NABARD Grade A 2021 Phase 2: Sample Questions for Descriptive ARD

October 18, 2021

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Now that the results for the NABARD Grade A Prelims 2021 exams are out, we hope you have begun your Phase 2 preparation with single-minded dedication. This phase comprises 2 papers. Paper 1 is on Descriptive English and Paper 2 is on Agriculture & Rural Development and Economic & Social Issues with both objective and descriptive type questions.

In this article, we will look at some sample ARD questions as you may expect in the actual exam.

Check the NABARD Grade A 2021 Prelims result here.

NABARD Grade A Phase 2 Sample Question and Answer

Question: What is Minimum Support Price (MSP), agencies involved and methods of calculation of MSP? How will MSP help the farmers to ensure remunerative returns for their produce?

Answer: The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for farmers produce from the Government to protect farmers from sharp fall in farm prices and it is fixed before the sowing of crop, prior fixation of MSP helps farmer in making selection regarding the crop, MSP protect the producer – farmers – against excessive fall in price during bumper production years and to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution. Government announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for twenty-two mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane. Kharif season- fourteen crops, Rabi season- six crops and Commercial crops – two Crops.

For announcing the MSP government consider the various points i.e. demand and supply, cost of production, price trends in the market, both domestic and international, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture, a minimum of 50 percent as the margin over cost of production and likely implications of MSP on consumers of that product.

Commission for agricultural cost and pricing (CACP) is mandated to recommend minimum support prices (MSPs) to incentivize the cultivators to adopt modern technology, and raise productivity and overall grain production in line with the emerging demand patterns in the country. Central government on the recommendation of CACP, state govt and another stake holder announces the MSP

For the Calculation of MSP following methods are used

A2- MSP is set 50% higher than the amount a farmer spends on farming including spending on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labor.
A2+FL- MSP is set 50% higher than the amount that derives from adding the amount farmers spend on farming including spending on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labor and the value of labor provided by the family members for agriculture.
C2- Makes the calculation by including a wider range of inputs. This includes besides factors used to calculate A2, the economic value of the efforts of family members working on the farm and the value of other spending including rent and other assets.

At present CACP considers both A2+FL and C2 costs while recommending MSP. CACP reckons only A2+FL cost for return. However, C2 costs are used by CACP primarily as benchmark reference costs (opportunity costs) to see if the MSPs recommended by them at least cover these costs in some of the major producing States.

MSP is an assurance of a remunerative and stable price environment is considered very important for increasing agricultural production and productivity since the market place for agricultural produce tends to be inherently unstable, which often inflict undue losses on the growers, even when they adopt the best available technology package and produce efficiently.

It enables farmers to make choice for selection of crop, using new technologies and help in taking calculated risk
MSP has set a benchmark for the farmers and traders to negotiate after the harvest of crop
MSP helps farmer to set up contract under contract farming so that they can get better prices over and above MSP
MSP acts as a support to the farmers that also ensure the continuance in farming and help in adopting new technologies, increase investment in agriculture.
Focus on production of nutri-rich nutri-cereals also to realign the MSPs in favour of oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals to encourage farmers shift to these crops

Practice Questions for You

Which cropping system is the outcome of the green revolution and how did it help in making India food self-sufficient? Now what are the challenges India is facing as the negative outcome of this cropping system?
Why is the rural population most prone towards migration? What can be done to address this issue as far as rural infrastructure is concerned?
What are the government initiatives regarding the upliftment of rural women for employment generation, rural women empowerment?
What are prevalent cropping patterns in India in the various climatic conditions? What is cropping intensity and how does it differ from rotational intensity?

Study with ixamBee!

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NABARD Grade A Previous Years’ Papers

While you are practicing sample questions, it would be wise to also view questions that have been tested in the previous years. So, take a look at the NABARD Grade A previous years’ papers as well.

NABARD Grade A Phase 2 Online Course

For a holistic study guide, the only exhaustive resource you need is ixamBee’s NABARD Grade A Phase 2 Online Course. This course covers:

More than 230 self-explanatory Video lessons
More than 230+ Study Notes in PDF format
4000 Practice Questions from all chapters
5 Descriptive Mock tests for ESI, ARD & English
7 Full-Length NABARD Grade A Practice Tests
Live Classes
Interview guidance

NABARD Grade A Mock Tests

While we’re confident that you must’ve attempted mock tests before your Prelims exam, for your convenience, we have made special mock tests for Phase 2 of this exam exclusively.

NABARD Grade A Mains Mock Test

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