agriculture = minimum soil disturbance + permanent soil cover + crop rotation or diversification; CA restricts how soil is managed, not which crops are grown.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct. India's GM mustard hybrid (DMH-11) carries the barnase, barstar and bar genes, which give a pollination-control system for producing hybrid seed. It was developed at the University of Delhi, not by IARI and Punjab Agricultural University, and its genes do not give pest resistance.

• ✗ 1. The transgenes are barnase (makes the plant male-sterile), barstar (restores fertility) and bar (tolerance to the herbicide Basta, and a marker for selecting transformed lines). None is a pest-resistance gene like Bt.
• ✓ 2. The barnase-barstar system controls pollination, so two chosen diverse parent lines can be cross-pollinated to make a high-yielding hybrid.
• ✗ 3. It was developed by the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP), University of Delhi South Campus, and cleared by the GEAC in 2022, not by IARI and Punjab Agricultural University.

Remember · GM mustard DMH-11 (Delhi University's CGMCP) uses the barnase-barstar-bar genes for hybrid seed production through pollination control, not for pest resistance.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

All four spread plant diseases. Most plant pathogens travel as spores or bacteria, and these are carried by wind, blown dust, splashing rain and even by birds.

• ✓ 1. Spores stick to birds' feathers and beaks and are dropped on other plants. Chestnut blight spores, for example, are spread by many bird species, and powdery mildew fruiting bodies are carried on feathers.
• ✓ 2. Dust is lifted soil, and soil is a recognised carrier of fungal spores. Blowing dust moves them from diseased fields to healthy ones.
• ✓ 3. Rain splash and running water carry spores and bacteria from an infected leaf to healthy plant surfaces.
• ✓ 4. Wind brings the first spores from neighbouring fields or far away, and then spreads the secondary infection from plant to plant.

Remember · Plant pathogens are dispersed by wind, water (rain), dust or soil, insects and birds. Every listed agent can spread plant diseases.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, 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

Statement 1 is wrong: NPOP was launched by the Department of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, not by the Ministry of Rural Development. Statements 2 and 3 are correct.

• ✗ 1. NPOP began in 2001 under the Department of Commerce (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), mainly to certify organic products for export. It does not run under the Ministry of Rural Development.
• ✓ 2. APEDA, which also works under the Commerce Ministry, acts as the Secretariat for implementing NPOP.
• ✓ 3. Sikkim converted its entire agricultural area to certified organic by 2015 and was formally declared a 100 per cent organic state in 2016, the first in India.

Remember · NPOP: launched 2001 by the Commerce Ministry; APEDA is its Secretariat. Sikkim was declared India's first fully organic State in 2016.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error