Previous Year Question

1. Crop diversification is an eco-friendly agricultural practice.

• Crop diversification means adopting different crops or cropping systems in a field instead of depending upon a single crop.

• It may include systems such as crop rotation, intercropping, mixed cropping and multiple cropping.

• Differences in the root depths and nutrient requirements of different crops may result in a more balanced use of soil resources.

• Crop rotation can interrupt the continuous life cycles of pests, pathogens and weeds.

• Including leguminous crops can increase the availability of biological nitrogen in the soil.

• Diversification can improve soil organic matter, microbial diversity and structure.

• It can reduce the economic risk associated with the failure of a single crop, a decline in market price or extreme weather.

• Therefore, crop diversification increases the ecological and economic resilience of agriculture.

2. Legume intensification is an eco-friendly agricultural practice.

• Legume intensification means increasing the proportion or frequency of leguminous crops in a cropping system.

• Leguminous crops such as chickpea, pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, lentil and pea form symbiotic associations with bacteria belonging to the Rhizobium group.

• Bacteria present in root nodules perform the biological fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.

• This can reduce dependence upon synthetic nitrogen fertilisers.

• A prudent reduction in nitrogen fertiliser use can help decrease the energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions associated with its production.

• The roots and crop residues of legumes can add nitrogen and organic matter to the soil.

• Many pulses can grow with comparatively less water and can benefit cereal crops in crop rotation.

• Therefore, legume intensification is useful for soil health, nutritional security and sustainable agriculture.

3. Tensiometer use is an eco-friendly agricultural practice.

• A tensiometer does not directly measure the quantity of water in the soil but measures soil-water tension or matric potential.

• It indicates how much force plant roots must exert to obtain water from the soil.

• On this basis, a farmer can irrigate at the appropriate time of need.

• This can reduce excessive or unnecessary irrigation based on estimation.

• Appropriate irrigation scheduling conserves water and reduces the possibility of waterlogging.

• It can reduce the leaching of nutrients below the root zone and surface runoff.

• A tensiometer is particularly useful with drip irrigation and in soils having a light to medium texture.

• Therefore, its use assists in improving water-use efficiency and maintaining soil quality.

4. Vertical farming is not treated as an eco-friendly agricultural practice in the given context.

• Vertical farming involves growing crops on multiple levels placed above one another inside buildings or controlled structures.

• It may use hydroponics, aeroponics, artificial lighting, temperature control and humidity control.

• It can provide greater production with limited land and controlled water use.

• Production near urban areas may reduce transport distance and some associated emissions.

• However, its energy requirement may be very high because of artificial lighting, cooling, heating and ventilation.

• If this energy is obtained from fossil fuels, its carbon footprint may be considerably higher.

• The cost of the necessary structures and equipment also prevents it from becoming a universally eco-friendly practice in the ordinary Indian agricultural context.

• Therefore, vertical farming is not included in the correct option in the context of the question.

Overall conclusion

• Crop diversification increases agricultural biodiversity and resilience.

• Legume intensification assists biological nitrogen fixation and soil health.

• A tensiometer assists scientific irrigation scheduling and water conservation.

• Vertical farming has some advantages, but its environmental utility depends upon the source of energy used and its complete life cycle.

Therefore, 1, 2 and 3 are eco-friendly agricultural practices.