Biology Multiple Choice Questions on “Food Production Strategies – Plant Breeding-1”.
1. Who is the father of the Green revolution in India?
a) M.S. Swaminathan
b) Charles Darwin
c) Herbert Boyer
d) Stanley Cohen
Answer: a
Clarification: M.S. Swaminathan has been regarded as the father of green revolution in India. Green Revolution not only met the national requirements in food production of our country but also helped us to explore it.
2. Which phase is often referred to as the Green Revolution?
a) The Mid-1900s
b) The Mid-1980s
c) The early 2000s
d) The Mid-1960s
Answer: d
Clarification: The phase of the mid-1960s is often referred to as the green revolution in India. The development of several high yielding varieties of wheat and rice in the mid-1960s, as a result of various plant breeding techniques, led to a dramatic increase in food production in our country.
3. GDP stands for __________
a) General Disorder of Pancreas
b) Gross Domestic Product
c) Good Domestic Price
d) Goods Delay Price
Answer: b
Clarification: GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product. India is mainly an agricultural country. Agriculture accounts for approximately 33 per cent of India’s GDP and employs nearly 62 per cent of the population.
4. Which of the following is not related to plant breeding?
a) Helped to increase the yield of crops
b) Purposeful manipulation of plant species
c) Gives disease-resistant plants
d) Not suited for cultivation
Answer: d
Clarification: Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of the plant species in order to create desired plant types that are better suited for cultivation, give better yields and are disease resistant. Plant breeding as technology has helped increase yields to a very large extent.
5. Recorded evidence of plant breeding dates back to 20,000 years ago.
a) True
b) False
Answer: b
Clarification: Conventional plant breeding has been practised for thousands of years, since the beginning of human civilisation; recorded evidence of plant breeding dates back to 9,000-11,000 years ago. Many present-day crops are the result of domestication in ancient times.
6. Which of the following is not involved in classical plant breeding practices?
a) The hybridisation of pure lines
b) Artificial selection of plants
c) Desirable traits of higher yield
d) Molecular biology
Answer: d
Clarification: Classical plant breeding involves crossing or hybridisation of pure lines, followed by artificial selection to produce plants with desirable traits of higher yield, nutrition and resistance to diseases. With advancements in genetics, molecular biology and tissue culture are also being carried out.
7. Which of the following is not a trait that should be incorporated in a crop plant?
a) Decreased tolerance to environmental stresses
b) Increased yield
c) Resistance to pathogens
d) Increased tolerance to insect pests
Answer: a
Clarification: Traits or characters that the breeders have tried to incorporate into crop plants are increased crop yield, improved quality, increased tolerance to environmental stresses (salinity, extreme temperatures, drought), resistance to pathogens (viruses, fungi and bacteria) and increased tolerance to insect pests.
8. Where are Plant breeding experiments generally carried out?
a) Colleges
b) Schools
c) Government institutions
d) Botanical gardens
Answer: c
Clarification: Plant breeding programmes are carried out in a systematic way worldwide in government institutions and commercial companies. With advancements in genetics, molecular biology and tissue culture, plant breeding is now increasingly being carried out by using molecular genetic tools.
9. Which of the following is not the main step in carrying out plant breeding technique?
a) Collection of variability
b) Cross hybridisation among the diseased parents
c) Selection and testing of superior recombinants
d) Evaluation and selection of parents
Answer: b
Clarification: The main steps in breeding a new genetic variety of a crop are-Collection of variability, Evaluation and selection of parents, cross hybridisation among the selected parents, selection and testing of superior recombinants; testing, release and commercialisation of new cultivars.
10. Which of the following step is the main root of any plant breeding programme?
a) Genetic variability
b) Evaluation and selection of parents
c) Cross hybridisation among the selected parents
d) Selection and testing of superior recombinants
Answer: a
Clarification: Genetic variability is the root of any breeding programme. In many crops, pre-existing genetic variability is available from wild relatives of the crop. Collection and preservation of all the different wild varieties, species and relatives of the cultivated species is a pre-requisite for effective exploitation of natural genes available in the population.
11. The selected plant while breeding is multiplied and used in the process of hybridisation.
a) False
b) True
Answer: b
Clarification: The germplasm is evaluated so as to identify plants with a desirable combination of characters. The selected plants are multiplied and used in the process of hybridisation. Pure lines are created wherever desirable and possible.
12. Which of the following is not included in germplasm collection?
a) Wild relatives
b) Old improved varieties
c) Diseased varieties
d) Pure lines
Answer: c
Clarification: The entire collection of plants or seeds having all the diverse alleles for all genes in a given crop is called as germplasm collection. It consists of all present-day improved varieties, old improved varieties no longer in cultivation, local varieties of all areas, pure lines maintained by plant breeders, wild relatives and related species.