Prelims 2020 · Agriculture · Question 69
With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements: 1. A substantial saving in seed material is made when 'bud chip settlings' are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field. 2. When direct planting of seeds is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds. 3. If bad weather conditions prevail when seeds are directly planted, single-budded seeds have better survival as compared to large setts. 4. Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer
1 and 4 only
1. Correct. In the bud chip method, only the bud is used to raise settlings in a nursery, so seed cane requirement falls sharply compared to conventional 2–3 bud setts.
2. Incorrect. In direct planting, multi-budded setts generally give better field establishment than single-budded setts because they have more stored food and greater resilience.
3. Incorrect. Under adverse weather, large setts survive better than single-budded setts due to higher reserve food and moisture.
4. Correct. Sugarcane is also cultivated using tissue-culture-derived plantlets/settlings, a recognized method for rapid multiplication of disease-free planting material.
Therefore, statements 1 and 4 only are correct.