Read the passage and answer the questions:
Market Gardening and Horticulture
Market gardening and horticulture specialise in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. Farms are small and are located where there are good transportation links with the urban centre where a high income group of consumers is located. It is both labour and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers, insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating in colder regions. This type of agriculture is well-developed in densely populated industrial districts of northwest Europe, north-eastern United States of America and the Mediterranean regions. The Netherlands specialises in growing flowers and horticultural crops, especially tulips, which are flown to all major cities of Europe. The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables only, the farming is known as truck farming. The distance of truck farms from the market is governed by the distance that a truck can cover overnight, hence the name truck farming. In addition to market gardening, a modern development in the industrial regions of Western Europe and North America is factory farming. Livestock, particularly poultry and cattle rearing, is done in stalls and pens, fed on manufactured feedstuff and carefully supervised against diseases. This requires heavy capital investment in terms of building, machinery for various operations, veterinary services and heating and lighting. One of the important features of poultry farming and cattle rearing is breed selection and scientific breeding.
Which type of farming specializes in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Market gardening and horticulture
Option (1) Viticulture — Incorrect. Viticulture is grape cultivation, a speciality of the Mediterranean region; it is not about vegetables and flowers for city markets.
Option (2) Market gardening and horticulture — Correct. It specialises in high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. Its farms are small and lie where transport links to the city are good.
Option (3) Co-operative Farming — Incorrect. It is a way of organising farming: a group of farmers form a co-operative society and pool their resources. It does not name any type of crop.
Option (4) Dairy Farming — Incorrect. Dairy farming is the rearing of milch animals, not crop growing.
NCERT (2025-26): “Mediterranean Agriculture … Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region. Best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavours are produced from high quality grapes in various countries of this region. The inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants.…” “Market Gardening and Horticulture … Market gardening and horticulture specialise in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. Farms are small and are located where there are good transportation links with the urban centre where high income group of consumers is located. It is both labour and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers, insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating in colder regions.…” “Co-operative Farming … A group of farmers form a co-operative society by pooling in their resources voluntarily for more efficient and profitable farming.…” “Dairy Farming … Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals.…” |