UPSC Agriculture – Chapter 11: Farm Subsidies and the WTO (21 MCQs)
UPSC Agriculture – Chapter 11: Farm Subsidies and the WTO (21 MCQs) – 21 questions, subject: Agriculture. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.
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Which of the following is a direct subsidy to farmers?
Correct Answer: D [PM-KISAN income transfer]
Explanation:
PM-KISAN pays ₹6,000 a year in cash straight into farmers' bank accounts, so the money reaches the farmer directly.
Telangana's Rythu Bandhu scheme (2018) was an example of:
Correct Answer: A [direct income support per acre]
Explanation:
Rythu Bandhu paid a fixed cash amount per acre to landowning farmers each season, not tied to inputs, sales or losses.
The three pillars of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture are market access, domestic support and:
Correct Answer: B [export competition]
Explanation:
The AoA rests on market access, domestic support and export competition, the last covering export subsidies.
Investment subsidies generally available to agriculture and input subsidies to low-income or resource-poor producers in developing countries are exempt under:
Correct Answer: A [Article 6.2 (Development Box)]
Explanation:
Article 6.2 exempts generally available investment subsidies and input subsidies to low-income or resource-poor producers in developing countries.
Under the AoA, market price support is the gap between the applied administered price and the fixed external reference price, multiplied by:
Correct Answer: A [eligible production]
Explanation:
The price gap is multiplied by eligible production; India argues only the quantity actually procured should count.
The fixed external reference price used to calculate market price support under the AoA is based on the years:
Correct Answer: B [1986–88]
Explanation:
Market price support is measured against a fixed external reference price equal to the 1986–88 average.
The interim "peace clause" on public stockholding was agreed at the WTO Ministerial Conference held in:
Correct Answer: A [Bali, 2013]
Explanation:
The Bali Ministerial in December 2013 agreed the interim peace clause sheltering developing countries' public stockholding for food security.
India first invoked the peace clause, in 2020, for its support to:
Correct Answer: C [rice]
Explanation:
In 2020 India notified that its rice support in 2018-19 exceeded the de minimis limit and invoked the peace clause.
The Nairobi Ministerial Conference (2015) decided to:
Correct Answer: D [eliminate agricultural export subsidies]
Explanation:
The Nairobi decision on export competition committed members to eliminate agricultural export subsidies, with longer periods for developing countries.
Consider the following statements:
1. Green Box support is not subject to any limit.
2. MSP-based procurement counts as market price support under the AoA.
3. The G33 is led by the United States.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]
Explanation:
Green Box support is uncapped and MSP procurement is market price support; only statement 3 on the G33 is false.
Assertion (A): India's measured support for rice under WTO rules appears very high.
Reason (R): Market price support is calculated against a fixed external reference price of 1986–88, while MSP is in current prices.
Correct Answer: A [Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A]
Explanation:
Comparing current MSP with the frozen 1986–88 reference price inflates measured support, which is exactly why rice support looks high.
The WTO panel that ruled against India's sugar support in 2021 was set up on complaints by:
Correct Answer: A [Australia, Brazil and Guatemala]
Explanation:
the panel held that India's support exceeded its commitments; India appealed, but the Appellate Body is not functioning, so the appeal is pending.
India's Agriculture Export Policy was announced in:
Correct Answer: D [2018]
Explanation:
announced in December 2018 to double agricultural exports and promote export clusters.
Odisha's KALIA scheme was an example of:
Correct Answer: C [direct livelihood and income support for farmers]
Explanation:
Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation, which also covered landless households; Odisha replaced it with CM-KISAN in 2024.
Most input subsidies in India tend to benefit:
Correct Answer: C [larger farmers and irrigated regions more]
Explanation:
their use of fertiliser, power and credit rises with the size of the farm and the area irrigated.
The General Council decision that the peace clause will last until a permanent solution is agreed was taken in:
Correct Answer: B [2014]
Explanation:
the General Council decided in November 2014 that the peace clause would continue until a permanent solution is adopted.
Arrange the following in chronological order:
1. Bali Ministerial peace clause
2. Agreement on Agriculture in force
3. Agriculture Export Policy of India
4. Nairobi decision on export subsidies
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Correct Answer: C [2-1-4-3]
Explanation:
AoA in force 1995, Bali peace clause 2013, Nairobi 2015, Agriculture Export Policy December 2018.
Payments to farmers that are decoupled from production and prices generally fall in the:
Correct Answer: D [Green Box]
Explanation:
for example, income support not linked to the type or volume of production.
India seeks a "Special Safeguard Mechanism" at the WTO mainly to:
Correct Answer: C [protect farmers against sudden surges of imports]
Explanation:
the G33 seeks it to raise duties temporarily when imports surge or prices fall.
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture came into force in:
Correct Answer: B [1995]
Explanation:
with the WTO, on 1 January 1995.
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: India does not import apples from the United States of America.
Statement-II: In India, the law prohibits the import of Genetically Modified food without the approval of the competent authority.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Correct Answer: D [Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct]
Explanation:
India imports US apples; GM food imports need approval.
➤ Full notes, maps, tables, a reason for every option and Mains PYQs – U16 · Agriculture (UPSC book, ₹249): www.shanmugamiasacademy.in/study-materials/upsc-agriculture
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