Agronomy — Part 1 MCQs with Explanations

Downy mildew which is also known as 'Green Ear' is one of the destructive diseases of foliage like Bajra which is caused by fungus. The specific fungal organism responsible for its cause is Sclerospora graminicola . It is a soil-borne disease but spread through airborne spores of the fungus. Wet leaves in humid weather act as the most favorable spot for its infection.

Essential nutrients are those that any organism is unable to produce within itself and need from outer environmental sources for its proper functioning of biochemical pathways. But there are some basic criteria to make any element essential for any plant type and these criteria were proposed by Arnon and Stout in 1939. And according to them, there are 16 elements essential for the proper growth and development of the plant.

ICRISAT is the intergovernmental organization that stands for International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and was formed in the year 1972. It is headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad (Telangana), and works under the parent organization CGAIR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research). Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and environmental degradation in the drylands.

Plants produce carbohydrates i.e. their food and energy in green leaves by the process of photosynthesis which is transported by the phloem tissues to all parts of the plant but the main element which is essential for its translocation is Boron. Boron plays a vital role in plant metabolic activities.

Trichoderma viridiae is a type of fungus that can block the life cycle of many pathogens and most specifically various other fungi that is the reason which makes it an amazing biological control agent against various pathogens that leads to its exploitation on a commercial level. It is a free-living fungus that grows mainly on the roots area of the plant present in the soil, it enhances the fertility of the soil, boosts plant growth and protects the plants from various pathogens.

The Law of minimum is the theory proposed by Justus von Liebig, a German Scientist, which means that among all 16 essential nutrients if any one of them is missing or in less quantity than what is required by a plant then the yield and growth of the plant will be directly proportional to the amount of that minimum element i.e. that will also be poor even if all other nutrients are in proper quantity and abundance. That one element can lead to poor growth and yield.

Groundnut belongs to the Leguminosae or Fabaceae family. Legume crops are known for their edible seeds and high protein content in their seeds while peanuts and groundnut are also oil crops. The main feature of this family is the presence of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria which is good for both plant growth as well as soil fertility. The other examples of this family are pea, chickpeas, peanut, beans, and all other pulses.

There are three main stages in the complete life cycle of the rice plant which are vegetative (from seed germination to PI), reproductive (from PI to flowering), and ripening (from flowering to grain maturity). PI is Panicle Initiation, a stage in which its top part, the inflorescence is grown, it comes after the maximum tillering stage and it ends approximately in 60 days.

First of all the critical period of weed competition can be defined as the period between early growth during which weeds can grow without affecting crop yield and the point after which weed growth does not affect the yield. It is approximately $${\frac{1}{3}^{{\text{rd}}}}$$ of the duration of the crop. And in the case of sugarcane, it is approximately 4 months.

Gene is the smallest controlling unit and each one is available to control the existence of every character in an organism. In the case of the soybean plant, the indeterminate and determinate nature of stem phenotype is controlled by DT1 and DT2 genes.

Sorghum belongs to the grass family Poeceae and is categorized as major millet. It is available in 25 different species, some of them are grown for human consumption but some are grown to feed animals also.

The highest production of mustard in India is contributed by Rajasthan. It alone contributes about 40% approximately $${\frac{1}{3}^{{\text{rd}}}}$$ of the total mustard production of the country. The soil and climatic conditions of Rajasthan favor the maximum production of the mustard crop.

JNKVV stands for Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, which was established on 1 st October 1964. It is located in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh and was inaugurated by Smt. Indira Gandhi. This university is serving 25 cities of Madhya Pradesh through ample agricultural, horticultural and animal husbandry colleges. Its mission is to conduct education, research and extension activities for enhancing the productivity and sustainability of agricultural production and the quality of rural livelihood in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Potato is the tuber and food crop grown in subtropical regions of our country. Irrigation is the most important process in any crop production. In the case of potatoes, it is quite critical at the stage of tuber initiation to its maturity at the same time it also depends upon variety, seed health, weather, soil and cultural practices used for irrigation.

Green manure is a crop specifically produced to be incorporated into the soil while still green. The primary goal is to add organic matter to the soil for its benefits and the most likely used crops are legumes which add nitrogen to the soil. Aeschynomene afraspera is an annual to perennial plant that can grow 1 - 3 meters tall with stems that can become somewhat woody and persist.

Allophane is amorphous to poorly crystalline hydrous aluminum silicate mineraloids. Its chemical formula is Al 2 O 3 ·(SiO 2 ) 1.3-2 ·(H 2 O) 2.5-3 . It is produced by weathering or hydrothermal alteration of volcanic glass or feldspars. It has a large negative charge, which is balanced by aluminium cation.

NBSSLP stands for National bureau of soil survey and Land use planning. Government of India established All India Soil Survey Organisation in 1956 with Headquarters at IARI, Nagpur with five regional soil correlation centers. Later in 1958, the land use planning Scheme was also integrated with it. In 1976 it became an independent institute of ICAR named NBSS & LUP and continued to function at IARI, New Delhi. But later in June 1978, the headquarters was shifted back to Nagpur.

All the Indian research journals of agricultural sciences are published by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Journals are devoted to experimental agriculture and are abstracted by all the major abstracting services. Nowadays with the advancement of technology, e-journals and online articles are also been published.

Absolute zero is the lowest temperature i.e. lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale, can be said as a state at which the enthalpy and entropy of a cooled ideal gas reach their minimum value, taken as zero Kelvin, and can be represented as -273.15 degrees in Celsius.

Gram is the crop of rabbi season. It does not require stagnant water in any case and time while timely and well-managed irrigation is required for gram. First of all, irrigate immediately after sowing then on the 3 rd day followed by repetitive irrigation after 7 - 10 days depending upon soil and climatic conditions while irrigation before flowering and during the pod formation stage is the most critical and highly recommended stage when irrigation in grams is must.

Kyoto protocol is the protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change. It is an international treaty that was adopted in December 1997 and is named after a Japanese city called Kyoto. It aims to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming. Greenhouse gases are the most common factor leading to global warming in the world.

Every hybrid seeds or crop produced on a commercial scale have some unique qualities other than natural ones. Apart from high yield, they may also have pest control, a taste enhancer, good nutrient quality, etc. likewise hybrid maize also shows high yield unlike natural maize i.e. 20 kg/hectare for CO 1 and TNAU maize hybrid CO 6 and 25 kg/ha for COBC 1.

The common bread wheat that we use as our staple food is hexaploid. Root cells of wheat have 2n = 42 chromosome that is diploid chromosome number of 42 is six sets of the basic unit. And the basic unit can be obtained by dividing 42 by 6; $$\left( {\frac{{42}}{6} = 7} \right)$$ i.e. each set has 7 chromosomes.

Brassica is the genus of any mustard but the species differ. So, the scientific name of Indian mustard is Brassica juncea. Commonly also called Brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, oriental mustard and vegetable mustard.

Mycoherbicide is an herbicide based on fungus. As the name suggests myco refers to fungi and herbicide is the substance that acts as a poison to herbs or weeds. It is a biological agent which produces toxins to act upon the targeted plants. And Collego is a wettable powder formulation of Collectotrichum gloesporoids which is one of the very effective herbicides available on market.

Sunflower oil is considered one of the healthy options in oils because it contains high quantities of unsaturated fatty acids. It contains more than 80% of monounsaturated fats which makes it healthy for our hearts. It helps in maintaining a balance in our bodies. Moreover, it does not contain any saturated fat which leads to high cholesterol levels in our body i.e. no bad cholesterol ultimately a healthy heart and healthy body.

* Relative weeds are plants that are closely related to the crop you're trying to grow. * Think of it like this: if you're growing a specific type of rice, but a different variety of rice grows in the same field, that different rice variety acts like a weed. * It competes for resources like sunlight, water, and nutrients just like a typical weed would. Now let's look at why the other options aren't correct: * Option B: Plants of other crop in the crop field This describes a volunteer plant or a weed but not specifically a "relative weed." * Option C: Seasonal weeds in the crop field This is a general description of common weeds that appear during a specific season. * Option D: All of these Since A is the only correct answer, this option is incorrect. So, relative weeds are essentially unwanted varieties of the same crop growing alongside the desired variety.

Subsidy on fertilizers was announced by the Government of India in years 73 - 74 due to a rise in prices but acted with effect from 1 st November 1977. It was named DBT i.e Direct Benefit Transfer scheme in fertilizers. Under this scheme, the farmers will get the subsidy amount directly in their bank accounts for the purchase of fertilizers. This was an excellent initiative taken for farmers which lead to high quality and productive farms in India.

Excess uptake of potassium is known as luxury consumption. It is the tendency of some crops that can absorb nutrients in excess when available in abundance in soil but at the same time, it does not influence yield.

The application of nitrogen in pulses at the time of planting is known as the starter dose . It is well known that legumes require nitrogen in abundance so nitrogen fixing bacteria are also present at root nodules for fixing nitrogen available in the atmosphere for more protein synthesis in seeds that is why legumes are rich in protein. So, once at the time of sowing dose of nitrogen is given to plants later they produce their own by symbiotic association with bacteria.

Gluten protein present in wheat is the most important substance in making bread from wheat because it provides the elasticity and extensibility required to make bread. It adds texture and viscous properties to our bread.

Saltation is the process in which the sediment particles are transported in a series of irregular bounces or short jumps along the ground surface. The soil carried in the saltation process is of particle size 0.1 to 0.5 mm, which is light enough to be lifted and large enough to be suspended.

Durum wheat is spring wheat and it is not much grown in India, despite that it is grown mainly in the central zone which includes the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, South Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Although durum wheat is known for its high protein content it is not so good to prepare chapatis, hence extensively grown for pasta production.

HB-1 is the first hybrid of bajra (pearl millet) released in India in 1965 . It was developed through a cross between Tift-23-A (a male sterile line) and BIL-3B (a restorer line). This hybrid was part of the initial efforts in hybrid bajra breeding and marked a significant milestone in Indian agronomy. Tift-23-A played a crucial role as a cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) line, which is essential for hybrid seed production. The successful release of HB-1 demonstrated the potential of hybrid technology in improving pearl millet yields in India.

Kabuli gram i.e. chickpeas is a type of legume and it belongs to Leguminosae or Fabaceae family. It is an annual plant and is widely grown for its nutritional value. The main characteristic of this family is the presence of rhizomes in the root nodules of the plant for atmospheric nitrogen fixation by the bacteria present in the soil.

Zero–the till-seed drill is most commonly used for sowing wheat crops in unprepared fields used just after harvesting paddy. Undoubtedly it saves money, time and labor. It also saves one pre irrigation. While it is done by the use of an instrument that has a high speed furrow opener and accurate seed dropping technique. A very durable and reliable product that ensures zero tillage of seeds.

Zinc is one of the essential elements in paddy plants as it involves nitrogen assimilation and protein metabolism. And at the same time availability of zinc is lower in submerged fields like paddy plantations in comparison to normal upland fields. So, it is required to add zinc rich fertilizers to the paddy fields approximately 25 kg per hectare.

The first commercial cotton hybrid in the world, Hybrid-4, was released in 1970 in India. Hybrid-4 marked a significant milestone in cotton production as it was the first hybrid variety developed for large-scale commercial cultivation. This hybrid offered higher yields and better adaptability compared to traditional cotton varieties, revolutionizing cotton farming practices. Note: Its development showcased the potential of hybrid technology in improving agricultural productivity.

Our atmosphere is a mixture of gases. Although its main constituents are nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). It also contains gases like carbon dioxide, ozone, argon and traces of other neon, helium, methane, krypton, and hydrogen. Undoubtedly the role of ozone in our atmosphere is inimitable.

PDM 11 is one of the varieties of mung bean also called green gram. It is an early maturing variety and tolerant to powdery mildew and leaf spots. Moreover, it is a short duration variety of 60 days. It was developed by crossing china mung X Type 1.