Vegetable Crops Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Arka Isha is a variety of coriander, released by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, as an Arka cultivar. Arka is the prefix IIHR uses for its releases.

It is not an amaranth, fenugreek or radish variety, although IIHR has released Arka varieties of other vegetables.

IIHR in Bengaluru uses the name Arka for its releases in vegetables, fruits and flowers, such as Arka Anamika in okra. Arka Isha is the coriander variety from the same series.

Answer: A

For a transplanted amaranth crop the seed rate is 1.0 to 1.5 kg per hectare, which is the nursery seed needed to raise seedlings for one hectare. A direct-sown crop needs much more seed.

The higher ranges, 2.0-2.5, 3.0-3.5 and 4.0-4.5 kg/ha, are higher than a transplanted crop needs, so they are not the figure.

Amaranth seed is very small, so a low rate is enough for the nursery. For a transplanted crop the figure of 1.0 to 1.5 kg per hectare is the amount of seed to sow in the nursery bed, while direct sowing needs more.

Answer: D

The key gives Capsicum pubescens, the rocoto, which is distinguished by its purple flowers and purple anthers along with black, wrinkled seeds. Purple colour in the flower parts is a recognised feature used to separate this species from the other cultivated capsicums.

C. annuum, C. baccatum and C. chinense are told apart by other features: the corolla colour and spots, the calyx constriction and the number of flowers at a node, and not by purple anthers, so the key is the best fit among the options.

Answer: C

The little gourd (ivy gourd, Coccinia) and pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica) are dioecious: male and female flowers occur on separate plants, so both sexes must be planted for fruiting.

Bitter gourd, cucumber and wax gourd carry both flowers on the same plant (monoecious), so any option that includes them is wrong, and ivy gourd is dioecious but wax gourd is not, so option D fails.

In dioecious plants a plant is either male or female. The ivy gourd or little gourd (Coccinia grandis) and the pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica) are dioecious, so they are propagated by vines to keep the right sex, with a few male plants planted among the female ones.

Answer: C

Garlic is commercially propagated by single cloves, the segments separated from the bulb and planted. Commercial garlic does not set true seed.

Bulbils are produced in some types but are not used commercially, and planting whole bulbs would be wasteful and give crowded plants.

Garlic seldom sets seed, so it is multiplied by cloves, and large cloves from the outer part of the bulb give a better crop. A single clove is planted at a time, 5 to 7 cm apart, in the usual commercial method.

Answer: D

According to FAO data (2020) India is the largest producer of okra, which is the key's answer. India grows okra more than any other country and supplies a very large share of the world total.

For chilli, cluster bean and cucumber the key does not give India as the first, and for chilli the answer depends on whether dry or green chilli is meant, which the question does not say; I could not confirm the other three from a source, so okra stands on the key and on the well-known Indian lead in okra.

Answer: D

The white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is the type grown at commercial level in India. It makes up most of the country's production.

Oyster, paddy straw and milky mushrooms are grown on a smaller scale, so the key's answer is the button mushroom.

In India the white button mushroom, grown in cool seasons or in controlled rooms on composted straw, is the most widely cultivated commercial mushroom. Oyster, paddy straw and milky mushrooms are grown on a smaller scale.

Answer: C

The scientific name of the paddy straw mushroom is Volvariella volvacea.

Agaricus bisporus is the white button mushroom, Lentinula edodes is the shiitake, and Pleurotus florida is an oyster mushroom.

The paddy straw mushroom is a warm-weather mushroom grown on paddy straw beds. It is known as the Chinese mushroom and belongs to the genus Volvariella, which differs from Pleurotus (oyster) and Agaricus (button).

Answer: B

The key gives about 120 kilocalories for 454 g (one pound) of fresh mushrooms. Fresh button mushrooms contain roughly 25 to 30 kcal per 100 g, so 454 g gives about 115 to 135 kcal, which fits 120.

60 is too low, and 180 and 240 are much too high for such a low-calorie food.

The figure of 454 g is one pound, a unit used in older nutrition tables. Fresh mushrooms are about 90 percent water, so they have few calories, and about 120 kcal per pound agrees with that.

Answer: D

Diara cultivation is associated with vegetable crops, mainly cucurbits grown on the sandy riverbeds that are exposed when the water level falls.

It is not used for medicinal, fruit or flower crops.

Diara land is the fertile alluvial land of the riverbeds of the Ganga and its tributaries, exposed in the dry season. Melons, watermelons and cucumbers are grown there, and the crop is cleared before the floods return.