Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production Test - 14

A biofertilizer is a living microorganism  or made up of dried microorganisms. It is applied to plant surfaces, or soil colonizes the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant. Biofertilizers such as  Rhizobium , Azotobacter , Azospirilium , mycorrhiza  and blue-green algae have been in use for a long time. 

• Rhizobium  inoculant is used for leguminous crops. Azotobacter   can be used with crops like wheat, maize, mustard, cotton, potato, and other vegetable crops. 
• Blue-green algae belonging to a general  Cyanobacteria  genus fix atmospheric nitrogen and are used as inoculations for paddy crop grown both under upland and lowland conditions. 
• Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The Mycorrhiza plays a key role in selective absorption of immobile (P, Zn, and Cu) and mobile (S, Ca, K, Fe, Mn, Cl, Br, and N) elements to plants. These are available to plants in less amount.
• Anabaena   in association with water fern  Azolla  contributes nitrogen up to 60 kg/ha/season and also enriches soils with organic matter. 
• Algae-fungi symbiosis is not used as biofertilizer because their symbiotic association forms lichens. 

So, the correct answer is option B.

Jojoba is a native shrub of the Sonoran, Mojave and Baja California deserts of Arizona, California, and Mexico as well as the southernmost portion of the California Floristic Province. It is the sole species of the family Simmondsiaceae, placed in the order Caryophyllales. Jojoba is grown commercially for its oil, a liquid wax ester, extracted from its seed. Parthenium argentatum Gray, commonly known as the Guayule is a flowering shrub in the aster family, Asteraceae, that is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Leucaena leucocephala is a small, fast-growing mimosoid tree native to southern Mexico and northern Central America (Belize and Guatemala), but is now naturalized throughout the tropics. Common names include white leadtree, jumbay, and white popinac. So, all the three are examples of new crops. Thus, option D is correct and other options are wrong.

Recalcitrant seeds (sometimes known as unorthodox seeds) are seeds that do not survive drying and freezing during ex-situ conservation. Moreover, these seeds cannot resist the effects of drying or temperatures less than 10^o C thus, they cannot be stored for long periods like orthodox seeds because they can lose their viability. Plants that produce recalcitrant seeds include avocado, mango, mangosteen, lychee, tea, cocoa, rubber tree, some horticultural trees, and several plants used in traditional medicine such as species of  Virola  and  Pentaclethra . 

Thus, the correct answer is option C.

Azospirillum  inoculations are recommended mainly for sorghum, millets, maize, sugarcane and wheat.
Mycorrhizal biofertilizers can be used for pine trees.
Rotenone is an odourless, colourless, crystalline ketonic chemical compound used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine plant and the roots of several members of Fabaceae.
VAM is a biofertilizer and not a mycoherbicide. 

So, the correct answer is option C.

Biopesticides are the type of pesticides in which the living organisms are used for the destruction of the pests. They are used in the methods of pest management. This method focuses on the control of pests  by using predators or pathogens or enemies of the pests and insects. Biopesticides are the pesticides derived from natural materials. Bioinsecticides and bioherbicides come under the category of biopesticides. Bioinsecticides are used for the killing of pests and insects. Bioherbicides are used for the elimination of unwanted weeds and herbs. 

Thus, the correct answer is option C.