• The Desert Development Programme (DDP) was launched by the Government of India during 1977-78 based on the recommendations of the National Commission on Agriculture.
• The prime objective of DDP is to minimize the adverse effect of drought and control desertification through watershed development, sand dune stabilization, and shelterbelt plantation.
• The programme covers hot arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana, as well as the cold desert regions of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
• Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) was started earlier in 1973-74, whereas DDP was initiated in 1977-78.

• Molybdenum deficiency initiates as interveinal mottling on older/middle leaves (whiptail symptoms), while Boron deficiency causes death of terminal buds resulting in a rosette or bushy appearance.
• Manganese deficiency typically induces grey specks or brown necrotic lesions in oats and cereals (Grey speck of oats).
• Under RPSC's official evaluation for ARO Agronomy 2024, Option 3 (Iron - White to pale yellow chlorosis) is designated as the official mismatched/incorrect pair.
• Classic iron deficiency manifests specifically as intense interveinal chlorosis on the youngest emerging leaves, leaving veins distinctly green, which only turns bleached ivory white under extreme chronic deficiency.

This question was dropped/deleted by RPSC in the final answer key due to terminological inaccuracies in the question text and options (standard technical term is 'River basin' or 'Watershed', translated awkwardly as 'Water basin').

• Water basin: Attempted translation of river basin/watershed, but non-standard.
• Hydrological unit: Broad concept that encompasses watersheds and sub-basins of any scale.
• Command area: Agricultural area served by an irrigation project, not defined naturally by a river drainage divide.
• Production unit: Farm management term.

• In watershed management and soil-water conservation, watersheds are classified into standardized hierarchical categories based on their drainage catchment area:
• Macro watershed: > 50,000 ha
• Sub-watershed: 10,000 to 50,000 ha
• Milli watershed: 1,000 to 10,000 ha
• Micro watershed: 100 to 1,000 ha
• Mini watershed: 10 to 100 ha
• Therefore, the size of a mini watershed ranges between 10 and 100 hectares.
• Micro watersheds (100–1000 ha) are the basic operational unit adopted for Integrated Watershed Management Programmes (IWMP) in India.
• Watersheds smaller than 10 ha are sometimes referred to as sub-micro or plot catchments.