(b) Only two
India has the largest cropland (or arable land) of any country at 179.8 million hectares, compared with 167.8 million in the US and 165.2 million in China. Russia ranks fourth, while South Asia and Europe are labelled “agricultural capitals of the world,” as cropland accounts for more than 80% of some countries in those regions. In comparison, only about a fifth of land in US and China is dedicated to growing food. (Statement 1 is correct)
China’s irrigation cover is 41% of cultivated area, and India’s is 48%. Hence, India has high proportion of irrigated area. (Statement 2 is correct)
As a result of this irrigation, China’s total sown area is 166 m ha compared to India’s gross cropped area of 198 m ha. Even with much lesser land under cultivation, China produces agricultural output valued at $1,367 billion—more than three times that of India’s $407 billion. China’s productivity in most crops is 50 to 100% higher than India’s. (Statement 3 is incorrect)

(a) Only one
The philosophy behind permaculture was developed in 1970s in Australia by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The land is called Tamera, the name given to these 330 acres in southern Portugal by a community of 30 people who moved here from Germany in 1995. Through simple practices of digging swales (ditches) and creating water retention spaces, Tamera’s ecology experts have transformed an area on the brink of desertification.
Permaculture is a totally integrated design system that’s modelled on nature. Permaculture farming promotes multicropping and integrated farming systems. Agroforestry is its example. Chemical farming is more suitable for monoculture cropping due to use of crop specific inputs like irrigation, chemical fertiliser and harvesting methods. (Statement 1 is correct)
Chemical fertilizers will make the soil less fertile over time, which can lead to serious problems like soil salinisation. But such problems are not seen in permaculture farming as it relies on organic fertilizers. (Statement 2 is correct)
Chemical farming is based on intense use of inputs like Chemical fertilizers and irrigation that make the soil less fertile over time, thus restricting its practise in semi-arid region. Thus, conventional farming is not suitable for semi-arid regions. (Statement 3 is incorrect)
The concept of permaculture involves well-designed systems don’t produce waste and permaculture tries to mimic well-designed systems. Thus, permaculture tries to take into account the local conditions like arid climate. This helps in developing a suitable system to ensure sustainable production.
Mulching is an important component of Permaculture systems for promoting maximum efficiency. (Statement 4 is correct)
Chemical farming does not consider it as essential, so farmers in general do not use mulching.

(a) Mangroves are those forest ecosystems whose vegetation tolerates both relatively high water salinity and these ecosystems of tropical and subtropical inter-tidal regions bordering the sheltered sea coasts and estuaries, they stabilize the shoreline and act as a bulwark against encroachments by the sea. Both statements are true.

The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a scheme that allows Members of Parliament to suggest and implement developmental works. The scheme was introduced in 1993 by former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. (Statement 1 is correct)
The Ministry of Statistics and Implementation currently administers the scheme, but it was previously administered by the Ministry of Rural Development. (Statement 2 is incorrect)
1. The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore.
2. MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.
3. In order to encourage trusts and societies for the betterment of tribal people, a ceiling of Rs. 75 lakh is stipulated for building assets by trusts and societies subject to conditions prescribed in the scheme guidelines.
4. Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their Constituencies and Elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State of Election (with select exceptions). Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country.
5. All works to meet locally felt infrastructure and development needs, with an emphasis on creation of durable assets in the constituency are permissible under MPLADS as prescribed in the scheme guidelines. Expenditure on specified items of non-durable nature are also permitted as listed in the guidelines.
MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) is a scheme that provides funds for development works in each constituency. The state government provides an annual fund of Rs 2 crore to each MLA’s constituency. The MLA can suggest development works to the Deputy Commissioner of their district, up to the annual allocation. (Statements 3 and 4 is incorrect)

The elected members of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament that is the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha as well as the elected Members of the Legislative Assemblies of States and Union Territories (MLAs) comprise the Electoral College for the Presidential Election in India. (Statement 1 is incorrect)
The value of vote of each MLA depends on the ratio of the State’s population and the number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly. By dividing the State’s population by the number of MLAs in its legislative Assembly, and then further dividing the quotient achieved by 1000, one may calculate the value of each MLA’s vote. Based on a calculation that takes into account each State’s population in relation to the number of members in its legislative Assembly, each MLA’s vote value varies from State to State. According to the Constitution (Eighty-fourth Amendment) Act of 2001, the population of the States is currently calculated using data from the 1971 Census. (Statement 2 is incorrect)
The vote value of each MLA of Madhya Pradesh is less than that of the vote value of each MLA of Kerala as the ratio of total population to total elective seats in Kerala is greater relative to that in Madhya Pradesh. (Statement 3 is incorrect)
The vote value of each MLA of Puducherry is higher than that of Arunachal Pradesh as the ratio of total population to total elective seats in Puducherry is greater relative to that in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2022 Presidential election the vote value of each MLA from Puducherry was 16 whereas the vote value of each MLA from Arunachal Pradesh came out to be 8. (Statement 4 is correct)