Consider the following statements regarding the slash-and-burn agricultural practices in India: I. This practice is a primitive subsistence farming. II. This practice is known as Jhum in the North Eastern Hill region. III. When soil fertility decreases, farmers shift to a fresh patch of land. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.I only
- B.III only
- C.I and III only
- D.I, II and III
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, I, II and III. All three statements correctly describe slash-and-burn farming in India. Slash-and-burn is a form of primitive subsistence farming: farmers clear a patch of forest by cutting and burning the vegetation, grow food crops on it with simple tools, and mainly feed their own families. The ash adds some nutrients, but the soil loses fertility after a few seasons, so the farmers move to a fresh patch and let the old one recover under forest. This is why it is also called shifting cultivation. It has many regional names: Jhum in the North Eastern hill states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, Bewar or Dahiya in Madhya Pradesh, Podu in Andhra Pradesh and Penda in parts of the peninsula. Option A is wrong because it leaves out statements II and III, which are also correct. Option B is wrong because it leaves out I and II. Option C is wrong because statement II about Jhum is correct too. Exam tip: shifting cultivation = slash-and-burn = Jhum in the North East; it is subsistence, not commercial, farming.
Practice Questions
View allWhich one of the following is not a minor plate ?
- A.Cocos Plate
- B.Nazca Plate
- C.Caroline Plate
- D.Antarctic Plate
Show answer
The Antarctic Plate, carrying Antarctica and the ocean around it, is one of the seven major lithospheric plates. Plate tectonics divides the lithosphere into seven major plates and several minor ones.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements with reference to shadow zones in an event of an earthquake is/are correct ? 1. Zone between 105° and 145° from epicentre was identified as the shadow zone for both P-waves and S-waves 2. The shadow zone of P-waves is much larger than that of the S-waves Select the answer using the code given below:
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
The band between 105° and 145° from the epicentre receives neither P-waves nor S-waves, but it is the S-wave shadow zone that is much larger, so statement 2 is wrong.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements about Ring of Fire is/are correct ? 1. It is a zone of convergence plate boundaries 2. It is an active seismic and volcanic zone 3. It is associated with deep trench Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- A.1 and 2 only
- B.2 and 3 only
- C.1 only
- D.1, 2 and 3
Show answer
The Ring of Fire around the Pacific is a belt of convergent plate boundaries, full of active volcanoes and earthquakes and lined by deep ocean trenches.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following rivers is not a tributary of river Brahmaputra ?
- A.River Manas
- B.River Kameng
- C.River Mahananda
- D.River Subansiri
Show answer
The Mahananda rises in the Darjeeling hills, flows through north Bengal and Bihar and joins the Ganga, not the Brahmaputra.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements regarding tropical cyclones is/are correct ? 1. These storms develop during the summer and autumn in every tropical ocean except the South Atlantic and eastern South Pacific Oceans. 2. Tropical cyclones that occur in the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific Oceans are known as typhoons. 3. Tropical cyclones that occur in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans are called cyclones. Select the answer using the code given below :
- A.3 only
- B.1 and 2 only
- C.1 and 3 only
- D.1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific are called hurricanes, not typhoons, so statement 2 is wrong.
Read the full explanation →