Plantation Crops Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Cashew is planted at a spacing of 7.5 x 7.5 m, which gives about 177 trees per hectare (10000 / 56.25). The key gives this figure. I did not find a source in this search that compares the other spacings.

3.5 m is too close for a tree with a broad canopy, and 11.5 and 15.5 m are wider than the spacing used in commercial planting.

Cashew is a spreading evergreen tree, so wide planting is needed for the canopies to develop. At 7.5 m each way each tree has about 56 square metres, which is 177 trees to the hectare.

Answer: C

Baraja (also called a bareja) is a shaded structure used for growing betel vine, built from bamboo, grass or straw to give shade and humidity.

It is not used for black pepper, betel nut or small cardamom.

The baraja is a roofed enclosure of bamboo and thatch that gives the shade and humidity the betel vine needs, and the vines are trained up posts. Black pepper is grown on live standards and cardamom under forest shade.

Answer: B

Eucalyptus tereticornis is not a nitrogen-fixing tree: it belongs to the myrtle family and has no root nodules. Acacia, Cassia and Saraca are legumes, and the key treats them as nitrogen-fixing.

I could not confirm from a source that Cassia siamea and Saraca indica fix nitrogen, since nodulation is rare in the caesalpinioid legumes, but Eucalyptus is clearly not a nitrogen fixer, so the key's answer holds.

Answer: B

The key gives 12 to 16 percent sugar for neera. Neera (padaneer) is the fresh sap tapped from palmyrah inflorescences and is a sweet, unfermented drink. I could not confirm the figure from a source, so it rests on the key.

3-6 percent is too low for a sap that is boiled into jaggery, and 20-40 percent is too high.

Fresh neera is sweet and ferments quickly unless it is kept cold or treated, so it is sold early in the morning or boiled for jaggery. The key gives its sugar content as 12 to 16 percent.