Passage

Passage—3 A landscape-scale approach to land use can encourage greater biodiversity outside protected areas. During hurricane ‘Mitch’ in 1998, farms using ecoagricultural practices suffered 58 per cent, 70 per cent and 99 per cent less damage in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, respectively, than farms using conventional techniques. In Costa Rica, vegetative windbreaks and fencerows boosted farmers' income from pasture and coffee while also increasing bird diversity. Bee pollination is more effective when agricultural fields are closer to natural or seminatural habitat, a finding that matters because 87 per cent of the world's 107 leading crops depend on animal pollinators. In Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Colombia silvopastoral systems that integrate trees with pastureland are improving the sustainability of cattle production, and diversifying and increasing farmers' income.

Which among the following is the most logical and rational inference that can be made from the above passage?

(a) Agricultural practices that enhance biodiversity can often increase farm output and reduce the vulnerability to disasters. ✓ UPSC's answer
(b) All the countries of the world should be encouraged to replace ecoagriculture with conventional agriculture.
(c) Ecoagriculture should be permitted in protected areas without destroying the biodiversity there.
(d) The yield of food crops will be very high if ecoagricultural practices are adopted to cultivate them.

Why the answer is (a)

• In hurricane Mitch, farms using ecoagriculture suffered 58–99 per cent less damage than conventional farms: less vulnerability to disasters.

• In Costa Rica, windbreaks and fencerows raised farm income while increasing bird diversity, and silvopastoral systems raised cattle sustainability and farm income: more output.

• So practices that enhance biodiversity can often increase farm output and reduce vulnerability to disasters, option (a).

Why the other options are wrong

(b) All the countries of the world should be encouraged to replace ecoagriculture with…: The passage explicitly highlights the benefits of ecoagriculture over conventional techniques, making the suggestion to replace ecoagriculture with conventional agriculture contradictory to the text.
(c) Ecoagriculture should be permitted in protected areas without destroying the biodiversity…: The passage focuses on encouraging biodiversity outside protected areas and does not discuss permitting ecoagriculture within protected areas or the risk of destroying biodiversity there.
(d) The yield of food crops will be very high if ecoagricultural practices are adopted to…: The passage mentions increased income and sustainability but does not claim that the yield of food crops will be 'very high,' which is an exaggerated and unsupported specific claim.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2017, held on 18 June 2017. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.