According to the Malthusian theory of population growth find the correct options.
(A) Population rises in geometric progression
(B) Agricultural production grows in arithmetic progression
(C) Population rises in arithmetic progression
(D) Agricultural production grows in geometric progression
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A) and (B) only
(A) Population rises in geometric progression Correct. Malthus argued that human numbers tend to grow at a much faster rate than food. Population rises in geometric progression, each step multiplying the last: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32.
(B) Agricultural production grows in arithmetic progression Correct. Agricultural production can grow only in arithmetic progression, adding the same amount at each step: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. So population growth always outstrips the growth of food.
(C) Population rises in arithmetic progression Incorrect. This swaps the two progressions. Arithmetic growth is the slow kind that Malthus gave to food, not to population.
(D) Agricultural production grows in geometric progression Incorrect. If food grew geometrically it could keep pace with population, and Malthus’s whole fear of famine would vanish. He held that food grows only arithmetically.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.1 Some Theories and Concepts in Demography … He argued that human populations tend to grow at a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence (specially food, but also clothing and other agriculture-based products) can grow. Therefore humanity is condemned to live in poverty forever because the growth of agricultural production will always be overtaken by population growth. While population rises in geometric progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.), agricultural production can only grow in arithmetic progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc.).…” |