Agriculture & crops

Answer: (a) Tobacco, cocoa and rubber

The 'New World' is the Americas; the 'Old World' is Asia, Africa and Europe. Tobacco, cacao (cocoa) and Para rubber are all American plants that Europeans carried across the Atlantic after 1492. Every other option contains at least one Old World crop.

• ✓ (a) Tobacco was used by Native Americans before Europeans adopted it; cacao is native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins; the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is native to the Amazon basin and was later planted in Asia.
• ✗ (b) Cotton was domesticated independently in South Asia as well — traces are found at Harappan sites — so it is not solely a New World gift.
• ✗ (c) Coffee comes from Ethiopia and sugarcane from South and Southeast Asia, both Old World crops.
• ✗ (d) Wheat was domesticated in West Asia, and coffee in Africa; only rubber here is American.

Remember · Columbian Exchange, Americas → Old World: tobacco, cocoa, rubber, maize, potato, tomato, chilli, groundnut, pineapple, papaya. Old World → Americas: wheat, sugarcane, coffee.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Themes in World History, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 India and the Contemporary World – II, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part I, Ch 1 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Themes in World History, Ch 1 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) textile fibre

Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) is prized for the strong bast fibre in its stems, which is spun and woven into cloth, so it is a sustainable source of textile fibre.

• ✓ (d) The bast fibre of its bark is used for clothing, ropes, mats and sacks, and the Ministry of Textiles has supported research on products from Himalayan nettle among natural fibres.
• ✗ (a) Anti-malarial drugs come from plants like cinchona (quinine) and Artemisia (artemisinin), not from Himalayan nettle.
• ✗ (b) Biodiesel comes from oil-bearing seeds such as jatropha and pongamia; nettle is valued for its fibre, not for oil.

Remember · Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia, 'bichhu buti') yields bast fibre for textiles; Uttarakhand and the Ministry of Textiles have promoted it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 3–2–4–1

Lowest to highest forest cover as a share of the State's area is Maharashtra (about 16.5%), Madhya Pradesh (about 25.1%), Odisha (about 33.2%) and Chhattisgarh (about 41.1%). This gives the order 3–2–4–1.

• ✓ 3. Maharashtra has the smallest share: 50,777.56 sq km of forest cover, 16.50% of its area (ISFR 2019).
• ✓ 2. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in absolute area (77,482.49 sq km) but only 25.14% of its area, because the State is so large.
• ✓ 4. Odisha has 51,618.51 sq km of forest cover, which is 33.15% of its area.
• ✓ 1. Chhattisgarh has the highest share of the four: 55,610.57 sq km, or 41.14% of its area.

Remember · Forest cover share of state area: Maharashtra 16.5% < Madhya Pradesh 25.1% < Odisha 33.2% < Chhattisgarh 41.1%. Madhya Pradesh is first in area but not in percentage.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, 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

Why not the tempting option · UPSC's key counts ozone among the gases released due to crop-residue burning. Ozone is a secondary pollutant that forms in the air from the nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the smoke, but the question says 'due to the burning', which covers that. The doubt does not change the answer: carbon monoxide, methane and sulphur dioxide are certainly emitted, and (d) is the only option that contains all three. In the exam, settle the sure statements first and let the option grid decide the rest.

UPSC counts all four. Burning crop residue puts carbon monoxide, methane and sulphur dioxide straight into the air, and the smoke's nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds go on to form ground-level ozone. Since 1, 2 and 4 are certain, only option (d) can be right.

• ✓ 1. Burning rice straw releases carbon monoxide; about 7% of the carbon in the straw leaves as CO.
• ✓ 2. Methane is also released; about 0.66% of the carbon in burnt rice straw is emitted as CH4.
• ✓ 3. Ozone is not emitted as such; it forms in the air from the nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in stubble smoke, so it is released into the atmosphere 'due to' the burning. In any case CO, CH4 and SO2 are certain, and (d) is the only option that contains all three.
• ✓ 4. Stubble burning emits sulphur dioxide along with carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, methane and fine particles.

Remember · Crop-residue burning gives CO, CO2, CH4, N2O, NOx, SO2 and particulates; the smoke's VOCs and NOx then form ground-level ozone.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) pesticides in agriculture

Carbofuran, methyl parathion, phorate and triazophos are toxic insecticides used on crops. They feature in the Government of India's lists of pesticides that are banned or restricted because of their harm to health and to birds, fish and bees.

• ✓ (a) All four names appear in the Ministry of Agriculture's list of banned and restricted pesticides. Methyl parathion was banned by an August 2018 order, and phorate and triazophos were barred from manufacture and import from 1 January 2019, with use to end by 31 December 2020.
• ✗ (b) Food preservatives are additives regulated under food-safety rules; none of these four is a preservative.
• ✗ (c) Fruit ripening is done with ethylene-releasing agents or, illegally, calcium carbide. These chemicals are insecticides, not ripening agents.
• ✗ (d) Moisturisers in cosmetics are humectants and emollients; these four are toxic to humans and have no cosmetic use.
• • Since then The Government's list of pesticides banned for manufacture, import and use, updated to 1 October 2022, includes methyl parathion, phorate and triazophos; carbofuran appears as a banned 50% SP formulation.

Remember · Carbofuran, methyl parathion, phorate and triazophos are hazardous agricultural insecticides, banned or being phased out in India.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, 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, because farming is a major source of reactive nitrogen. Fertilised soils release nitrous oxide, and manure and urine from cattle and poultry give off ammonia.

• ✓ 1. When reactive nitrogen such as fertiliser reaches the soil, microbes convert part of it into nitrous oxide, an oxide of nitrogen and a greenhouse gas.
• ✓ 2. Much of the protein that cattle eat is lost in manure and urine, and this nitrogen escapes as ammonia and other nitrogenous gases.
• ✓ 3. Poultry waste is rich in nitrogen, and under aerobic conditions it can evaporate as ammonia, which is a reactive nitrogen compound.

Remember · Agriculture is a big source of reactive nitrogen: soils give nitrous oxide, while cattle and poultry manure gives ammonia.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 3 only

Rice covers by far the largest kharif area, and cotton covers more land than sugarcane, so statements 1 and 3 are correct. Jowar covers far less area than oilseeds, and sugarcane area has moved up and down rather than falling steadily, so statements 2 and 4 are wrong.

• ✓ 1. In the Government's five-year normal (average of 2016-17 to 2020-21), kharif rice covers 39.54 million hectares, far above any other kharif crop, such as maize (7.54) or bajra (7.40).
• ✗ 2. Kharif jowar covers only 1.91 million hectares, while kharif soyabean alone covers 11.21 million hectares, so jowar is well below oilseeds.
• ✓ 3. Cotton covers about 12.38 million hectares against about 4.71 million hectares for sugarcane.
• ✗ 4. Sugarcane area (million hectares) went 5.07 (2014-15), 4.93, 4.44, 4.74 and 5.06 (2018-19). It fell, then rose again, so it did not steadily decrease.

Remember · Among kharif crops rice has the largest area; cotton area is well above sugarcane's; jowar covers much less than oilseeds; sugarcane area fluctuates rather than falls steadily.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error