Answer: C

Explanation:

Lending to the agriculture sector (like MSME or housing) has been added under the priority sector, which is mandatory for banks. Before the start of the Kharif-Rabi cycle, banks are given district-wise targets for lending to each priority sector. The State Level Bankers Conference (SLBC) – a body of bankers in the state – prescribes it keeping in view the scale of finance for individual districts. For the agriculture sector, banks provide short-term and long-term loans at concessional interest rates. Short-term loans are known as crop loans because banks extend them before the start of the crop cycle.

There are structural differences in this approach between scheduled commercial banks and cooperative banks.

PACS helps increase financial inclusion in rural areas where access to formal financial services is limited. They provide basic banking services, such as savings and loan accounts, to farmers who do not have access to formal banking services.

Hence, all three statements are correct.

Answer: C

Explanation:

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was first developed in Madagascar in the 1980s and has since been practiced by many countries in the world including India. It saves 15 to 20% ground water and improves the productivity of rice. Experts say it provides yields equal to or higher than conventional rice cultivation with less water, less seed, and fewer chemicals.

Experts said that unlike the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique, which is suitable only for medium to deeply textured soils, SRI is suitable in all types of soils including low fertile soils as seedlings can be raised up to two times in such soils.

SRI does not require continuous water, it requires intermittent irrigation. Initially, irrigation is given to maintain soil moisture till saturation, and when fine cracks develop in the surface soil, the field is watered. Irrigation intervals vary according to field conditions.

Unlike DSR in which weeds are a major problem and herbicides are sprayed at the time of sowing, in SRI, excess weed growth is converted into nutrients such as green manure. The first weeding should be done 10-12 days after sowing. Depending on the requirement, further, weeding can be done at an interval of 10-15 days till the crop reaches the panicle stage. Each weeding increases the yield through the process of aeration of the soil.

Hence, all three statements are correct

Answer: B

Explanation:

There are primary sources (soybean, rapeseed and mustard, groundnut, sunflower, safflower, and niger) and secondary sources (palm oil, coconut, rice bran, cotton seed, and tree oilseeds).

Hence option b is correct.

Answer: B

Explanation:

Non-farm productive activities refer to economic activities that are not directly related to agricultural activities. Non-agricultural activities include handicrafts, small-scale manufacturing (both household and non-household), construction, repair, transportation, community service, etc. In the given options less amount of land is required in the case of non-agriculture activities. Hence option (b) is correct.

Answer: C

Explanation:

WPI reflects the average change in prices for the wholesale sale of goods at the first stage of the transaction while CPI reflects the average change in prices at the retail level paid by the consumer.

The prices used to compile the WPI are collected at the factory level for manufactured products, at the mine level for mineral products, and at the mandi level for agricultural products. In contrast, retail prices paid by consumers and aggregated from various markets are used to compile the CPI.

The CPI basket includes services such as housing, education, medical care, entertainment, etc. which are not part of the WPI basket. A significant proportion of the WPI basket is represented by manufacturing inputs and intermediate goods such as minerals, basic metals, machinery, etc., whose prices are influenced by global factors, but are not directly consumed by households and are part of the CPI item basket.

Thus, movement in the prices of articles included in the WPI basket does not affect the CPI in the short run. A rise or fall in prices at the wholesale level reflects at the retail level after some time.

Thus, fluctuation in the prices of goods included in the WPI basket does not affect the CPI in the short run. A rise or fall in prices at the wholesale level reflects at the retail level after some time.

Hence, both statements 1 and 2 are correct.