Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage… - IAS 2013 CSAT PYQ

IAS 2013 — CSAT Comprehension

2013mcqmedium

Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.

The law in many parts of the world increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry in to water courses. The simplest and most economically sound practice returns the material to the land as semisolid manure or as sprayed slurry. This dilutes its concentration in the environment to what might have occurred in a more primitive and sustainable type of agriculture and converts pollutant into fertilizer. Soil microorganisms decompose the organic components of sewage and slurry and most of the mineral nutrients become available to be absorbed again by the vegetation. The excess input of the nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus – based, from agricultural runoff (and human sewage) has caused many ‘healthy’ oligotrophic lakes (low nutrient concentrations, low plant productivity with abundant water weeds, and clear water) to change to eutrophic condition where high nutrient lead to high phytoplankton productivity (sometimes dominated by bloom-forming toxic species). This makes the water turbid, eliminates large plants and, in the worst situations, leads to anoxia and fish kills; so called cultural eutrophication. Thus important ecosystem services are lost, including the provisioning service of wild-caught fish and cultural service associated with recreation.

The process of cultural eutrophication of lakes has been understood for some time. But only recently did scientists notice huge ‘dead zones’ in the oceans near river outlets, particularly those draining large catchment areas such as Mississippi and North America and the Yangtze in China. The nutrient enriched water flows through streams, rivers and lakes and eventually to the estuary and ocean where the ecological impact may be ^huge, killing virtually all invertebrates and fish in areas up to 70,000 km² in extent. More than 150 sea areas worldwide are now regularly starved of oxygen as a result of decomposition of algal blooms, fueled particularly by nitrogen from agricultural runoff of fertilizers and sewage from large cities. Oceanic dead zones are typically associated with industrialized nations and usually lie off countries that subsidize their agriculture, encouraging farmers to increase productivity and use more fertilizer.

What is the central theme of this passage?

Official previous-year question

Prelims CSAT (Paper II) · Held on 26 May 2013.

Options

AAppropriate legislation is essential to protect the environment.
BModern agriculture is responsible for the destruction of environment.
CImproper waste disposal from agriculture can destroy the aquatic ecosystems.
DUse of chemical fertilizers is undesirable in agriculture.

Did you get this right?

Solution

Correct Option (c)

The passage primarily details how improper management of agricultural waste, specifically the discharge of slurry and the runoff of nutrient-rich fertilizers, along with human sewage, leads to severe degradation of aquatic ecosystems. It elaborates on the processes of cultural eutrophication in lakes and the formation of extensive 'dead zones' in oceans, highlighting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Option (c) accurately encapsulates this central theme by focusing on the destructive impact of improper agricultural waste disposal on aquatic environments.

Incorrect Options:

Option (a): While the passage mentions that law increasingly restricts the discharge of agricultural slurry, this is presented as a response to the problem, not the central theme itself. The core of the passage is the ecological damage caused by specific agricultural practices, not the necessity of legislation.
Option (b): This option is too broad. The passage does not condemn modern agriculture as a whole. Instead, it specifically identifies issues arising from certain practices within modern agriculture, such as the excessive use of fertilizers and improper waste disposal, as responsible for environmental destruction. The focus is on specific detrimental practices rather than the entire agricultural system.
Option (d): The passage does not state that the use of chemical fertilizers is undesirable in agriculture. It highlights that the "excess input of the nutrients, both nitrogen and phosphorus – based, from agricultural runoff" causes eutrophication and dead zones. The criticism is directed at the indiscriminate or poorly managed use of fertilizers leading to nutrient overload, not their fundamental undesirability.

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