Passage

Directions for the following 6 (six) items : Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only. Passage – 1 Climate change poses potentially devastating effects on India's agriculture. While the overall parameters of climate change are increasingly accepted — a 1°C average temperature increase over the next 30 years, sea level rise of less than 10 cm in the same period, and regional monsoon variations and corresponding droughts — the impacts in India are likely to be quite site and crop specific. Some crops may respond favourably to the changing conditions, others may not. This emphasizes the need to promote agricultural research and create maximum flexibility in the system to permit adaptations. The key ingredient for "drought proofing" is the managed recharge of aquifers. To ensure continued yields of important staple crops (e.g. wheat), it may also be necessary to shift the locations where these crops are grown, in response to temperature changes as well as to water availability. The latter will be a key factor in making long term investment decisions. For example, water runoff from the Himalayas is predicted to increase over the next 30 years as glaciers melt, but then decline substantially thereafter. It will be critical to provide incentives to plan for these large-scale shifts in agro-ecological conditions. India needs to make long term investment in research and development in agriculture. India is likely to experience changed weather patterns in future.

Consider the following statements : Climate change may force the shifting of locations of the existing crops due to 1. melting of glaciers. 2. water availability and temperature suitability at other locations. 3. poor productivity of crops. 4. wider adaptability of crop plants. Which of the statements given above are correct ?

(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 3 only ✓ UPSC's answer
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage states that shifting crop locations may be necessary in response to temperature changes and water availability, which matches statement 2.

• It also says some crops may not respond favourably to changing conditions, implying poor productivity can force a shift, matching statement 3.

• Melting glaciers are mentioned only as a cause of changing Himalayan water runoff, not as a direct reason to shift existing crop locations, so statement 1 is not correct.

• Wider adaptability of crop plants would help crops cope in place, not force shifting, so statement 4 is not correct.

• Therefore, only statements 2 and 3 are correct, making option (b) the key.

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1, 2 and 3: Option (a) is wrong because it includes statement 1, which the passage does not identify as a direct cause for shifting crop locations.
(c) 1 and 4 only: Option (c) is wrong because it includes statements 1 and 4 while omitting the passage-supported statements 2 and 3.
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4: Option (d) is wrong because it includes statements 1 and 4, which are not stated as causes for shifting crop locations.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2014, held on 24 August 2014. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.