Agriculture & Food Security Quiz: Indian Economy Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for crops are announced by the government on the recommendation of:

   • Food Corporation of India
   • NABARD
   • Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices
   • NITI Aayog

   Answer: Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. The CACP (set up in 1965 as the Agricultural Prices Commission) recommends MSPs, and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves them. FCI procures grain at MSP but does not set it.

2. For how many 'mandated crops' does the CACP recommend MSP (apart from the Fair and Remunerative Price for sugarcane)?

   • 22
   • 14
   • 25
   • 30

   Answer: 22. MSP covers 22 mandated crops: 14 kharif crops, 6 rabi crops and 2 commercial crops (jute and copra). Sugarcane has a separate Fair and Remunerative Price, so '23' and '14' are common traps.

3. The National Food Security Act, 2013 covers up to:

   • 50% of the rural and 75% of the urban population
   • 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population
   • 67% of both rural and urban population
   • the entire rural and 50% of the urban population

   Answer: 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population. NFSA covers up to 75% of rural and 50% of urban people, about two-thirds of the population overall. The reversed figures in the first option are the classic trap.

4. Under the NFSA, a household under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is entitled to:

   • 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month
   • 25 kg of foodgrains per household per month
   • 10 kg of foodgrains per person per month
   • 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month

   Answer: 35 kg of foodgrains per household per month. AAY (poorest) households get 35 kg per household per month, while priority households get 5 kg per person per month. Both have been free since 1 January 2023 under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

5. Which group consists only of kharif crops?

   • Wheat, barley, mustard
   • Gram, rice, pea
   • Rice, cotton, soybean
   • Watermelon, wheat, maize

   Answer: Rice, cotton, soybean. Kharif crops are sown with the south-west monsoon (June-July) and harvested in autumn: rice, cotton, soybean, maize, bajra, groundnut. Wheat, barley, mustard, gram and pea are rabi crops; watermelon is a zaid crop.

6. Operation Flood, which helped make India the world's largest milk producer, was implemented by:

   • NABARD
   • National Dairy Development Board
   • Indian Council of Agricultural Research
   • Food Corporation of India

   Answer: National Dairy Development Board. NDDB launched Operation Flood in 1970 under Verghese Kurien, building on Anand's cooperative model. It connected village milk cooperatives to urban markets, the 'White Revolution'.

7. Under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, what is the maximum premium a farmer pays for rabi food and oilseed crops?

   • 2% of the sum insured
   • 5% of the sum insured
   • 0.5% of the sum insured
   • 1.5% of the sum insured

   Answer: 1.5% of the sum insured. PMFBY (2016) caps farmers' premium at 2% for kharif, 1.5% for rabi and 5% for commercial or horticultural crops. The rest of the premium is shared by the Centre and states.

8. In Indian agricultural statistics, a 'marginal' landholding is one of:

   • less than 1 hectare
   • 1 to 2 hectares
   • 2 to 4 hectares
   • less than 2 hectares

   Answer: less than 1 hectare. Marginal holdings are below 1 hectare and small holdings are 1-2 hectares. Together they make up about 86% of all holdings (Agriculture Census 2015-16), which shapes almost every farm policy.

9. Which of the following is NOT one of the four pillars of food security described by the FAO?

   • Availability
   • Access
   • Profitability
   • Stability

   Answer: Profitability. The four pillars are availability, access, utilisation and stability. Profitability matters to farmers but is not a dimension of food security.

10. Consider the following statements: 1. The Food Corporation of India was set up under the Food Corporations Act, 1964. 2. MSP is guaranteed by an Act of Parliament for all mandated crops. Which is/are correct?

    • 1 only
    • 2 only
    • Both 1 and 2
    • Neither 1 nor 2

    Answer: 1 only. FCI was created under the 1964 Act and began work in 1965. MSP is an administrative policy decision, not a statutory right, which is why a legal guarantee for MSP is a recurring demand.