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Q71·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2017

Water conservation in agriculture

EnvironmentAgricultural practices and water managementStatement-basedMediumStatic

Question

Which of the following practices can help in water conservation in agriculture?

1Reduced or zero tillage of the land
2Applying gypsum before irrigating the field
3Allowing crop residue to remain in the field

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1.

    Reduced or zero tillage of the land

  2. 2.

    Applying gypsum before irrigating the field

  3. 3.

    Allowing crop residue to remain in the field

Options

a

1 and 2 only

b

3 only

c

1 and 3 only

Answer
d

1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Reduced or zero tillage (Statement 1) conserves water by reducing soil disturbance and evaporation, improving water retention. Leaving crop residue in the field (Statement 3) acts as mulch, reducing evaporation and conserving soil moisture. However, applying gypsum (Statement 2) is primarily used to improve soil structure and reduce alkali salts—it is not a direct water conservation technique. Zero tillage and crop residue retention are recognized water conservation practices in agriculture. > ZT + CR = Water Conservation (Zero Tillage + Crop Residue = WC). Answer: c.

Question details

Year

2017

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q71

Subject

Environment

Sub-topic

Agricultural practices and water management

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Medium

Nature

Static

Source hint

NCERT Environment/Agriculture

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