UPSC Prelims 2018 CSAT Paper II · Q30 of 58 Comprehension medium

Passage

Passage-2 A diversity of natural assets will be needed to cope with climate change and ensure productive agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. For example, crop varieties are needed that perform well under drought, heat, and enhanced CO₂. But the private-sector and farmer-led process of choosing crops favours homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions, not varieties capable of producing consistently high yields in warmer, wetter, or drier conditions. Accelerated breeding programmes are needed to conserve a wider pool of genetic resources of existing crops, breeds, and their wild relatives. Relatively intact ecosystems, such as forested catchments, mangroves, wetlands, can buffer the impacts of climate change. Under a changing climate, these ecosystems are themselves at risk, and management approaches will need to be more proactive and adaptive. Connections between natural areas, such as migration corridors, may be needed to facilitate species movements to keep up with the change in climate.

With reference to the above passage, which of the following would assist us in coping with the climate change? 1. Conservation of natural water sources 2. Conservation of wider gene pool 3. Existing crop management practices 4. Migration corridors Select the correct answer using the code given below.

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

Why the answer is (b)

• The passage states that relatively intact ecosystems such as forested catchments, mangroves, and wetlands can buffer the impacts of climate change, so conserving natural water sources (1) assists coping.

• The passage explicitly states that accelerated breeding programmes are needed to conserve a wider pool of genetic resources of existing crops, breeds, and their wild relatives, so conserving a wider gene pool (2) assists coping.

• The passage states that connections between natural areas, such as migration corridors, facilitate species movements to keep up with the change in climate, so migration corridors (4) assist coping.

• The passage states that the private-sector and farmer-led process of choosing crops favours homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions, not varieties for warmer, wetter, or drier conditions, so existing crop management practices (3) do not assist.

• Therefore, the correct combination is 1, 2 and 4 only, which is option (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
Option (a) is wrong because it includes 3, existing crop management practices, which the passage says favour homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions rather than future climate conditions.
(c) 3 and 4 only
Option (c) is wrong because it excludes 1 and 2, which the passage supports through intact ecosystems such as wetlands and conservation of a wider genetic pool.
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Option (d) is wrong because it includes 3, existing crop management practices, which the passage identifies as favouring homogeneity adapted to past or current conditions, not future climate resilience.

Asked in the CSAT Paper II of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2018, held on 3 June 2018. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

Reading the answer is not the same as getting it right under a clock. Practise this question with UPSC's negative marking, and anything you miss goes into an error notebook until you get it right twice.

Practise this paper free