How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming? 1. Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are predominant. 2. Conventional chemical farming can cause increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming. 3. Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in semi-arid regions but permaculture farming is not so easily possible in such regions. 4. Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming. Select the correct answer using the code given below ..

States that growing the same crop repeatedly (monoculture) reduces crop diversity and can affect pest dynamics and pesticide resistance.

A student could combine this with knowledge that conventional chemical farming relies on pesticides and large-scale repeat cropping to infer monoculture may be common in such systems and then check regional cropping/chemical-use data.

Explicitly contrasts monoculture and overintensive multicropping as unsatisfactory and promotes crop rotation to avoid soil exhaustion.

Using the principle that conventional systems prioritise continuous production, a student could look for prevalence of single-crop, continuous cultivation in areas with high chemical input.

Defines monoculture (e.g., rice year after year) and links it to soil nutrient exhaustion, recommending crop diversification instead.

A student could map major commodity-growing regions (e.g., large rice or wheat belts) and compare them with reported chemical input intensity to assess co-occurrence of monoculture and conventional chemical practices.

Notes improper use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has led to soil degradation and contrasts this with traditional multi-cropping and natural fertilisers.

A student might infer that systems using heavy chemical inputs often move away from multi-cropping, so checking whether degraded soils/high chemical use areas correspond to monocultural patterns would be informative.

Lists 'avoiding monoculture' among practices under the rubric of Conservation Agriculture, implying monoculture is a practice conservation approaches seek to replace.

A student could treat conservation-agriculture recommendations as the inverse of prevalent conventional practices and investigate whether conventional/chemical farming omits these recommendations (e.g., continues monoculture).

Identifies key drivers of salinity: semi-arid/low-rainfall areas, high evaporation, and capillary rise from groundwater and canal irrigation produce surface salt accumulation.

A student could compare whether permaculture sites are in such hydrological/climatic contexts (high evaporation, shallow saline groundwater or heavy irrigation) to assess salinity risk under permaculture.

Gives an example that intensive irrigation in agricultural regions increases soil salinity and depletes groundwater.

One could check whether permaculture systems in similar regions reduce or still use intensive irrigation (e.g., compare irrigation practices) to infer likely salinity outcomes.

Links soil pollution and certain agricultural practices to increased salinity as a documented effect of soil degradation.

Extend by asking whether permaculture reduces the specific degrading practices named (polluting inputs, mismanagement); if not reduced, salinity risk may persist.

Notes that traditional practices (cow dung, mulching, multi-cropping) enabled holistic soil management and prevented degradation from improper chemical use.

Because permaculture often uses similar organic/mulching practices, a student could infer permaculture might mitigate salinity drivers tied to chemical misuse and poor soil management, then test soil salinity comparisons.

States that adding organic manures and compost increases soil fertility and is widely practised to maintain soil health.

If permaculture employs these soil additives, a student could hypothesize decreased salinity progression versus conventional chemically fertilized plots and then sample salinity levels.

Defines 'dry farming' as cultivation where annual rainfall <75 cm with high rainfall variability and crop failures; moisture-conservation is required in arid areas.

A student can compare this rainfall threshold and variability to local semi-arid rainfall and conclude whether chemical-dependent crops (which often need reliable moisture) could be sustained without irrigation.

Desert/semi-arid soils have low moisture and low water retention but can give high returns if irrigated; water availability (e.g., canals) transformed production.

Combine with knowledge of local irrigation infrastructure (canals, groundwater) to judge if sufficient water exists to support conventional chemical farming.

Commercial/conventional farming is characterised by high doses of modern inputs (HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides) to raise productivity.

Use this to infer that adopting conventional methods requires ready access to inputs and that regions lacking inputs or irrigation may struggle to implement them easily.

Notes that massive use of chemicals reduces soil fertility and suggests need for judicious application and use of manures/biochemicals to restore soil quality.

A student could assess whether semi-arid soils (which may already be fragile) could tolerate chemical farming or would face degradation without careful management and resources.

Mentions dry farming practiced in semi-arid lands to conserve ground moisture and that organic manures/compost are readily used to maintain fertility.

Compare the local prevalence of dry-farming/organic practices versus access to chemical inputs to judge if shifting to conventional chemical farming is practical or conflicts with moisture-conservation methods.

Lists mulching alongside traditional/natural fertilisers as part of holistic soil management in traditional farming.

A student could combine this with the fact that conventional chemical farming emphasizes external chemical inputs to infer mulching may be more associated with traditional/organic systems and thus less emphasized in conventional practice.

States that mulching fields after harvest reduces soil erosion, describing a clear agronomic benefit of mulching.

A student could use this rule (mulch reduces erosion) plus knowledge of conventional practices to ask whether conventional systems rely on mulching or instead on other erosion-control measures.

Describes plastic mulching to conserve moisture, prevent weeds and regulate soil temperature — an example of a modern (non-organic) mulching technique.

A student might infer that some forms of mulching are compatible with or used in conventional systems (so mulching is not categorically absent from chemical farming).

Defines 'mulch crops' as being grown specifically to conserve soil moisture (example: cow pea, groundnut).

A student could consider whether conventional farming choices favor such mulch crops or prefer other moisture-conservation methods (chemical/irrigation), to judge how essential mulching is in conventional systems.

Explains alley cropping where pruned trees provide mulch to improve soil fertility without fallowing — an agroecological practice using mulch for fertility.

A student could contrast this mulch-reliant fertility approach with conventional reliance on external chemical fertilisers to assess whether mulching is essential in conventional farming.