Environmental Studies · Geography

Agricultural Practices and Land Use

3,950 Questions

Access a comprehensive collection of questions on agricultural practices and land use planning. The topics span organic farming, sustainable agriculture, soil conservation, and crop rotation. These concepts are essential for general awareness preparation across banking, railway, and civil services examinations.

Organic farming methodsSustainable agricultureSoil conservation techniquesCrop rotation benefits

Agricultural Practices and Land Use Questions

Multiple choice

In mixed farming, crop raising is combined with

  1. livestock

  2. other crops

  3. fertilizers

  4. organic matter
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 In mixed farming, crop raising is combined with livestock. When on a farm having crop production, some other agriculture based practices like poultry, dairy farming or bee keeping etc. are also adopted, then this system of farming is known as mixed farming. It is the dominant system in Europe and now in parts of India, where most farms have a mixture of fields and pastures.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following is not generally a features of shifting cultivation?

  1. relatively small field

  2. slash and burn forest clearing

  3. regular pesticide application

  4. local consumption of crops
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Shifting cultivation (also called jhum or slash-and-burn) traditionally involves clearing small forest plots by cutting and burning vegetation, growing crops for local consumption, then moving to new areas when soil fertility declines. Regular pesticide application is not characteristic of this traditional practice - it's more associated with modern intensive agriculture. Farmers using shifting cultivation rely on natural soil recovery rather than chemical inputs.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is/are the institutional reform(s) needed to increase productivity in agriculture?

  1. Redistribution of land ownership
  2. Regulation of rents
  3. Promoting the use of improved seeds and better farming practices
  4. Providing security of tenure

  1. 1, 2, 3 and 4

  2. 1 and 4

  3. 1, 3 and 4

  4. 1, 2 and 4
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Productivity in agriculture is mainly dependent upon two sets of factors – Technological and Institutional. Among the technological factors are the use of agriculture inputs and methods like improved seeds, fertilisers and better farming practices. The institutional reforms include redistribution of land ownership, providing security of tenure, regulation of rents, etc.

Multiple choice

Which among the following is not a benefit of organic farming?

  1. It reduces the level of pollution.

  2. It improves soil health.

  3. It ensures the optimum use of natural resources.

  4. It increases the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

  5. It reduces the cost of agricultural production.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Organic farming excludes or minimizes the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Multiple choice

Which of the following factor(s), is/are a yield reducing factor?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question.

AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE SCHEME
More than half a dozen farm insurance schemes have been tried out in the past two and a half decades, hut no one has worked. Successive insurance models proved unsustainable because they were neither economically viable, nor suited to cover the varied risks that beset crop farming. The implementing insurance companies have invariably ended up paying compensation several times the premium collected. The existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS), which is now sought to be replaced with its fresh avatar, has had to cope with claims of over Rs. 5,730 crore, more than three times the premium income of Rs. 1,700 crore. The parallel farm “income insurance” scheme, aimed at covering risks ranging from a drop in yield to poor prices, tried out on a pilot basis in the last few crop seasons, has also not worked.
What needs to be realised is that agricultural insurance is an inherently complicated business because of the many risks involved in farming. The formidable functional and practical problems that ensue relate to the extent of area that should constitute the unit for assessing damage, and the bench-mark for assessing the loss incurred, on the basis of the income that might have accrued to the farmer in the absence of yield-reducing factors like adverse weather, pest, disease, or natural disasters.

 

  1. Adverse weather

  2. Natural disaster

  3. Pest and disease

  4. All of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage mentions 'yield-reducing factors like adverse weather, pest, disease, or natural disasters.' It explicitly lists all four factors together. Therefore all the options (A, B, C) are yield-reducing factors, making 'All of these' the correct answer. Agricultural insurance covers these multiple risks.

Multiple choice

Which of the above statements are correct?

Consider the following statements about e-choupal:
1. It is a government initiative to procure and provide a host of services for the farmer and the consumer. 
2. It is related to the marketing of agricultural products.
3. It consists of three layers: one at the village level, at the tehsil level and at the district level.

  1. Only 1

  2. Only 2

  3. 1 and 2

  4. 2, and 3

  5. 1, 2, and 3
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

It is a private sector initiative started by ITC as an agricultural marketing company and consists of 3 layers to procure products from farmers and reach to the consumers.

Multiple choice

Which of the following activities should not be done to preserve natural resources?

  1. Recycling materials such as paper and metals.

  2. Using organic manure to maintain the fertility of soil.

  3. Using fertilizers and pesticides excessively in farms.

  4. We should conserve natural resources like water and plants.

  5. Use public transport instead of using cars.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

No, we should avoid using fertilizers and pesticides. Over use of fertilizers and pesticides causes pollution and food safety problems. It also has harmful effects on the soil organisms too.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not the correct statement?

  1. Ploughing makes the soil loose.

  2. Poor soil will give poor crops.

  3. Animals and plants cannot live without soil.

  4. Allowing the soil from being washed away is called soil erosion.

  5. Formation of soil takes lot of time.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

No, protecting the soil from being washed away is called soil erosion.This is the incorrect statement.

Multiple choice

In which of the following regions is plantation agriculture largely practiced?

  1. semi-arid

  2. subtropical

  3. tropical

  4. temperate
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Plantation agriculture is predominantly practiced in tropical regions due to favorable climate conditions - warm temperatures throughout the year and abundant rainfall. These conditions are ideal for cash crops like tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, sugarcane, and spices. Semi-arid regions lack sufficient rainfall, temperate regions have seasonal limitations, and subtropical regions have more variation than optimal tropical zones.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not an advantage of silviculture?

  1. Silviculture produces a large quantity of raw materials for industry.

  2. It maintains a perfect water cycle in nature.

  3. It prevents soil erosion.

  4. It increases the area of the earth under agriculture.

  5. Silviculture prevents floods.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option as this is not an advantage of silviculture. Silviculture increases the area of earth under forests, and not agriculture. Increase in the area under forests is good for the conservation of wildlife.

 
 

Multiple choice

'Refuge' crops are non-Bt crops planted alongside Bt-crops by farmers to

  1. make soil more fertile

  2. discourage development of resistance in insects/pests against Bt-crops

  3. serve the purpose of subsistence for the farmers and their families

  4. cater to a wider market with both Bt and non-Bt varieties
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Refuge crops are non-genetically modified crops planted alongside Bt variety crops so as to prevent or slow down the development of resistance in crop-harming insects/pests by encouraging mating of species across both crops.

Multiple choice

Which of the following are the man-made causes of soil erosion?

  1. Use of improper ploughing methods
  2. Practice of leaving roots of crop in the field after harvest
  3. Practicing trash farming
  4. Use of heavy machines

  1. 1, 2 and 3 only

  2. 1 and 4 only

  3. 1, 3 and 4 only

  4. 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Leaving the stubble or crop residue essentially in place on the land as a surface cover during a fallow period prevents soil erosion. Similarly, trash farming is a method of cultivation in which the soil is loosened by subsurface tillage or other methods that leave stubble and other vegetation residues in the field and it prevents soil erosion. However, use of heavy machines leads to soil compaction and reduction in infiltration of rainwater. The rainwater then flows heavily as runoff and washes away the soil.

Multiple choice

Which of the following are the biological measures of soil conservation?

  1. Agronomic practices
  2. Agrostological methods
  3. Dry farming practices
  4. Basin leaching
  5. Contour terracing

  1. 1, 2 and 3 only

  2. 4 and 5 only

  3. 3, 4 and 5 only

  4. 1, 2 and 4 only
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Practical methods of soil conservation are broadly grouped as follows: (A) Biological measures which are helpful in checking the soil erosion are:

  1. Agronomic practices;
  2. Agrostological methods;
  3. Dry farming practices(B) Mechanical or Engineering methods which are helpful in checking the soil erosion are:Basin leaching, Pan breaking, Sub soiling, Contour terracing, Contour trenching,

Terrace outlets, Gully control, Digging of ponds and reservoirs, and Stream bank protection.