Geography Test - 17

In the last paragraph, various techniques which are being used to control soil erosion have been mentioned. For example: contour tillage, contour bunding, terrace farming, etc. Thus, terrace farming is a human intervention that controls soil erosion instead of aggravating it. All other options are examples of human interventions which lead to soil erosion, transforming the cultivable lands into wastelands.

Both the assertion and the reason are correct. The assertion is correct according to the statement 'Increasing pressures of urbanisation and . . . of the soil in India.' The reason is correct according to the statement 'Since the causes of . . . improve soil quality.' However, the reason does not explain the assertion, and they act as independent statements.

Barren lands: They are the lands which may be classified as wastelands, such as barren hilly terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc. Normally, these lands cannot be brought under cultivation with the available technology. Rapid soil erosion leads to cultivable lands becoming wastelands. The answer can be explicitly inferred from 'The different kinds and increasing . . . into wastelands.' Thus, option C is correct.

The primary cause for pressure on land resources is the increasing demand for food products. Due to the increasing demand, more land is being brought under cultivation. However, due to limited land resources, existing land is being used non-judiciously leading to soil erosion. The answer is explicitly mentioned in the first line of the passage. Option C is a remedial technique to check soil erosion. Options B and D are vague and are not the causes.

An Australian geographer, Griffith Taylor, was the first to propound the concept of neo-determinism. Neo-determinism is also called "Stop and go determinism" because it believes that if human activities (pollution) cause long-term damage to the environment, then such activities should be stopped, otherwise humans can do everything that the environment allows them to do.

Horses are used as a draught animal even in the Western countries. Dogs and reindeer are used in North America, North Europe and Siberia to draw sledges over snow-covered ground. Mules are preferred in the mountainous regions; while camels are used for caravan movement in deserts. In India, bullocks are used for pulling carts.

Option 1 is not an example of institutional or technological reform. Options 2 and 4 are examples of institutional reforms. Option 3 is an example of technological reform in agriculture. Option 1 does not fall under the category of technological or institutional reforms. Following are the institutional and technological reforms undertaken in agriculture:

(i) Land reforms: Collectivisation, consolidation of holdings, cooperation and abolition of zamindari

(ii) Agricultural reforms: Green Revolution and White Revolution

(iii) Land development programmes: Procurement for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, etc., establishment of Grameen banks, Cooperative societies and banks for providing loans

(iv) Issuing of Kissan Credit Card and Personal Accident Insurance Scheme, etc.

(v) Special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers on radio and TV

Economic geography is a sub-field of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a sub-field or method in economics. There are four branches of economic geography - primary sector, secondary sector, tertiary sector, and quaternary sector.

Sub-fields of economic geography are: geography of resources, geography of agriculture, geography of tourism, geography of industries, geography of marketing and geography of international trade.

In a subsistence economy, goods are produced to provide for oneself or one's family.
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. "Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence economy is moneyless and relies on natural resources to provide for basic needs through hunting, gathering, and agriculture. In a subsistence economy, economic surplus is minimal and only used to trade for basic goods, and there is no industrialization.