Question

Which one of the following is the best strategy for environment-friendly, sustainable development in Indian agriculture?
A. Mixed cropping, organic manures, nitrogen-fixing plants and pest-resistant crop varieties.
B. Wider popularisation of high yielding crop varieties, better and more frequent irrigation and increased frequency of aerial sprays of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides.
C. Expansion of cultivable land increased use of superphosphate, urea and effective biocides.
D. Improved farm implements and machinery, use of potent insecticides to minimise post-harvest grain losses and monoculture cropping practices.

Answer 1

Hint: Due to uncontrolled use of synthetic chemicals which are harmful to the ecosystem, agriculture became a high investing and low yielding field. Organic farming is practiced to protect the ecosystem without using harmful chemicals. The chemicals are replaced by bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides etc, which also maintains the soil fertility. The use of chemical fertilizers kills the useful soil organisms but the practice of organic farming supports the life of soil organisms and which gives high yields.

Complete answer:
Option A Mixed cropping, organic manures, nitrogen-fixing plants and pest-resistant crop varieties: Mixed cropping is a type of agriculture that involves planting two or more plants simultaneously in the same field, so that they grow together. Natural products used by farmers to provide food for the crop plants are called organic manure. The nitrogen fixing plants helps in the fixation of nitrogen and pest resistant crop varieties are resistant to pests. All these are eco friendly and sustainable ways of agricultural development.
Hence option A is the correct answer.
Option B Wider popularisation of high yielding crop varieties, better and more frequent irrigation and increased frequency of aerial sprays of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides: Here, the use of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides in an increased frequency of aerial sprays are not environment friendly way for agriculture.
Hence option B is not correct.
Option C Expansion of cultivable land increased use of superphosphate, urea and effective biocides: Here, increased use of superphosphate, urea and effective biocides are not environment friendly nor sustainable development.
Hence option C is not correct
Option D Improved farm implements and machinery, use of potent insecticides to minimize post-harvest grain losses and monoculture cropping practices: Here, the potent use of insecticide to minimize post-harvest grain losses are not an environment friendly way of sustainable agriculture.
Hence option D is not correct.

Therefore, Option A is the correct answer.

Note:
The sustainable agriculture emphasizes conservation of its own resources. For a farm to be sustainable, the farm must produce adequate amounts of high-quality foods, be safe for the environment, and be profitable where appropriate. Sustainable farms minimize the purchased inputs such as fertilizers, energy and equipment and rely as much as possible on the renewable resources of the farm itself.