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. ​

The correct answer is B (1, 2 and 4). Permaculture, popularised by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s, designs farms to mimic natural ecosystems with minimal external inputs. Conventional chemical farming, the Green Revolution model, relies on monocropping, synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, and heavy irrigation.

• Statement 1 is correct. Permaculture favours polyculture, guilds and crop diversity. Chemical farming is dominated by monocultures of wheat and rice in the Green Revolution belts.
• Statement 2 is correct. Over-irrigation with saline water, poor drainage and chemical fertiliser use raise salinity and cause waterlogging. Permaculture's soil-building practices are designed to avoid this.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. Permaculture is not unsuited to arid lands. It uses swales, keyline design and water harvesting to work in semi-arid conditions, so the claim that it is hard there is wrong.
• Statement 4 is correct. Mulching and permanent soil cover are core permaculture principles for moisture retention and soil life. Chemical farming does not depend on them in the same way.

This links to the syllabus on sustainable agriculture, soil health and the ecological costs of the Green Revolution, a recurring Mains theme.

Trap: students often reject statement 2 as too absolute, or accept statement 3 because permaculture is loosely associated with organic farming. Judge each statement on its design principles, not on general reputation.