If a particular plant species is placed under Schedule VI of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, what is the implication?

Option A is correct. Schedule VI of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 lists specified plants that are threatened or of conservation concern, such as Beddome's cycad and the Blue Vanda orchid. Chapter V-A of the Act restricts dealing with them. Cultivating or propagating a Schedule VI plant needs a licence from the competent authority, usually the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State. The plant is not banned outright, so the regulation is about control, not prohibition.

Why the others fail:

• B is wrong because a licence can permit cultivation. The law regulates, not forbids.
• C is wrong because Schedule VI has nothing to do with genetic modification. GM crops are governed by the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and the Rules framed under it, through bodies like GEAC.
• D is wrong because a plant is listed for protection when it is endangered or of conservation value. Invasiveness is a different concept and is not the basis of the schedule.

The concept links to biodiversity conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity, a frequent Mains theme on balancing commercial use with conservation.

Trap: aspirants often assume Schedule VI means a total ban on cultivation, or confuse it with the schedules for animals (I to IV).