8th October 2020, Static Quiz on Indian Economy

Solution: d)
Justification: Statement 1: They provide minerals which dissolve in water and are immediately available to plants. But these may not be retained in the soil for long. They may escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes.
Statement 2: Chemical fertilizers can also kill bacteria and other microorganisms in the soil. This means some time after their use, the soil will be less fertile than ever before. The continuous use of chemical fertilizers has led to degradation of soil health.

Solution: d)
Justification: Statement 1: Real agricultural growth since 1960 has averaged about 2.8 percent in India. The period before the Green Revolution saw growth of less than 2 percent; the following period until 2004 yielded growth of 3 percent; in the period after the global agricultural commodity surge, growth increased to 3.6 percent (Figure 1). China’s annual agricultural growth over the long run has exceeded that of India by a substantial 1.5 percentage points on average.
Statement 2: The volatility of agricultural growth in India has declined substantially over time: from a standard deviation of 6.3 percent between 1960 and 2004 to 2.9 percent since 2004. In particular, production of cereals has become more robust to drought.

Solution: a)
Justification: E-RaKAM is a digital initiative bringing together the farmers, FPOs, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease the selling and buying process of agricultural products. Under this initiative, eRaKAM centers are being developed in a phased manner throughout the country to facilitate farmers for online sale of their produce. The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC and Central Warehousing Corporation arm CRWC.

Solution: d)
Justification: It was established as a Society in 1994 to facilitate agri-business ventures by catalyzing private investment through Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) Scheme in close association with financial institutions. The role of State SFACs is to aggressively promote agribusiness project development in their respective States.

Solution: a)
Justification: It is CHAMAN – Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using geoinformatics. It is being implemented by the Delhi-based Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre. Under the project, the ministry will use remote sensing and geoinformatics data to integrate information on weather, soil, land-use, and crop mapping to prepare horticulture development plans. The idea is to use space technology to identify crops suitable to different areas and raise production of horticulture crops. The project will help states develop horticulture clusters and related infrastructure like cold chains. March 2018 is the deadline to completing the ambitious project.

Solution: c)
Justification: Statement 1: Constituting about 6.3% of the global fish production, the sector contributes to 1.1% of the GDP and 5.15% of the agricultural GDP. The total fish production of 10.07 million metric tonnes presently has nearly 65% contribution from the inland sector and nearly the same from culture fisheries.
Statement 2: Fish and fish products have presently emerged as the largest group in agricultural exports of India, with over 10.5 lakh tonnes in terms of quantity and over Rs. 33,000 crores in value. This accounts for around 10% of the total exports of the country and nearly 20% of the agricultural exports. More than 50 different types of fish and shellfish products are exported to 75 countries around the world
With diverse resources ranging from deep seas to lakes in the mountains and more than 10% of the global biodiversity in terms of fish and shellfish species, the country has shown continuous and sustained increments in fish production since independence. With high growth rates, the different facets of marine fisheries, coastal aquaculture, inland fisheries, freshwater aquaculture, coldwater fisheries to food, health, economy, exports, employment and tourism of the country.

Solution: c)
Justification: It intends to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture. It will mentor start-ups and help them connect with potential investors and thus convert innovative ideas from India’s rural youth into viable businesses. It is managed by ICAR-NAARM’s (Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management).Under the programme, start-ups will get incubation space to run their businesses and have access to research laboratories and libraries.

Solution: d)
Justification: Statement 1: Under the scheme, 88 million milk producing animals out of 300 million cattle and buffaloes are being identified using polyurethane tags with 12-digit unique identification (UID) number. Polyurethane (PUR and PU) is a polymer composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links.
Statement 2 and 3: The polyurethane tags, which will last for a few year, will be affixed by the technicians using a special applicator.
 Next, the technicians will, using a tablet, upload details of the cow including its vaccination and deworming status into an online database.
 The purpose of the exercise, in the long run, is to improve vaccination practices, and ensure that scientific interventions can be made to improve both breeding and milk production.
 This would help prevent illegal transportation of cattle and livestock to Bangladesh.

Solution: b)
Justification: A seed village is one wherein trained group of fanners are involved in production ‘of seeds of various crops and cater to the needs of themselves, fellow fanners of the village and fanners of neighbouring villages in appropriate time and at affordable cost is called “a seed village”.
Major focus areas are:
 Organizing seed production in cluster (or) compact area
 Replacing existing local varieties with new high yielding varieties.
 Increasing the seed production
 To meet the local demand, timely supply and reasonable cost
 Self-sufficiency and self-reliance of the village
 Increasing the seed replacement rate
This allows seed to be available at the door steps of farms at an appropriate time and at an affordable cost. It also facilitates fast spread of new cultivars of different kinds.

Solution: d)
Justification: The Umbrella scheme comprises of 11 Schemes/Missions. These schemes look to develop the agriculture and allied sector in a holistic and scientific manner to increase the income of farmers by enhancing production, productivity and better returns on produce.
Statement 1: Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) with a total central share of 3863.93 crore. ISAM aims to develop agricultural marketing infrastructure; to promote innovative and latest technologies and competitive alternatives in agriculture marketing infrastructure; to provide infrastructure facilities for grading, standardization and quality certification of agricultural produce; to establish a nationwide marketing information network; to integrate markets through a common online market platform to facilitate pan-India trade in agricultural commodities, etc.
Statement 2: National Food Security Mission (NFSM), including National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP), with a total central share of Rs.6893.38 crore. It aims to increase production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops, through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a suitable manner in the identified districts of the country, restoring soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level and enhancing farm level economy. It further aims to augment the availability of vegetable oils and to reduce the import of edible oils.
Statement 3: Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) with a total central share of Rs. 7533.04 crore, MIDH aims to promote holistic growth of horticulture sector; to enhance horticulture production, improve nutritional security and income support to farm Households.

Other schemes include, inter alia:
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) with a total central share of Rs.3980.82 crore. NMSA aims at promoting sustainable agriculture practices best suitable to the specific agro-ecology focusing on integrated farming, appropriate soil health management and synergizing resource conservation technology.
Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE) with a total central share of Rs.2961.26 crore. SMAE aims to strengthen the ongoing extension mechanism of State Governments, local bodies etc., achieving food and nutritional security and socio-economic empowerment of farmers, to institutionalize programme planning and implementation mechanism, to forge effective linkages and synergy amongst various stake-holders, to support HRD interventions, to promote pervasive and innovative use of electronic / print media, inter-personal communication and ICT tools, etc.