UPSC Prelims 2021 Q51: Permaculture vs Chemical Farming — Explained
How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming?
1. Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are pre-dominant.
2. Conventional chemical farming can cause increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming.
3. Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in semi-arid regions but permaculture farming is not so easily possible in such regions.
4. Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- 1 and 3
- 1, 2 and 4
- 4 only
- 2 and 3
Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: correct — Permaculture is a design system that copies natural ecosystems. It relies on polycultures: many crops, trees and animals grown together. Conventional chemical farming, as spread by the Green Revolution, usually grows a single high-yielding crop over large areas. That is monoculture, which depends on bought seed, fertiliser and pesticide.
- 2: correct — Secondary salinisation is linked to heavy irrigation with poor drainage and to fertiliser use beyond what crops absorb. FAO identifies over-irrigation, canal seepage and weak drainage as its main causes. Permaculture uses no synthetic fertilisers. It harvests water on site and keeps the soil covered with organic matter, so this kind of salt build-up is not associated with it. The word 'not observed' sounds absolute, but UPSC accepted the statement as a general contrast between the two systems.
- 3: incorrect — Permaculture was developed in Australia, a largely dry continent, by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren (Permaculture One, 1978). Many of its standard techniques were made for dry lands: contour swales that catch rainwater, heavy mulching that keeps soil moist, and drought-hardy perennials. It is well suited to semi-arid regions. Chemical farming there usually needs assured irrigation, so the statement has it backwards.
- 4: correct — Mulching means covering the soil with straw, leaves or crop residue. It is a core permaculture practice because it holds moisture, suppresses weeds and builds organic matter. The Centre's natural-farming sub-scheme BPKP (2020-21) also puts particular weight on biomass mulching. Conventional chemical farming controls weeds with herbicides and feeds the soil with fertilisers, so mulching is optional there, not essential.
How to eliminate
Statement 1 can be marked true from basic knowledge: the Green Revolution model rests on monoculture, and any 'alternative' farming system pushes crop diversity. Statement 1 appears in two options, so this narrows the choice to those two. Next, test statement 3, which is the odd one out. It claims an eco-friendly method suits dry areas less well than chemical farming. That runs against the general logic of the question, and it is false: permaculture grew out of dry Australia and specialises in rainwater harvesting and mulching. Dropping 3 leaves only the combination 1, 2 and 4. As a check, statement 4 fits the low-input, soil-cover approach of every alternative farming system, and statement 2 matches the well-known ecological cost of the Green Revolution, salinity in heavily irrigated and fertilised fields. Fact to remember: permaculture = polyculture + mulching + on-site water harvesting, and it was designed for dry lands.
Know more
Permaculture (permanent + agriculture) was coined in 1978 by the Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. It is a design system, not a fixed list of inputs. A farm is laid out to work like a natural ecosystem, so that waste from one part feeds another and outside inputs are kept low.
Core practices
- Polyculture and guilds: trees, shrubs, vegetables and livestock grown together
- Perennials over annuals, which reduces ploughing
- Mulching and composting: the soil is never left bare
- Water harvesting: contour swales, ponds and keyline layouts that slow runoff
- Zoning: placing elements by how often they need attention
| Feature | Permaculture | Conventional chemical farming |
|---|---|---|
| Cropping | Polyculture, perennials | Monoculture, mostly annuals |
| Nutrients | Compost, mulch, legumes, manure | Synthetic NPK fertilisers |
| Pest control | Biodiversity, natural predators | Chemical pesticides |
| Water | Rainwater harvesting, soil moisture retained by mulch | Canal or tube-well irrigation |
| Soil risks | Low | Salinity, waterlogging, loss of organic carbon |
| Suited to dry lands | Yes, designed for them | Only with assured irrigation |
Related systems UPSC asks about
- Organic farming: certified, no synthetic inputs; promoted under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
- Natural farming / ZBNF: on-farm inputs such as cow dung-urine preparations and mulching; promoted under BPKP, a PKVY sub-scheme from 2020-21.
- Conservation agriculture: minimum tillage, permanent soil cover and crop rotation.
Why salinity matters: Heavy canal irrigation with poor drainage raises the water table. Evaporation then leaves salts in the topsoil. Surplus fertiliser adds more salt ions. Punjab, Haryana and the Indira Gandhi Canal command area in Rajasthan are the standard Indian examples.
In the news
In 2020-21 the Centre launched Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP), a natural-farming sub-scheme of PKVY that stresses on-farm biomass mulching and avoids synthetic inputs. This brought chemical-free farming systems into the news ahead of the 2021 Prelims. The question draws mostly on static ecology and the costs of the Green Revolution.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Mulching: One statement asks how central mulching is in each farming system. Know what mulching does for soil moisture and weeds.
- Soil salinisation and alkalisation: One statement turns on what causes salt to build up in topsoil and which farming practices drive it.