Agriculture and Rural Development Quizzes For NABARD Grade A 2022- 9th August

Q1. To facilitate germination in dormant seeds, a process called scarification is done by:
(a) Weakening and opening the hard seed coat by using physical, thermal, and chemical methods.
(b) Weakening and opening the hard seed coat by exposing seeds to light.
(c) Weakening and opening the hard seed coat by exposing seeds to acids.
(d) Weakening and opening the hard seed coat by exposing to water.
(e) None of these

Q2. What is the term that depicts the measure of total cultivated area with certified seeds when compared to farm saved seeds?
(a) Seed growth rate
(b) Certified seed rate
(c) Seed acceleration rate
(d) Seed replacement rate
(e) Seed quality index

Q3. Retaining soil moisture is one of the major factors affecting dry-land farming. Water is lost through evaporation from soil surfaces and many methods are applied to prevent the rate of evaporation. One such method is done by applying some material on the soil surface and these materials are called ________.
(a) Coolants
(b) Evaporation inhibitors
(c) Mulches
(d) Surface reactants
(e) None of these

Q4. Name the scheme that helps in seed production by training a group of farmers to produce seeds of different crops for their own use and other farmers use.
(a) Hybrid Rice Seed Production Scheme
(b) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
(c) National Seed Security Mission
(d) Seed Village
(e) None of these

Q5. Based on various soil characteristics like particle size, texture, colour, and chemical properties, soil is classified into many types. The following list consists of various types of soil available in India and various crops grown here, match the correct soil that is suitable for the growth of the crops mentioned below.

(a) I-E; II-C; III-A; IV-B; V-D
(b) I-D; II-C; III-B; IV-E; V-A
(c) I-A; II-C; III-E; IV-B; V-D
(d) I-B; II-D; III-A; IV-E; V-C
(e) I-C; II-A, III-D, IV-E, V-B

Q6. Which of the following statement is false regarding the characteristics of black soil?
(a) Black soil is also called as Regur soil.
(b) Black soil is found in areas of the Deccan lava tract covering states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh; and along the river valleys of Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, and Krishna.
(c) Black soil is formed due to the weathering process of metamorphic rocks.
(d) Black soil is rich in magnesium and aluminium.
(e) All of the above

Q7. Some plants like lentils, peas, alfalfa, soybean, chickpeas, etc., commonly called as leguminous plants which play an important role in maintaining soil fertility by help fixing one of the primary nutrients in the soil. Name the nutrient fixed and the process involved.
(a) Phosphorous – phosphorous fixation
(b) Potassium – potassium fixation
(c) Iron – iron fixation
(d) Nitrogen – nitrogen fixation
(e) Potassium-nitrogen fixation

Q8. Pick out the anthropogenic activity that is not a cause for soil erosion.
(a) Over-cropping
(b) Over-grazing
(c) Deforestation
(d) Afforestation
(e) Erosion

Q9. Which among the following schemes initiated by the Indian Government has the primary objective of using the available land and water efficiently in a sustainable manner to improve the farmer’s livelihood?
(a) RKVY
(b) WDC-PMKSY
(c) PMRY
(d) KJJY
(e) DAY-NRLM

Q10. The net addition of to the capital stock of an economy during a given period called _________.
(a) Production
(b) Consumption
(c) Capital formation
(d) Income
(e) Profit

Solutions

S1. Ans (a)
Sol. Scarification of seeds is done to break the dormant seed’s outer seed coat open to facilitate germination. In some plants, the seeds have hard outer coat and make it impermissible to water and gases and thus delays germination. Animals do help to scarify seeds by eating the hard-outer covering. Seeds of plants like morning glory, purple hyacinth beans are examples where scarification is done.

S2. Ans (d)
Sol. Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) depicts the total area in percentage that has been cropped or cultivated using certified and quality seeds compared to farm-saved seeds. SRR must be enhanced to achieve agricultural production targets. The highquality certified seeds are produced by seed farms maintained by government and are distributed to the farmers through agricultural extension centres.

S3. Ans (c)
Sol. Mulches are type of material used to cover the external soil surface to prevent loss of water from soil surface through evaporation. This method not only helps in water retention of soil but also in soil conservation, soil salinity reduction, soil temperature reduction, and maintains soil structure. There are different types of mulches available like stubble mulch, straw mulch, dust mulch, plastic mulch etc.

S4. Ans (d)
Sol. Seed Village is a concept formulated in India which aims in training farmers in a village to produce seeds of different crops for their own use and for the use of other farmers in their neighbourhood at an affordable cost. This facilitates easy availability of desired seeds to farmers, increases seed replacement rate, increases quality and quantity of crops produced, and finally both the producer and the consumer are mutually benefited.

S5. Ans (a)
Sol. Based on the nutrient content and water retention properties of the soil, different types of crops are grown in different soils. Citrus fruits are grown in Red soil which get its colour due to its iron oxide content. Red soil is prevalent in Deccan plateau regions, Western Ghats regions, etc. Cashew nuts are grown in laterite soil that are not highly fertile and are predominantly found in coastal regions. Cotton is especially grown in moisture-rich black soil and this soil is also called black cotton soil. Black soil is mostly found in river valleys of Deccan region. Barley is grown in moisture-less dry arid soil and this soil is found in the Aravalli mountain range areas. Rice and other cereal varieties are grown in the most fertile alluvial soil found in delta regions of India.

S6. Ans (c)
Sol. The thin material covering the Earth’s surface, soil is formed due to the interaction of factors like rocks, topography, climate, and organisms. Weathering of rocks or the process by which the parent rock material found deep inside the Earth is broken down into smaller particles which is one of the main processes involved in soil formation. Black soil is formed due to the weathering of igneous rocks and basaltic lava rocks. Weathering of metamorphic rocks forms Red soil.

S7. Ans (d)
Sol. Leguminous plants, belonging to the Fabaceae family, are unique in nature because it contains certain nodules in its roots. The gram-negative Rhizobium species of bacteria found in these root nodules help to capture the atmospheric nitrogen and trap it in the soil and thus making the soil rich in nitrogen and maintains the soil fertility. This is a natural method of increasing soil fertility. Farmers grow these crops in crop rotation in between main crops to enrich the soil with nitrogen.

S8. Ans (d)
Sol. The wearing away of the fertile top layer of soil is termed soil erosion. Although there are various natural factors like wind, water, and climate etc. that causes soil erosion; certain activities by the humans like agriculture related over-cropping, overmanuring, over-grazing and deforestation for the need of urbanization leads to soil erosion. Afforestation or planting of trees in areas that are devoid of trees is a major human activity that helps in soil conservation. This is done mainly to conserve the soil in the areas of afforestation as tree roots help to hold the topsoil firmly and thus preventing from erosion.

S9. Ans (b)
Sol. Watershed management is the collective process of implementing better land use and water use practices to maintain the ecological balance of natural resources that are part of the watershed. The Watershed Development Component-Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY) is a major watershed management programme in India and has the following objectives: to harness, conserve, and develop natural resources that are degraded like soil, water, and vegetative cover in order to maintain natural ecological balance; to prevent soil erosion and regeneration of vegetation; increasing ground water level by rainwater harvesting and other methods, introduction of diversified agricultural practices.

S10. Ans (c)
Sol. Production, consumption and capital formation are the important functions of an economy. The capital formation is defined as the net addition of the capital stock of an economy during a given period. It is also called as the investment. The part of production which is not consumed during a year is an investment.