Agronomy

• Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) is an established trap crop used in cabbage and cauliflower fields to manage the destructive diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella).
• Two rows of thick-sown Indian mustard are planted for every 25 rows of cabbage.
• DBM adults are preferentially attracted to the mustard plants for oviposition, confining the pest larvae away from the main cabbage heads.
• Therefore, Indian mustard is used as a trap crop in cabbage (Option 3).

• Historically in crops like maize, double-cross hybrids were developed because early inbred lines possessed poor vigour and set few seeds.
• In modern plant breeding, vigorous and productive inbred lines have been developed, enabling commercial production of single-cross hybrids (A × B) at reasonable cost.
• Single-cross hybrids capitalize on maximum heterosis, produce substantially higher yields, and provide remarkable phenotypic uniformity in plant height, flowering, and maturity.
• Thus, single cross hybrids are popular due to vigorous inbred lines, high yields, and uniformity (Option 2).

Analysis of planting material for sugarcane:

• 20,000 - 25,000: Insufficient quantity for 2 hectares.
• 30,000 - 40,000: Standard sett requirement for 1 hectare of sugarcane crop.
• 70,000 - 80,000: For planting 2 hectares, the required quantity is double the single-hectare rate: \(2 \times (35,000 - 40,000) = 70,000 - 80,000\) three-budded setts.
• 90,000 - 1,00,000: Substantially higher than standard agronomic recommendations.