Vegetable Crops Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The seed rate of onion for transplanting one hectare is 8 to 10 kg, the amount needed to raise seedlings in the nursery.

12-14 and 15-17 kg are more than needed for transplanting, and 4-5 kg is less.

For onion, the seed is sown in a nursery and the seedlings are transplanted after 6 to 8 weeks. A hectare needs the seed to grow seedlings for 10 to 12 times that area, which is about 8 to 10 kg.

Answer: B

Maharashtra ranked first in onion production in 2020-21 according to APEDA figures, producing a large share of India's onions, mainly from Nashik, Pune and Ahmednagar districts.

Bihar, Rajasthan and Telangana grow onions but produce much less.

Maharashtra grows more onion than any other state, mostly in the Nashik, Pune and Solapur belts, and Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan follow it.

Answer: B

Gold fleck, whiptail and akashin are physiological disorders of tomato, broccoli/cauliflower and radish respectively. Gold fleck appears as small golden spots on tomato fruit and leaves, and whiptail, a deficiency of molybdenum, makes the leaves of cauliflower and broccoli narrow and twisted. The key gives radish for akashin, which I could not confirm from a source.

The other options pair these disorders with crops in a different order.

Answer: A

Gibberellin is effective in breaking dormancy in potato tubers. Freshly harvested tubers rest for some weeks or months before they sprout, and a dip in a gibberellic acid solution ends the rest period so that sprouting starts early.

The key does not give radish, onion or garlic for this use.

After harvest, potato tubers have a rest period of several weeks. Seed potatoes that have to be planted soon are treated with gibberellic acid or other chemicals to break dormancy.

Answer: C

Chinese potato (Plectranthus rotundifolius, also called coleus) belongs to the Lamiaceae family, the mint family.

Brassicaceae is the cabbage family, Convolvulaceae the sweet potato family, and Solanaceae the potato family.

The Chinese potato, also called coleus or Hausa potato, is grown for its small tubers. It belongs to the mint family, like coleus and basil.

Answer: A

Of the four, the vegetable most tolerant to salt is Tomato.

In the salt-tolerance groupings used in horticulture, tomato is placed among the moderately tolerant vegetables: it continues to yield reasonably at soil salinity levels that sharply reduce the yield of more sensitive crops, and some salinity even improves the taste and sugar content of its fruit.

Pea, like most legumes such as beans, is salt sensitive, and potato and chilli (pepper) are rated less tolerant than tomato, so all three lose yield sooner as salinity rises.

Answer: B

The hormone is Ethrel.

In cucurbits such as cucumber, pumpkin, bottle gourd and squash, sex expression is influenced by growth regulators. Ethrel (ethephon), which releases ethylene, sprayed at the two- to four-leaf stage, increases the number of female flowers and moves them to lower nodes, raising fruit set and yield.

Gibberellic acid (\(\text{GA}_{3}\)) has the opposite effect, promoting male flowers. NAA and IAA are auxins, used for rooting and fruit set rather than this purpose.

Answer: C

Golden flake (gold fleck) is a disorder of Tomato.

In this disorder, small golden or yellowish flecks appear on the shoulders of tomato fruit, around the calyx. They are associated with deposits of calcium oxalate crystals in the fruit tissue. The fruit's appearance and market value suffer.

Capsicum, potato and pea have their own disorders, such as blossom-end rot of capsicum and hollow heart of potato, but golden flake is a tomato disorder.

Answer: D

Pusa Meghdoot is a hybrid of Bottle gourd.

Pusa Meghdoot, released by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, was among the first F1 hybrids of bottle gourd developed in India, together with Pusa Manjari. It bears long green fruits.

The other gourds have their own Pusa varieties, such as Pusa Do Mausami in bitter gourd, but Meghdoot is a bottle gourd hybrid.

Answer: C

Hollow heart is a disorder of Potato.

In hollow heart, a cavity forms at the centre of large potato tubers. It results from a sudden spurt of growth, such as heavy irrigation or rain after dry conditions or very wide spacing, which makes the tuber grow faster than its inner tissue can fill. There are no outside symptoms; the defect shows only when the tuber is cut.

Tomato has blossom-end rot and cracking, cabbage has tip burn and splitting, and carrot has forking and cracking, but hollow heart is the classic potato disorder.