The 2020 Codex
Questions 81 to 90 (Set A)
If a particular plant species is placed under Schedule VI of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, what is the implication?
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Official Key: (a) A licence is required to cultivate that plant.
The Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972 has several schedules. While Schedules I to V deal with animals (from highest protection to vermin), Schedule VI is exclusively dedicated to specific endemic and endangered plants (like the Pitcher Plant or Blue Vanda).
Placement in Schedule VI does not mean absolute prohibition. It means that the plant is highly protected, and no person can cultivate, collect, extract, or trade it without prior permission and a specific license from the competent authority (the Chief Wildlife Warden).
Route: [REALM 194: Wildlife Protection Law]The Restricted Bloom
The Golden Coast
With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaul were well known as
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Official Key: (a) ports handling foreign trade
During the Gupta period, India's maritime trade flourished. The western and eastern coasts were dotted with bustling maritime hubs connecting India to Rome, Southeast Asia, and China.
Ghantasala (Ptolemy called it Kantakossyla) and Kadura were highly prominent sea ports on the East Coast (in present-day Andhra Pradesh), facilitating trade with Southeast Asia. Chaul (near Mumbai) was a major sea port on the West Coast handling trade with the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
Route: [REALM 24: Gupta Empire] & [REALM 34: Economy & Urbanization]What is/are the advantage/advantages of zero tillage in agriculture?
1. Sowing of wheat is possible without burning the residue of previous crop.
2. Without the need for nursery of rice saplings, direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is possible.
3. Carbon sequestration in the soil is possible.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
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Official Key: (d) 1, 2 and 3
Zero tillage (No-till farming) is a core component of Conservation Agriculture where seeds are sown directly without turning over the soil.
Statement 1 is True: Using special machines (like the Happy Seeder), farmers can drill wheat seeds directly into the soil right through the leftover stubble of the harvested rice crop, completely eliminating the need for stubble burning.
Statement 2 is True: Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) is a zero-tillage technique where paddy seeds are sown directly into the field, bypassing the water-heavy, labor-intensive nursery preparation and transplantation process.
Statement 3 is True: Because the soil is not plowed or opened up to the air, the organic carbon trapped inside is not oxidized into CO2. Thus, zero tillage actively sequesters (traps) carbon in the soil.
Route: [REALM 328: Conservation Agriculture]The Untouched Earth
The Bio-Refinery
According to India's National Policy on Biofuels, which of the following can be used as raw materials for the production of biofuels?
1. Cassava
2. Damaged wheat grains
3. Groundnut seeds
4. Horse gram
5. Rotten potatoes
6. Sugar beet
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
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Official Key: (a) 1, 2, 5 and 6 only
The core philosophy of India's National Policy on Biofuels (2018) is the "Food vs Fuel" debate. To ensure food security, the government strictly bans the use of primary, high-value, edible food crops for making fuel.
- Groundnut (3) and Horse gram (4) are crucial, highly nutritious primary food crops (oilseeds/pulses). Permitting them for biofuel would create a massive food crisis. Therefore, 3 and 4 are absolutely excluded.
- The policy explicitly encourages the use of starchy/sugary crops that are in surplus or inedible, such as Cassava, Sugar beet, damaged wheat grains, and rotten potatoes (1, 2, 5, 6).
Which one of the following statements best describes the term 'Social Cost of Carbon'?
It is a measure, in monetary value, of the
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Official Key: (a)
The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is a foundational concept in climate economics. When a factory emits 1 tonne of CO₂, it might cost them nothing to dump it into the air. But that tonne contributes to global warming, which causes sea-level rise (flooding cities), agricultural collapse, and healthcare costs globally over the next 100 years.
The SCC quantifies that exact future long-term economic damage into a present-day monetary value (e.g., "$50 per tonne"). Governments use this number to set carbon taxes or evaluate if a green policy is economically "worth it".
Route: [REALM 207: Climate Change Basics] & [REALM 357: Ethics of Carbon Markets]The Price of Smoke
The Protein Pie
With reference to pulse production in India, consider the following statements:
1. Black gram can be cultivated as both kharif and rabi crop.
2. Green-gram alone accounts for nearly half of pulse production.
3. In the last three decades, while the production of kharif pulses has increased, the production of rabi pulses has decreased.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Official Key: (a) 1 only
Statement 1 is True: Black gram (Urad) is highly versatile and is widely cultivated across India in both the Kharif (monsoon) and Rabi (winter) seasons.
Statement 2 is False: This is a factual trap. It is Gram (Chickpea / Chana) that is the undisputed king of Indian pulses, accounting for nearly 40-50% of total pulse production, not Green-gram (Moong).
Statement 3 is False: The trend is entirely inverted. Gram (a Rabi crop) dominates Indian pulse production. Due to assured irrigation and technological focus, the production of Rabi pulses has steadily increased over the decades, vastly outpacing Kharif pulses.
Route: [REALM 32: Pulses & Protein Crops]Which one of the following is that crop?
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Official Key: (a) Cotton
This is a classic NCERT Geography description. The defining fingerprint here is "210 frost-free days" and "well-drained soil capable of retaining moisture" (which refers to the famous Black Cotton Soil or Regur soil of the Deccan plateau).
Why the others are wrong: Jute requires extremely heavy rainfall and standing water (floodplains). Sugarcane requires huge amounts of water (100-150cm) and a long hot growing season. Tea requires sloping terrains and very heavy, evenly distributed rainfall (150-250cm).
Route: [REALM 38: Cotton]The White Gold
The Universal Flow
With reference to solar water pumps, consider the following statements:
1. Solar power can be used for running surface pumps and not for submersible pumps.
2. Solar power can be used for running centrifugal pumps and not the ones with piston.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Official Key: (d) Neither 1 nor 2
This question plays on artificial limitations. A solar panel simply generates DC electricity. Once you have electricity, you can run any motor attached to it. Therefore, solar power is utterly versatile and is heavily used in India (under schemes like PM-KUSUM) to run both surface and deep submersible pumps, as well as both centrifugal and positive displacement (piston) pumps. Both statements falsely restrict its capabilities.
Route: [REALM 74: Solar Energy] & [REALM 63: Irrigation in Indian Agriculture]With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:
1. A substantial saving in seed material is made when 'bud chip settlings' are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field.
2. When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.
3. If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.
4. Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Official Key: (c) 1 and 4 only
Traditionally, farmers plant whole lengths of sugarcane stalks (with 3-4 buds each) directly into the soil. This wastes a massive amount of the cane (up to 10% of harvest is just kept for seeds!).
Statement 1 is True: A new technique involves scooping out just the tiny "bud chip" with a machine, germinating it safely in a nursery tray, and then planting it. This saves over 80% of the seed material.
Statement 4 is True: Tissue culture (micropropagation) is highly successful and widely used today to produce disease-free, high-yielding sugarcane settlings in labs.
Statements 2 & 3 are False: If you plant them directly in the harsh field, large setts (with 3-4 buds) have vastly superior germination and survival rates because the large stalk provides massive moisture and nutrient reserves to weather bad conditions. A single bud planted directly into mud is extremely fragile and prone to rotting/drying out.
Route: [REALM 43: Sugarcane] & [REALM 254: Tissue Culture & Micropropagation]The Bud Chip Revolution
The Green Matrix
In the context of India, which of the following is/are considered to be practice(s) of eco-friendly agriculture?
1. Crop diversification
2. Legume intensification
3. Tensiometer use
4. Vertical farming
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
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Official Key: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
This is an overarching test of modern sustainable farming methods.
- 1. Crop diversification: Breaks the devastating ecological impact of mono-cropping (like the Punjab wheat-rice cycle), restoring biodiversity and breaking pest cycles.
- 2. Legume intensification: Planting pulses and beans naturally fixes atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, drastically reducing the need for polluting synthetic urea fertilizers.
- 3. Tensiometer use: A tensiometer is an instrument inserted into the soil to measure moisture tension. It tells the farmer exactly when the soil needs water, preventing massive water wastage via over-irrigation.
- 4. Vertical farming: Growing crops in stacked layers in controlled indoor environments uses up to 90% less water and zero soil, preventing deforestation and land degradation.