UPSC Prelims 2019 · GS Paper I
Question 21: Geography
Which one of the following groups of plants was domesticated in the ‘New World’ and introduced into the ‘Old World’?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (a).
Tobacco, cocoa and rubber were all first domesticated in the Americas, the New World, and later spread to the Old World. Tobacco comes from the Americas, cocoa from the Amazon and Mesoamerica, and rubber (Hevea) from the Amazon basin. Coffee originated in Ethiopia, sugarcane in the Asia-Pacific region, and wheat in the Fertile Crescent, so groups with them fail. Cotton was domesticated in both the Old World and the New World, so it does not belong cleanly to either side.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Correct: tobacco, cocoa and rubber are New World crops taken to the Old World.
- (b) Cotton was domesticated in both hemispheres, so the group is not purely New World.
- (c) Coffee and sugarcane are Old World crops, and cotton has Old World species.
- (d) Coffee and wheat are Old World crops.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2019, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.