NABARD Grade A 2025 Previous Year Questions with Answers

Answer: Total revenue equals total expense (cost).

Analysis: At break-even, Total Revenue = Total Cost, so there is neither profit nor loss. Output beyond this point generates profit; below it, a loss.

Revise with it:

• Fixed cost
• Variable cost
• Total cost
• Gross return
• Net return
• Benefit-cost ratio

Answer: National Forest Policy, 1988.

Analysis: NABARD tested the policy dimension of forestry, not tree species. Environmental stability and ecological balance are the stated basic objectives of the 1988 policy. Note that the question calls it an “Act”, but it is a policy; the related law is the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Revise with it:

• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
• Social forestry
• Agroforestry
• India State of Forest Report

Answer: Minimising the bargaining power of farmers.

Analysis: Cooperative marketing pools produce so farmers can negotiate collectively. It strengthens bargaining power; reducing it is the opposite of its purpose, so this is the odd one out.

Revise with it:

• Regulated markets
• FPOs
• Marketable surplus
• e-NAM
• Value chains

Answer: (c) Goat.

Analysis: Cattle, buffalo, mithun and yak are bovines. The goat is a caprine. Livestock Census reports group cattle, buffalo, mithun and yak together as the bovine population.

Revise with it:

• Species → breed → native tract → utility
• Livestock Census groupings

Answer: Central region (Central Plateau and Hills Region).

Analysis: The Planning Commission’s 15 agro-climatic regions include the Central Plateau and Hills Region, which covers the Vindhyan and Bundelkhand uplands. Learn regions as region + climate + soil + crop.

Revise with it:

• 15 agro-climatic regions (Planning Commission)
• 127 agro-climatic zones (NARP)

Answer: Less than 50% of normal yield. On-account payment of up to 25% of likely claims is then made.

Analysis: Knowing “PMFBY = crop insurance” is not enough; NABARD tests operational triggers. This is the mid-season adversity provision. It is not invoked if adversity occurs within 15 days of normal harvest.

Note: Common trap: some study material quotes 40%. The PMFBY operational guidelines specify less than 50% of normal yield.

Revise with it:

• Premium rates (2% Kharif, 1.5% Rabi, 5% commercial/horticultural)
• Prevented sowing (75% unsown area)
• Localised and post-harvest losses
• Threshold yield formula

Answer: 32–35 weeks.

Analysis: After the onset of lay, production rises quickly to a peak and then declines gradually along the egg-production curve. Know the shape of the curve, not just the peak figure.

Note: For commercial layers, peak production typically falls at around 28–35 weeks depending on the strain.

Revise with it:

• Layer vs broiler
• Incubation (21 days for chicken)
• Brooding
• Candling
• Persistency of lay
• Poultry diseases

Answer: Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY).

Analysis: PMKSY (SAMPADA) is the Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ umbrella scheme for mega food parks, cold chains and processing capacity. Food processing links post-harvest management, value addition and farmer income.

Revise with it:

• PMFME
• PLI scheme for food processing
• Operation Greens

Answer: Quincunx system.

Analysis: The quincunx system is the square system plus one filler tree at the centre of each square, often a short-lived species removed later. It nearly doubles plant density.

Revise with it:

• Square
• Rectangular
• Hexagonal (triangular)
• Contour systems

Answer: Supply of inputs.

Analysis: Backward linkages connect the farm to input suppliers (seed, fertiliser, machinery). Forward linkages connect it to processing, marketing and distribution.

Revise with it:

• Value chain
• Contract farming
• FPOs

Answer: 60% (a 60:40 wage–material ratio).

Analysis: For rural-development schemes, NABARD tests operational provisions, not just launch year and ministry. The 60:40 ratio is maintained at the district level.

Revise with it:

• 100 days per household
• Unemployment allowance
• Social audit
• Permissible works

Answer: Seed Replacement Rate (SRR).

Analysis: SRR shows what share of a crop’s area is sown with fresh quality seed rather than farm-saved seed. Higher SRR is linked to higher productivity.

Revise with it:

• Seed multiplication ratio
• Varietal replacement rate
• Nucleus → breeder → foundation → certified

Answer: C4 and above 2.25 dS/m.

Analysis: The US Salinity Laboratory classification has four salinity classes: C1 (below 0.25 dS/m), C2 (0.25–0.75), C3 (0.75–2.25) and C4 (above 2.25). C4 water is not suitable for irrigation under ordinary conditions. NABARD often tests classification + threshold + application.

Note: Remember the class boundaries: C1 < 0.25, C2 0.25–0.75, C3 0.75–2.25 and C4 > 2.25 dS/m.

Revise with it:

• Sodium Adsorption Ratio (S1–S4)
• Residual sodium carbonate
• Saline vs sodic soils

Answer: National Horticulture Board (NHB).

Analysis: NHB implements schemes for commercial horticulture, post-harvest management and cold storage, and accredits nurseries for quality planting material. Pair each sub-sector with its nodal body.

Revise with it:

• MIDH
• Coconut Development Board
• Commodity boards

Answer: Kyoto Protocol.

Analysis: The Kyoto Protocol created three flexible mechanisms: the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and Emissions Trading.

Revise with it:

• UNFCCC
• Paris Agreement (Article 6)
• IPCC
• Carbon markets

Answer: Black soil (regur).

Analysis: Black soils are clay-rich and swell when wet and crack when dry, giving them the “self-ploughing” character. They are ideal for cotton.

Revise with it:

• Parent material → texture → nutrients → distribution → crops → limitations

Answer: Cardamom (small cardamom).

Analysis: Cardamom belongs to Zingiberaceae, the ginger family. Black pepper is the King of Spices.

Revise with it:

• Major spice-producing states
• Spices Board

Answer: Sodium chloride (common salt).

Analysis: Salt preserves by lowering water activity and creating osmotic conditions that inhibit microbes (pickling, brining). Know the classes: class I preservatives are natural (salt, sugar, vinegar, oil); class II are chemical (sodium benzoate, potassium metabisulphite).

Revise with it:

• Class I vs class II preservatives
• Cold chain
• Precooling
• Value addition

Answer: UNEP and WMO.

Analysis: The IPCC was set up by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.

Revise with it:

• IPCC assessment reports
• UNFCCC

Answer: All three (1, 2 and 3).

Analysis: After its 2021 realignment, NLM has exactly these three sub-missions. Prepare schemes as mission → sub-mission → component → beneficiary → assistance.

Revise with it:

• Rashtriya Gokul Mission
• AHIDF
• Livestock Health & Disease Control

Answer: Crops grown to suppress weeds through vigorous, dense growth and competition.

Analysis: Examples include cowpea, sorghum and sunhemp. They are a cultural method of weed control.

Revise with it:

• Catch crops
• Cover crops
• Trap crops
• Integrated weed management

Answer: Seasonal movement of livestock between grazing areas, typically lowland and highland pastures.

Analysis: It is practised by pastoral communities such as the Gaddis, Bakarwals and Gujjars in the Himalayas.

Revise with it:

• Nomadic pastoralism
• Common property resources

Answer: Saline soils.

Analysis: These are traditional names for salt-affected soils in the Indo-Gangetic plains. NCERT describes saline soils as also known as Usara soils.

Note: Some textbooks apply these names to alkaline (sodic) soils as well. Know both terms.

Revise with it:

• Saline vs sodic soils (EC, pH, ESP)
• Gypsum reclamation
• CSSRI, Karnal

Answer: Splash → sheet → rill → gully erosion.

Analysis: Raindrop impact detaches particles (splash), runoff removes a thin uniform layer (sheet), small channels form (rills), and channels deepen into gullies. Stream-bank erosion is a separate form.

Revise with it:

• Contour bunding
• Terracing
• Check dams
• Watershed management

Answer: “By controlled application of water, moisture stress increases and yield is reduced.”

Analysis: A well-designed drip system delivers water to the root zone, reduces moisture stress and generally raises yield and water-use efficiency, so this statement is false.

Revise with it:

• Micro-irrigation
• PMKSY – Per Drop More Crop
• Fertigation

Answer: 731 (figure at the time of the exam).

Analysis: This is a dynamic PYQ. The lesson is that the KVK network size is exam-relevant, not the specific number. Update from the latest ICAR figure before the exam.

Revise with it:

• Mohan Singh Mehta Committee
• ICAR ATARIs
• ATMA

Answer: Five years.

Analysis: Article 243E fixes a five-year term from the date of the first meeting. A fresh election must be completed before the term expires, or within six months of dissolution.

Revise with it:

• 73rd Amendment
• Gram Sabha
• Reservation provisions

Answer: “There is competition between all the crops.”

Analysis: In mixed cropping, crops are chosen with different rooting depths, growth periods and nutrient needs to minimise competition. It is mainly a risk-insurance strategy. Contrast with intercropping, which uses a definite row pattern.

Revise with it:

• Intercropping
• Relay cropping
• Sequential cropping
• Multiple cropping index

Answer: Magnesium (a secondary macronutrient).

Analysis: N, P and K are primary macronutrients, and Ca, Mg and S are secondary macronutrients. Magnesium is the central atom of chlorophyll. The distractors were likely micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, Mn or B.

Revise with it:

• Micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, B, Mo, Cl, Ni)
• Deficiency symptoms

Answer: Heartwood.

Analysis: Heartwood is the dark, inner, non-conducting wood that gives the stem mechanical strength and durability. Sapwood is the lighter outer wood that conducts water. Pith is the soft core at the very centre of the stem.

Note: Don’t confuse heartwood with pith, the soft core at the very centre of the stem.

Revise with it:

• Sapwood
• Pith
• Annual rings
• Silviculture terms

Answer: Swachh Bharat Mission–Gramin (Phase II, ODF Plus).

Analysis: Phase II shifted the focus from building toilets to sustaining ODF status and managing waste.

Revise with it:

• GOBARdhan
• Jal Jeevan Mission

Answer: To promote decentralised, farmer-friendly agricultural extension services.

Analysis: ATMA brings together research, extension and farmers through district-level planning and farmer interest groups.

Revise with it:

• KVK
• Method vs result demonstration
• ICT in extension

Answer: Knapsack sprayer.

Analysis: It is carried on the operator’s back. Learn machines by purpose → operation → crop → advantage.

Revise with it:

• Foot sprayer
• Power sprayer
• Duster

Answer: At least 75% of the loan for income-generating productive purposes.

Analysis: Scheme-specific percentages are tested. Link this to the exact clause of the current DAY-NRLM / RBI SHG-bank linkage master circular.

Revise with it:

• SHG–bank linkage
• Interest subvention for SHGs
• Community Investment Fund

Answer: Weakening or reversal of the Pacific trade winds, with warming of the central and eastern Pacific.

Analysis: El Niño years are often associated with weaker Indian monsoons, which affects kharif output. La Niña tends to do the opposite.

Note: A seasonal reversal of winds is the definition of a monsoon. El Niño is an irregular weakening or reversal of the trade winds, not a seasonal one. Pick the option closest to this.

Revise with it:

• ENSO
• Southern Oscillation
• Indian Ocean Dipole
• Monsoon and agriculture

Answer: A sharp rise in feed cost that the farmer cannot pass on to consumers.

Analysis: Feed makes up the largest share of poultry production cost, so this is a farm-economics question, not just poultry science.

Revise with it:

• Feed conversion ratio
• Break-even analysis

Answer: Buffalo.

Analysis: Buffaloes have fewer sweat glands and dark skin, so they wallow in water or mud to cool down.

Revise with it:

• Murrah
• Heat stress management

Answer: To protect against adverse price movements by using forward or futures contracts.

Analysis: Hedging locks in prices and transfers price risk to the other party.

Revise with it:

• Commodity futures
• Warehouse receipts
• Price stabilisation

Answer: Preparing the land by breaking clods, cutting weeds, pulverising the soil and smoothing the surface.

Analysis: The drill places seed and fertiliser at the right depth and spacing in rows. Seedbed preparation is the job of tillage implements such as ploughs, harrows and rotavators.

Revise with it:

• Primary vs secondary tillage
• Zero-till drill
• Happy Seeder

Answer: Roughly a quarter: the 24–30% range.

Analysis: This is a dynamic statistics PYQ. India has been the world’s largest milk producer since 1998.

Revise with it:

• Latest milk production
• Top producing state
• Per-capita availability
• Growth rate
• BAHS report

Answer: 1998.

Analysis: KCC was introduced in 1998, formulated by NABARD on the recommendation of the R.V. Gupta Committee, and later extended to animal husbandry and fisheries.

Revise with it:

• Interest subvention
• KCC saturation drives

Answer: All of the given states (BharatNet covers all states and UTs).

Analysis: BharatNet aims to provide broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats. When every option is a state, expect “all of the above”. Track its current phase (amended BharatNet) and targets.

Revise with it:

• Digital India
• Common Service Centres

Answer: ₹1 lakh.

Analysis: Assistance varies by category: ₹1 lakh for adult males, ₹2 lakh for special categories such as children and women, and ₹3 lakh for the most vulnerable (such as those rescued from sexual exploitation).

Revise with it:

• Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976

Answer: Nil (no fee).

Analysis: ESI covers social institutions and rights, not just macroeconomics.

Revise with it:

• Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
• NCW
• NCSC/NCST

Answer: Bhoomi Samman.

Analysis: Bhoomi Samman recognises states and districts for progress in digitising land records under DILRMP.

Revise with it:

• ULPIN
• SVAMITVA
• e-Courts integration

Answer: Up to 2030-31 (a six-year mission from 2025-26).

Analysis: For current schemes, prepare launch → duration → target → ministry → components → beneficiaries.

Revise with it:

• NFSM
• Pulse procurement
• PM-AASHA

Answer: ₹125 crore (with a turnover limit of ₹500 crore).

Analysis: This is a dynamic policy provision. Learn all three tiers and both criteria (investment and turnover).

Revise with it:

• Micro and small thresholds
• Udyam registration

Answer: 14 digits.

Analysis: ULPIN, sometimes called the “Bhu-Aadhaar”, is based on the geo-coordinates of a land parcel.

Revise with it:

• DILRMP
• SVAMITVA

Answer: All of the given options.

Analysis: Know the focus interventions: water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of water bodies, reuse and recharge structures, watershed development and intensive afforestation.

Revise with it:

• Jal Jeevan Mission
• Atal Bhujal Yojana

Answer: Agriculture.

Analysis: Livestock enteric fermentation and paddy cultivation dominate India’s methane emissions. The question links a report, the environment and agriculture together.

Revise with it:

• Global Methane Pledge
• Enteric fermentation
• Alternate wetting and drying

Answer: All of the above.

Analysis: RSETIs are run by sponsor banks (usually the lead bank, one per district) with support from the Ministry of Rural Development and state governments. Syndicate Bank, an earlier sponsor, is now part of Canara Bank.

Revise with it:

• DDU-GKY
• Lead Bank Scheme

Answer: All of the above.

Analysis: India’s first Skill Impact Bond, launched with NSDC, is an outcome-based financing model in which funders pay for verified job outcomes.

Revise with it:

• Outcome-based financing
• NSDC

Answer: University of Oxford (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, OPHI).

Analysis: India’s national MPI is published by NITI Aayog. Don’t mix up the global and national indices.

Revise with it:

• Head count ratio
• Intensity of poverty

Answer: Five years.

Analysis: The same concept appeared in both the ARD and ESI sections in 2025. Rural governance overlaps both subjects.

Revise with it:

• Article 243E
• State Election Commission

Answer: 25.5.

Analysis: This is dynamic and report-based. It is a consumption-based Gini from World Bank poverty and equity data for 2022-23. Do not carry this value into 2027 without checking.

Revise with it:

• Lorenz curve
• Consumption vs income inequality

Answer: All of the given options.

Analysis: Track the corridors (such as Delhi–Mumbai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Amritsar–Kolkata) and the smart industrial cities approved under them.

Revise with it:

• PM GatiShakti
• NICDC

Answer: NABARD.

Analysis: NABARD’s own reports, funds and surveys deserve special priority. RIDF is administered by NABARD.

Revise with it:

• RIDF
• NAFIS
• RECSS

Answer: Investment, Infusion and Innovation.

Analysis: The report proposes a sequence: investment first, then infusion of global technology, then innovation.

Revise with it:

• WDR themes by year
• World Bank flagship reports

Answer: ₹50,000.

Analysis: Section 26 provides for a fine of up to ₹50,000. Repeat offences can attract double penalty and cancellation of licence or registration.

Revise with it:

• Internal Committee
• Local Committee
• Vishaka guidelines

Answer: All of the given options (banks, NBFCs and MFIs).

Analysis: Know the Shishu, Kishore, Tarun and Tarun Plus categories and their loan limits.

Revise with it:

• CGFMU
• Stand-Up India

Answer: 2020.

Analysis: It was constituted under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

Revise with it:

• SMILE scheme
• Garima Greh

Answer: TEX-RAMPS.

Analysis: TEX-RAMPS stands for Textiles Focused Research, Assessment, Monitoring, Planning and Start-up.

Revise with it:

• PM MITRA
• PLI for textiles

Answer: Tamil Nadu.

Analysis: It began in Madras city in the 1920s and was expanded statewide under K. Kamaraj in the 1950s–60s. It was later nationalised as PM POSHAN.

Revise with it:

• PM POSHAN
• National Food Security Act

Answer: Resources (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan).

Analysis: GOBARdhan is a component of Swachh Bharat Mission–Gramin for converting cattle dung and biowaste into biogas and compost.

Revise with it:

• SATAT
• CBG plants

Answer: UPAg (Unified Portal for Agricultural Statistics).

Analysis: Digital agriculture and data platforms now feature in both ARD and ESI.

Revise with it:

• AgriStack
• Digital Crop Survey
• Krishi DSS

Answer: About 80% (in the edition tested).

Analysis: The number goes out of date, but the signal does not: NABARD’s own survey findings are exam-worthy.

Revise with it:

• NAFIS
• RECSS rounds

Answer: 95% and above.

Analysis: ULLAS is the New India Literacy Programme.

Revise with it:

• NEP 2020
• Literacy rates

Answer: 25 years.

Analysis: Per NHM guidelines, ASHAs are women residents of the village aged 25–45, preferably literate up to class 8 or 10, and selected through the Gram Sabha.

Revise with it:

• NHM structure
• Anganwadi workers

Answer: 15 to 35 years (up to 45 for special groups).

Analysis: DDU-GKY is placement-linked skilling for rural poor youth under the Ministry of Rural Development.

Revise with it:

• RSETI
• PMKVY

Answer: Head Count Index (Head Count Ratio).

Analysis: Contrast with the poverty gap index, which measures depth, and the squared poverty gap, which measures severity.

Revise with it:

• MPI
• Tendulkar and Rangarajan committees

Answer: 131.

Analysis: This is a dynamic PYQ; update from the latest edition. Know the four sub-indices.

Revise with it:

• Economic participation
• Educational attainment
• Health and survival
• Political empowerment

Answer: NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL).

Analysis: This is a fund-of-funds structure supporting equity in MSMEs.

Revise with it:

• SIDBI Fund of Funds
• CGTMSE

Answer: ₹5 lakh.

Analysis: Union Budget 2025-26 raised the KCC loan limit under the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh.

Revise with it:

• MISS: 7% interest, 3% prompt-repayment incentive
• KCC

Answer: Hyderabad.

Analysis: Pair each national institute with its location and ministry.

Revise with it:

• NIESBUD
• MSME Technology Centres

Answer: 2006.

Analysis: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognises individual and community forest rights.

Revise with it:

• PESA, 1996
• Gram Sabha role

Answer: Group (Mission Steering Group).

Analysis: Learn the institutional tiers: MSG, Empowered Programme Committee, and the State and District Health Societies.

Revise with it:

• Empowered Programme Committee
• State Health Society

Answer: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Analysis: Swashakt evaluates women’s collective (SHG) programmes. Expect questions on the implementing and funding partners of evaluation initiatives.

Revise with it:

• DAY-NRLM
• Lakhpati Didi

Answer: All of the given options.

Analysis: This was announced in Union Budget 2025-26 to tackle rural under-employment in agriculture through skilling, investment, technology and the rural economy, with a focus on women, young farmers, rural youth and landless families.

Revise with it:

• Budget 2025-26 agriculture announcements

Answer: Five years.

Analysis: Prepare MGNREGA in full: entitlement, wages, unemployment allowance, additional days and social audit.

Revise with it:

• Gram Rozgar Diwas
• Social audit

Answer: (c) 5.25%.

Analysis: The MPC cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% on 5 December 2025. Learn the corridor: SDF = repo − 0.25%, MSF and Bank Rate = repo + 0.25%. The same corridor was tested in 2024 Phase I.

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only.

Analysis: Report X is the monthly CPI release by the National Statistics Office (MoSPI). It covers all groups (food, housing, clothing, fuel, miscellaneous), so statement 3 is wrong.

Answer: (b) 5%, 18% and 40%.

Analysis: The 12% and 28% slabs were folded into 5% and 18%, with 40% for sin and luxury goods. Coffee extracts moved from 18% to 5% (see the coffee passage).

Answer: (b) SGSY.

Analysis: This was also asked in 2021 Phase I ARD. TRYSEM and DWCRA were merged into SGSY in 1999.

Answer: (d) 5 members and 3%.

Analysis: With a 3% prompt-repayment subvention, the effective rate falls from 7% to 4%. The 7% subvention rule was tested in 2021 Phase I.

Answer: (c) Revolving Fund (₹20,000–30,000 per SHG).

Analysis: The Community Investment Fund comes later and is routed through village organisations and federations.

Answer: (c) PM SURAJ (PM Samajik Utthan evam Rozgar Adharit Jankalyan) portal.

Analysis: DIKSHA (NCERT) was asked in 2024 Phase I, so it is a distractor from an earlier paper.

Answer: (a) Dr Virendra Kumar (Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment).

Analysis: The distractors are other cabinet ministers: Tribal Affairs, Women and Child Development, and Ports.

Answer: (b) ₹4 lakh for SHGs and ₹2 lakh for individuals.

Answer: (d) 1 and 3 only.

Analysis: The penalty is up to ₹50,000, as asked in 2025 Phase I; it doubles for a repeat offence. That makes statement 2 wrong.

Answer: (d) Article 39 (specifically 39(d), a Directive Principle).

Analysis: The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 gave it statutory form. It was asked in 2024 Phase I in a chronology question.

Answer: (b) Sambal (safety and security) and Samarthya (empowerment).

Analysis: Sambal covers One Stop Centres, Women Helpline, BBBP and Nari Adalat. Samarthya covers Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna, PMMVY and the Hub for Empowerment of Women.

Answer: (a) ₹40,000 and 35%.

Analysis: The subsidy is capped at ₹10 lakh per unit, which the next question tests.

Answer: (b) ₹10 lakh.

Analysis: 35% of ₹40 lakh is ₹14 lakh, but the subsidy is capped at ₹10 lakh per unit. Calculation questions like this punish forgetting the cap.

Answer: (c) 6–10 mm per day and 5 cm.

Analysis: Shallow submergence of about 5 cm is recommended; deeper water at booting harms panicle development. Puddling (asked in 2023 Phase II) is the related practice.

Answer: (a) Karnataka, then Kerala (then Tamil Nadu).

Analysis: Karnataka produces about 70% of India’s coffee. The Coffee Board is under the Ministry of Commerce (asked in 2024 Phase I).

Answer: (a) Italy, Germany, Belgium, Russian Federation and UAE, with Italy at the top.

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only.

Analysis: NBHM is part of the Sweet Revolution; the Yellow Revolution is for oilseeds (a 2023 practice question), so statement 2 is the trap.

Answer: (e) 3 only.

Analysis: SHC tests 12 parameters: N, P, K, S, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B, pH, EC and OC. It is not a loan scheme.

Answer: (c) About 150 days.

Analysis: Sheep is also about 150 days (asked in 2022). Swine is about 114 days (asked in 2022 and 2023).

Answer: (d) Medium (4–10 ha).

Analysis: Marginal is below 1 ha, small 1–2, semi-medium 2–4, medium 4–10 and large above 10. “Small farmer” was asked in 2021 Phase I and 2024 Phase II.

Answer: (a) Chang La, Ladakh (about 17,300 ft).

Analysis: It was set up jointly by DRDO and ICAR-NBPGR. Natural cold storage there preserves germplasm.

Answer: (b) 3 only.

Analysis: e-SHRAM is for unorganised workers aged 16–59 who are not EPFO or ESIC members. Person 1 is over age and person 2 is an EPFO member.

Answer: (c) A student admitted to a recognised course in an approved (top-ranked) institution.

Analysis: PM Vidyalaxmi (2024) gives collateral-free loans for admission to top NIRF-ranked institutions, with 3% interest subvention up to ₹10 lakh for families earning up to ₹8 lakh. It is linked to the Budget 2024-25 question in Phase I.

Answer: (e) None of the above. It is the West Coast Plains and Ghats Region.

Analysis: Kerala and coastal Karnataka lie in the West Coast Plains and Ghats. Agro-climatic regions were also asked in 2025 Phase I (Vindhyanchal Hills).

Answer: (e) 1, 2 and 3.

Analysis: Women entrepreneurs are also eligible, so statement 2 describes one of the two eligible groups. Loans range from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for greenfield enterprises (asked in 2022 Phase I).