SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 16 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 18 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which scheme promotes crop diversification through cluster-based planning?

(a)PM-AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan)
(b)RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana)
(c)SMAM (Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization)
(d)AIF (Agriculture Infrastructure Fund)

Answer

Why

Correct — B. The Centre's Crop Diversification Programme runs as a sub-scheme of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

It works in the original Green Revolution States, Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, to shift area from water-guzzling paddy to crops such as pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals.

Of the four schemes, RKVY is the one with a crop-diversification component → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
PM-AASHA (Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan) — PM-AASHA is about prices, not cropping patterns. It is the umbrella for ensuring farmers get remunerative prices, including procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra at MSP.
(c)
SMAM (Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization) — SMAM promotes farm machinery, such as custom hiring centres for small and marginal farmers. It changes how crops are grown, not which crops.
(d)
AIF (Agriculture Infrastructure Fund) — AIF is a financing facility for post-harvest infrastructure such as storage and cold chains. It funds assets, not a change in cropping pattern.

Concept

Crop diversification means moving land from one dominant crop to a wider mix. In north-west India the concern is paddy, which draws heavily on groundwater.

RKVY gives States central funds to plan agriculture to their own priorities, and the Crop Diversification Programme is one of its components.

The other options each serve one purpose: PM-AASHA prices, SMAM machinery, AIF post-harvest infrastructure.

The stem's cluster-based planning is its own wording and does not name a component. What ties the question to RKVY is crop diversification itself.

Key facts

The Crop Diversification Programme is a sub-scheme of RKVY in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
It aims to divert area from water-guzzling paddy to crops such as pulses, oilseeds, coarse cereals and cotton.
PM-AASHA is the umbrella scheme for ensuring farmers remunerative prices for their produce.
The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund finances post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.

Study next

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana: organic farming through farmer clustersPradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and its slogan, Har Khet Ko PaniPM-AASHA's components: the Price Support Scheme and the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme

Common traps

Picking PM-AASHA because its name mentions farmers' income: it protects prices, not crop choice.
Reading SMAM or AIF as diversification schemes because they touch every crop: one funds machinery, the other storage and post-harvest assets.

Agriculture schemes are asked as name-to-purpose items. 14 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.19 keys PKVY for organic farming.

15 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.18 keys PMKSY for Har Khet Ko Pani, with RKVY among its options.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: General Policy — all 308 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.