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Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.

Q1. [1] medium thorough-understanding
Which of the following BEST explains why irrigated agriculture, even when it expands food production, can contribute to long-term water scarcity and land degradation? (A) It reduces the amount of annual precipitation over agricultural regions. (B) It over-exploits groundwater, encourages water-intensive crops and can cause salinisation of soil. (C) It fragments rivers and prevents aquatic fauna from spawning. (D) It increases sedimentation in river channels, depriving flood plains of natural fertiliser.
  1. A It reduces the amount of annual precipitation over agricultural regions.
  2. B It over-exploits groundwater, encourages water-intensive crops and can cause salinisation of soil.
  3. C It fragments rivers and prevents aquatic fauna from spawning.
  4. D It increases sedimentation in river channels, depriving flood plains of natural fertiliser.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:32 · grounding rag
Model Answer

(B) It over-exploits groundwater, encourages water-intensive crops and can cause salinisation of soil.

Irrigated agriculture over-exploits groundwater, lowering its levels. It shifts cropping patterns to water-intensive crops and causes salinisation of soil, leading to land degradation.

Source: Water Resources, Chapter 3

Explanation

The passage explicitly states: "to expand irrigated areas for dry-season agriculture... may lead to falling groundwater levels" and "Irrigation has also changed the cropping pattern... with farmers shifting to water-intensive and commercial crops. This has great ecological consequences like salinisation of the soil." Options C and D describe problems of dams/multi-purpose projects, not irrigation specifically. Option A is scientifically incorrect and unsupported by the text.

Previous-year CBSE Grade 10 board exam questions, organised by subject and chapter, each with a model answer — free to read and print.