ASRB ARS / NET / SMS / STO — Environmental Science and Agricultural Meteorology disciplines · India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe diversity of crops, livestock breeds, their wild relatives and farm-associated species, and how it is conserved and shared. Plant breeding itself sits in the crop sciences; this subject is about the conservation and governance of diversity.
In the exams: ICAR AICE subject 71 Unit 2 (agrobiodiversity, transgenics, PGR); ICAR AICE Plant Genetic Resources; UPSC CSE
How our questions for ASRB ARS / NET / SMS / STO spread across the units of Agrobiodiversity & Genetic Resources. Difficulty: 13 easy, 21 medium, 4 hard.
| Animal genetic resources and breed conservation | 8 | |
| Gene banks: seed, field, in-vitro and cryopreservation | 6 | |
| Farmers' rights and plant variety protection | 5 | |
| Transgenic crops: environmental risk assessment and biosafety | 4 | |
| Genetic erosion and its causes | 3 | |
| Crop wild relatives and landraces | 3 | |
| Exploration and germplasm collection | 3 | |
| On-farm conservation and community seed banks | 3 | |
| Components of agrobiodiversity | 1 | |
| Centres of origin and diversity of crops | 1 | |
| International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which is a major cause of genetic erosion in livestock?
D. Indiscriminate crossbreeding with exotic breeds
Crossbreeding and replacement by high-output exotic breeds dilute and displace local breeds. Gene banks, registration and niche markets support conservation.
Further reading: FAO AnGR reports
Crossing noble sugar cane with which wild species ('nobilisation') produced hardy high-yielding varieties in India?
C. Saccharum spontaneum
Breeders at Coimbatore crossed noble canes (S. officinarum) with wild S. spontaneum to combine sugar content with hardiness. The others are the noble cane itself, sorghum and maize.
Further reading: Sugar cane breeding history
Which is part of the passport data recorded for a germplasm sample?
D. Collecting site coordinates and biological status
Passport descriptors include accession and collecting numbers, taxon, date, location with coordinates and elevation, biological status (wild, landrace, breeding line) and collecting source.
Further reading: FAO/Bioversity multi-crop passport descriptors
Under FAO Genebank Standards, when should an accession be regenerated?
B. When viability falls below 85 % of initial viability
Regeneration is triggered at 85 % of initial viability (or low stock). Waiting until 10 % or complete death loses diversity; monthly regeneration wastes resources and adds drift.
Further reading: FAO Genebank Standards 2014
What is the recommended minimum accession size for self-pollinating species in seed gene banks?
D. About 1500 viable seeds
FAO standards suggest at least about 1500 viable seeds for self-pollinating and 3000 for cross-pollinating species, to allow testing, distribution and regeneration.
Further reading: FAO Genebank Standards 2014
In participatory plant breeding, who takes part in selection?
B. Farmers and breeders together
PPB involves farmers and breeders jointly selecting from diverse material under farm conditions. Station-only, company-only or regulator-only selection is conventional or not breeding.
Further reading: PPB literature
Why can in vitro cryopreserved semen and embryos not fully replace living breed populations?
C. Frozen material does not adapt to changing conditions
Cryobanks provide insurance and can reconstitute breeds, but living populations keep adapting and maintain associated production systems and knowledge. Frozen semen is used routinely; the other statements are false.
Further reading: FAO AnGR guidelines
Which is the only GM crop cultivated commercially in India to date?
D. Bt cotton
Bt cotton was approved in 2002. Bt brinjal was placed under moratorium in 2010; GM mustard's 2022 approval faced court challenge; golden rice is not cultivated in India.
Further reading: GEAC
Which pest evolved resistance to Bt cotton in India in the years after its approval?
B. Pink bollworm
Pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella) developed resistance to Cry toxins in Bt cotton. Locusts, planthoppers and fall armyworm are not targets of Bt cotton.
Further reading: Tabashnik and Carrière 2017
Under the PPV&FR Act, what may farmers NOT do with a protected variety?
D. Sell branded seed of it
Farmers may save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share and sell farm produce including seed, but not seed packaged and labelled as the protected variety (branded seed).
Further reading: PPV&FR Act 2001
Ten here, 38 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ASRB ARS / NET / SMS / STO in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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