DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Table of Contents
AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
1. “Development of agriculture is most important for the success of plans”. Who said it?
(a) Planning Commission
(b) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(c) Lal Bahadur Shastri
(d) Indira Gandhi
Ans. a
2. What was the share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1951-52?
(a) 39%
(b) 49%
(c) 59%
(d) 75%
Ans. b
3. What percentage of people were dependent on agriculture in 1990-91?
(a) 76%
(b) 56%
(c) 67%
(d) 60%
Ans. c
4. What are the reasons responsible for the backwardness of Indian agriculture?
(a) Natural
(b) Economic
(c) Technical and Institutional reasons
(d)All of the above
Ans. d
5. Agricultural reforms refer to:
(a) Technical reforms in agriculture
(b) Land reforms in agriculture
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) Neither (a) and (b)
Ans. c
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
6. Consolidation of holdings refer to:
(a) Conversion of scattered and pieces into a unified holding
(b) Take-over of small holdings by the government
(c) Provision of inputs for higher output
(d) All of these
Ans. a
7. What are the major factors responsible for green revolution?
(a) High Yielding Variety of seeds (HYV seeds)
(b) Irrigation Facilities
(c) Chemical Fertilizers
(d) All of above
Ans. d
8. Other factors responsible for green revolution in India are:
(a) Plant Protection
(b) Agricultural Marketing Facilities
(c) Multi-cropping Programme
(d) All of above
Ans. d
9. Price Support Policy focuses on:
(a) Low Price of the farm output
(b) High price of the farm output
(c) Stability of income from farming
(d) Both (a) and (c)
Ans. d
10. What growth rate of agriculture was achieved in Eleventh Plan?
(a) 4.1%
(b) 1.2%
(c) 2.1%
(d) 2%
Ans. a
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
11. The targeted growth rate for agriculture in Twelfth Plan (2012-17) was:
(a) 2%
(b) 4%
(c) 3%
(d) 5%
Ans. b
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
FILL IN THE BLANKS
1. Due to agricultural reforms, the contribution of agricultural sector to GDP has ……….
Ans. Increased
2. India’s agricultural productivity is extremely ……….. in comparison to advanced countries.
Ans. Low
3. Agriculture in India is heavily dependent on ……….
Ans. Rainfall
4. ………. technology is responsible for low agricultural productivity in India.
Ans. Backward
5. Due to Green Revolution production of ………. and ………. crops increased.
Ans. Wheat, rice
6. Use of ………. seeds caused increase in agricultural production.
Ans. HYV
7. That part of agricultural which is sold in market is called ……….
Ans. Marketable surplus
TRUE OR FALSE STATEMENTS
1. In India per hectare productivity is very low in comparison to advanced countries.
True
2. There was no food shortage at the time of independence.
False
3. Agricultural productivity cannot be raised by modern technology.
False
4. Indian government has encouraged co-operative farming.
True
5. High yielding variety seeds were not used during green revolution.
False
6. There is no need of second green revolution in India.
False
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
ONE WORD TO ONE SENTENCE QUESTIONS ANSWERS
Q. 1. Define subsistence farming?
Ans. It refers to the production of food crops for self-consumption rather than selling in market.
Q. 2. What is meant by disguised unemployment in agriculture?
Ans. It is a situation when more number of persons are engaged in farming than required.
Q. 3. What is marketable surplus?
Ans. The part of agricultural produce which is sold in the market after self-consumption.
Q. 4. What are high yielding variety (HYV) seeds?
Ans. HYV seeds are also called miracle seeds which are helpful in increasing the production of food grains.
Q. 5. What is meant by tenancy system?
Ans. In this system the owner of the land does not cultivate land himself but land is given for cultivation on rent to another farmer.
Q. 6. What is co-operative farming.
Ans. Under this system owners of small pieces of land perform cultivation or farming jointly.
Q. 7. Define consolidation of holdings?
Ans. In this land system, small and scattered land holdings of a farmer are converted into a big farm.
Q. 8. What is meant by price support policy?
Ans. In this policy a minimum price is assured to the farmer by government for certain crops.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Define agriculture Mention main features of agriculture in India.
Ans. Agriculture means the practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising live stock to provide food and other products which are essential for the survival of human beings.
1. Subsistence Agriculture: Most parts of India have subsistence agriculture. The farmers own a small piece of land, grow crops with the help of family members and consume almost the entire farm produce with little surplus to sell in the market. This type of agriculture still prevails in spite of the large-scale changes in a agricultural practices in India.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
2. Low Agricultural Productivity: Agricultural productivity means output per hectare of land. No doubt agricultural productivity in India has increased during plans period yet it is lower in comparison to developed countries like USA, Japan, France etc. Low agricultural productivity is the sign of backwardness of agriculture.
3. Pressure of Population on Agriculture: The increasing population in India exerts heavy pressure on agriculture. Since majority of population depends on agriculture, and it has to provide employment to a large section of workforce and has to feed huge population. Moreover, rising trend of urbanisation is shrinking the area under farming.
4. Disguised Unemployment: Indian agricultural sector is characterised by the presence of disguised unemployment. It is a situation of hidden unemployment where more number of persons are engaged in production than required. When some workers are withdrawn, total production remains unchanged. The presence of disguised unemployment is due to lack of job opportunities in other sectors of economy. It is an indicator of under development.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q2. What are main problems of Indian agriculture.
Ans. 1. Inequality in Land Distribution: The agricultural land in India has not been fairly distributed. There is a considerable degree of concentration of land holdings among rich landlords and money lenders throughout the country. Vast majority of small farmers own a very small and uneconomic size of holdings, resulting to higher cost of production per hectare.
2. Lack of High Yielding Variety (HYV) Seeds: Indian farmers are not able to use HYV seeds due to poverty and illiteracy. Agricultural productivity decreases due to the use of inferior quality of seeds
3. Lack of Credit Facilities: Indian farmers are poor and do not get adequate credit facilities in rural areas. They are not able to purchase good quality seeds, fertilizers and another farm equipments. They have to depend on local money lenders who charge higher rate of interest. Due to lack of credit facilities agricultural productivity remains low.
4. Illiterate and Conservative Farmers: Indian farmers are illiterate superstitious, ignorant and they have no knowledge of the latest techniques of production. They believe in God and follow old customs and traditions. It has adverse effect on agricultural productivity.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q3. Mention briefly the importance of agriculture in India.
Ans. Agriculture is considered as the backbone of Indian economy. To quate Prof. Gunnar Myrdal, “It is the agriculture sector through the battle for long term economic development of India will be won or lost”. The following points explain the role or importance of agriculture in Indian economy:
1. Major Source of Food Supply: Agriculture is the only major source of food supply as it is providing regular supply of food to such a huge size of population of our country. It has been estimated that about 60 percent of household consumption is met by agricultural products.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
2. Basis for Industrial Development: Agriculture in India has been the major source of supply of raw materials to industries such as textiles, sugar and oil processing etc. Besides, it also offers market for the expanding industrial sector of the economy.
3. Source of Government Revenue: Agriculture is one of the major sources of revenue to both the Central and State governments of the country. The government is getting a significant amount of income from land revenue. Some other sectors like railways, roadways are also earning good portion of their income from the movement of agricultural goods.
4. Importance in Capital Formation: Agriculture sector is the primary source of saving and hence capital formation for the economy. After the green revolution agricultural productivity has increased. The saving and investment capabilities of people have also increased. This has raised capital formation in country.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q4. Explain in brief the land reforms in India.
Ans. 1. In India the land reforms programme has remained one of the major policies for rural development ever since the inception of the planning process. The major objectives of land reforms on India are:
(i) To break-up the imbalanced concentration of land ownership in few hands.
(ii) To uplift the peasant class, protect their rights and reduce income disparities.
(iii) To increase agricultural production.
(iv) To ensure an effective and progressive relationship between owners and tanents of land.
To realise these objectives, the Government took following major steps under the Land Reforms Programme:
2 Abolition of Intermediaries: Under this step, the age-old exploitative land tenure systems of the Zamindari, Mahalwari and Ryotwari were fully abolished. This step was taken with a view to stop the exploitation of the cultivators by the Zamindars. After the conferment of rights on land, nearly 30 lakh tenants and share-croppers acquired ownership rights of land. As a result of the abolition of intermediaries more than 2 crore cultivators came into direct contact with the Government. They were thus freed by from being exploited by the Zamindars.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
3 Tenancy Reforms: Under the tenancy reforms, three inter-related reforms protecting the land-tanents1 were affected. These include:
(i) Regulation of Rent: Under this a fixed and rational rate of rent (20 to 25 percent of the total production) could be paid by the share croppers to the land owners.
(ii) Security of Tenure: For security of tenure the legislation made a provision that the tenants cannot be ejected from their land so long as they continue to pay rent.
(iii) Ownership Rights: This legislation made provision of ownership rights to tenants so that landless masses (i.e., the tenants, the share-croppers) could get the final rights for the land they plough
4. Ceiling on Land Holdings: It was another policy measure of land reform to promote equality in the distribution of land. This measure states that beyond a certain specified limit, all lands belonging to a particular person would be taken over by the government and then the same be allotted to the landless cultivators and small farmers. The legislation for ceiling on land holdings was implemented in two phases. In the first phase i.e. till 1972, individual was taken as a unit and in its second phase, i.e. after 1972, family was taken as a unit in determining ceiling on land holdings.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q5. Briefly explain main causes of backwardness of agriculture in India.
Ans. 1. Lack of High Yielding Variety (HYV) Seeds: India farmers are not able to use HYV seeds due to poverty and illiteracy. Agricultural Productivity decreases due to the use of inferior quality of seeds
2. Less use of Chemical Fertilizers: Inadequate use of chemical fertilizers is another cause of low agricultural productivity. Chemical fertilizers are costly and poor formers are not able to buy and use them. Only rich and progressive farmers are using these fertilizers.
3. Lack of Irrigation Facilities: Indian agriculture is mainly dependent of rainfall which is neither regular nor even. Due to improper irrigation facilities farmers are not able to produce more than one or two crops. Lack of irrigation facilities is one of the major causes of backwardness of India agriculture. Even after seven decades of independence only 45% of land has been brought under irrigation. There is still lack of assumed and controlled water supply through artificial irrigation facilities.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
4. Lack of Proper Crop Rotation: India has failed to evolve a balanced cropping pattern leading to faulty agricultural planning and its poor implementation. In India crop rotation is not done scientifically. Majority of farmers are following wheat, paddy circle. As a result, the fertility of soil diminishes and productivity falls.
5. Defective Marketing System: Improper marketing system is another major factor for backwardness of agriculture in India. Farmers fail to get suitable price for their production. Also due to lack of means of transportation and marketing facilities the farmers have to sell their produce at cheaper price to the money lenders.
Q6. Briefly explain Green Revolution. What are its components?
Ans. ‘Green Revolution’ refers to the large increase in production of food grains through the introduction of high-yield crop verities and application of modern agricultural techniques. The use of HYV seeds required the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the correct quantities as well as regular supply of water.
The spread of Green Revolution enabled India to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains. The various components of the new agricultural strategy are:
• Use of high yielding verities (HYV) of seeds.
• Use of chemical fertilizers.
• Use of intensive cultivation with assured irrigation facilities.
• Use of farm machines.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q7. What are the achievements of Green Revolution?
Ans.1. Increase in Production of Commercial Crops: Green Revolution resulted in “marketable surplus’. Marketable surplus refers to that part of agricultural produce which is sold in the market by the farmers after fulfilling their own consumption requirements. A good portion of rice and wheat produced during the green revolution period was sold by farmers in the market. Apart from wheat and rice, there was also significant improvement in the production of other cash crops such as oil seeds, sugarcane, potatoes, cotton and jute etc.
2. Greater Intensity of Cropping: The new agricultural strategy is not only concerned with higher yield but also with greater intensity of cropping. Therefore, new crop rotations have been made possible by developing short duration varieties of paddy, jowar, bajra and maize which are suited to different agro-climatic conditions. In the same way other crops like barley, oil seeds, potato, sugarcane and vegetables have also been considered for rotation.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
3. Charge in Farmer’s Outlook: As a result of commercialisation of agriculture has changed the outlook of farmers. Now farming is no longer considered as a source of subsistence but it is viewed as a commercial venture as well. Commercialisation of agriculture has increased the disposable income of farmers. This has imparted dynamism to agriculture as an activity of production.
4. Extension of Irrigation: Green Revolution has resulted in faster and wider expansion of irrigation facilities. After green revolution there has occurred a remarkable growth of tube-wells, pump-sets etc.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
Q8. Mention briefly failures of Green Revolution in India.
1. Increase in Disparity between Big and Small Farmers: The new agricultural strategy has widened the disparities between small and big farmers. Only the big farmers could afford the required inputs thereby reaping the benefits of the Green Revolution. Rich farmers are able to increase their revenues as compared to poor farmers who lack funds to adopt new inputs for farming.
2. No Response from Small and Marginal Farmers: Small and marginal farmers in India could not able to adopt new strategy due to poor financial conditions and poor credit worthiness. Majority of small and marginal farmers has derived negligible benefit from this new technology.
3. Confined to Limited Crops: Green Revolution has largely confined to wheat and rice crop neglecting other crops. Presently 90 percent of land engaged in wheat and rice cultivation are benefited from this new technology.
4. Problem of Labour Displacement: The application of new technology in large forms has led to substitution of human labour with mechanical processes. The back-wash effects of new strategy in terms of displacement of human labour have also been observed. The greatest sufferers in the process of agricultural revolution are landless labourers.
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS
ALSO VISIT: BASIC CONCEPTS OF ECONOMICS
DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPLICATION TO LEARN MORE: AGRICULTURE QUESTIONS