For an area to be excluded from the drought-prone category, what percentage of its gross cropped area should be under irrigation?
- A.10 per cent or more
- B.20 per cent or more
- C.25 per cent or more
- D.30 per cent or more
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, 30 per cent or more. The Irrigation Commission of 1972 treated an area as drought-prone when less than 30 per cent of its gross cropped area was irrigated, so an area with 30 per cent or more is left out. The Drought Prone Area Programme began during the Fourth Five Year Plan to give work to people in drought-hit areas and to build up their land and water resources. To mark the areas it would cover, the Irrigation Commission set the criterion of 30 per cent irrigated area, alongside low and uncertain rainfall. The programme later shifted towards watershed development, soil and moisture conservation, afforestation and pasture development. Option A is wrong because 10 per cent irrigation is far too little to protect an area from drought. Option B is wrong because 20 per cent is also below the limit used. Option C is wrong because 25 per cent still falls short of the 30 per cent criterion. Exam tip: DPAP areas = less than 30 per cent of gross cropped area irrigated (Irrigation Commission, 1972).
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.
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