IAS 2016 — CSAT Comprehension

2016mcqeasy

Historically, the biggest challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food. At the level of individual countries, the demand-supply balance can be a critical, issue for a close4 economy, especially if it is a populous economy and its domestic agriculture is not growing sufficiently enough to ensure food supplies, on an enduring basis; it is not so much and, not always, of a constraint for an. open, and growing economy, which has adequate exchange surplus to buy food abroad. For the world as a whole, Supply-demand balance is always an inescapable prerequisite for warding off hunger and starvation. However, global availability of adequate supply does not necessarily mean that food would, automatically move from countries of surplus to countries of deficit if the latter lack iii purchasing power. The uneven distribution of Hunger, starvation, under or malnourishment, etc., at the world-level, thus owes itself to the presence of empty-pock hungry mouths, overwhelmingly confined to the underdeveloped economies. In as much as 'a two square meal' is of elemental significance to basic human existence, the issue of worldwide supply of food has been gaining significance, in recent times, both because the quantum and the composition of demand has been undergoing big changes, and because, in, recent years, the capabilities individual countries to generate uninterrupted chain of food supplies have come under strain. Food production, marketing and prices, especially price-affordability by the poor in the developing world, have become global issues that need global thinking and global solutions.

According to the above passage, the biggest challenge to world agriculture is:

Official previous-year question

Verified 2 Aug 2026.

Options

Ato find sufficient land for agriculture and to expand food processing industries
Bto eradicate hunger in underdeveloped countries
Cto achieve a balance between the production of food and non-food items
Dto achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food

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Solution

Correct Option (D)

The passage explicitly states that "Historically, the biggest challenge to world agriculture has been to achieve a balance between demand for and supply of food." This fundamental issue is then elaborated upon throughout the text, discussing its implications for individual countries and the global community, particularly in relation to hunger and purchasing power. Thus, the core challenge identified is the equilibrium between food demand and supply.

Incorrect Options:

The passage does not identify finding sufficient land for agriculture or expanding food processing industries as the primary challenge to world agriculture. These aspects are not emphasized as the overarching concern in the provided text.

While eradicating hunger in underdeveloped countries is a critical global issue and a direct consequence of the demand-supply imbalance, the passage frames the biggest challenge as the underlying difficulty in balancing food demand and supply. Hunger is presented as an outcome of this imbalance, especially when compounded by a lack of purchasing power, rather than the fundamental challenge itself.

The passage does not discuss the challenge of achieving a balance between the production of food and non-food items. This topic is not addressed within the context of the biggest challenge to world agriculture as presented in the text.

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IAS 2016 — CSAT Comprehension

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Correct Option (D)

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IAS 2016 — CSAT Comprehension

Options

Did you get this right?

Solution

Correct Option (D)

Incorrect Options:

Your note

IAS Comprehension in other years

More IAS Comprehension questions

Other CSAT topics for IAS

Maths

Reasoning

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