UPHESC Assistant Professor Horticulture 2025 PYQs

Concept: In North Indian mango, flower bud differentiation occurs mainly from October to December, when cool nights and dry soil favour it.

1. Shoots that matured by July–August differentiate in this period.
2. Panicles emerge in February–March (flowering).
3. Paclobutrazol (soil drench Sept–Oct) is applied to advance/ensure differentiation.

Short trick: Mango: FBD Oct–Dec → flowers Feb–Mar.

Concept: Malling rootstocks are classed by vigour.

1. Very dwarfing: M-27; dwarfing: M-9 (also M-26 semi-dwarf).
2. M-2 – vigorous/semi-vigorous; M-25 – very vigorous.
3. So a (M-27) and c (M-9).

Short trick: Dwarf: M-27 < M-9 < M-26; Vigorous: M-2, M-16, M-25, MM-111.

Concept: Pulsing = loading cut stems for a short period (often 16–20 h) with a high sugar concentration (e.g. 2–20% sucrose) plus germicide.

1. Sugar supplies respiratory substrate and improves bud opening and vase life.
2. Holding solutions use low sugar for continuous use.
3. Salt is not the main ingredient.

Short trick: Pulsing = short + high sugar; Holding = long + low sugar.

Concept: Bt brinjal carries the cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis, giving resistance to the fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis).

1. Standard nomenclature for the protein: Cry1Ac (capital C, numeral, capital A, small c).
2. Developed by Mahyco (event EE-1); approved in Bangladesh (2013), moratorium in India (2010).
3. Other spellings in options are non-standard.

Short trick: Bt brinjal = Cry1Ac vs FSB.

Concept: Mango processing waste (peel, stone, pulp residue) yields many by-products.

1. Peel → pectin, fibre; peel/pulp waste → ethanol and vinegar by fermentation.
2. Kernel (stone) → starch, kernel fat (butter), flour.
3. So all four – pectin, ethanol, vinegar and starch.

Short trick: Peel = pectin; ferment = alcohol/vinegar; kernel = starch/fat.

Concept: Flavr Savr (Calgene, USA, 1994) was the first commercial GM food – antisense polygalacturonase (PG) gene slows softening, i.e. delayed ripening/longer shelf life.

1. PG enzyme breaks pectin in cell walls → softening; antisense blocks it.
2. Fruits could be vine-ripened yet stay firm in transport.
3. Not developed for nutrition, earliness or cracking.

Short trick: Flavr Savr = antisense PG = slow softening (1994).

Concept: ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru was established in 1967 (shifted to Hessaraghatta 1968) with Dr. G. S. Randhawa as founder director.

1. Dr. M. S. Randhawa – administrator, ‘father of modern horticulture’ in India, coined/popularised bio-aesthetic planning in India.
2. Dr. B. P. Pal – first DG of ICAR; Dr. K. L. Chadha – later IIHR director and DDG (Hort).
3. Hence G. S. Randhawa.

Short trick: IIHR founder = G. S. Randhawa (not M. S.).

Concept: Ornithophily = pollination by birds (Greek ornis = bird).

1. Anemophily – wind; Entomophily – insects; Hydrophily – water.
2. Zoophily is the broad term for any animal; the specific term for birds is ornithophily.
3. Examples: Bombax, Erythrina, Callistemon (sunbirds).

Short trick: Ornis = bird → ornithophily; Chiropterophily = bats.

Concept: CO-5 (TNAU, selection from Washington) is the papain-rich variety, yielding about 14–15 g dry papain per fruit.

1. CO-2 is also a papain variety, but CO-5 gives the highest papain.
2. CO-1, CO-3, CO-4 are table varieties.
3. Papain is tapped from 70–100 day old green fruits.

Short trick: Papain: CO-5 > CO-2.

Concept: Alphonso and Kesar are graded by fruit weight; the commercial grades are A⁺ (>300 g), A (250–299 g) and B (200–249 g).

1. The next lower class is C (about 150–199 g), not ‘<100 g’ – fruits under 100 g are not a commercial export grade.
2. So statement d is wrong; a, b and c are correct.
3. Grading by weight ensures uniform packing in export cartons.

Short trick: Grades fall in 50 g steps: >300, 250, 200 …

Concept: Passive sensors record naturally available energy – sunlight reflected or thermal energy emitted by the earth.

1. Examples: optical/multispectral cameras, thermal IR sensors (Landsat, IRS LISS).
2. Active sensors send their own energy and record the return – RADAR, LiDAR.
3. EMR is the radiation itself, not a sensor.

Short trick: Passive = uses sun/earth energy; Active = own source (RADAR).

Concept: Match each fruit with its variety.

1. Lime – Pramalini (acid lime, PDKV Akola) → I.
2. Banana – Grand Nain (Cavendish, AAA) → II.
3. Amla – Laxmi-52 (a chance seedling of Francis aonla) → III; Papaya – Arka Surya (IIHR) → IV.
4. The correct code is therefore I, II, III, IV, which is not among the options (A swaps amla and papaya) – no option is correct as printed (bonus).

Short trick: ‘Arka’ papayas: Arka Surya, Arka Prabhat; ‘Laxmi-52’ – aonla.

Concept: Sonamukhi = Indian/Tinnevelly senna, Cassia angustifolia Vahl, whose leaves and pods give laxative sennosides.

1. Chlorophytum – safed musli; Withania somnifera – ashwagandha.
2. Origanum majorana – sweet marjoram.
3. Senna is grown in Tirunelveli (TN) and Gujarat/Rajasthan.

Short trick: Sona-mukhi (golden) senna → sennosides → laxative.

Concept: East Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) oil is traded as ‘Cochin oil’ because it was exported from Cochin (Kerala).

1. Rich in citral (75–90%); used for vitamin A and ionone synthesis.
2. C. citratus – West Indian lemongrass; C. pendulus – Jammu lemongrass.
3. Citronella oil comes from C. winterianus/nardus.

Short trick: Cochin port → East Indian lemongrass (flexuosus).

Concept: ‘Phule Pride’ is a dwarf Cavendish-type banana variety released by MPKV, Rahuri (Banana Research Station, Jalgaon, Maharashtra).

1. It is shorter-statured, reducing wind damage and suiting Jalgaon conditions.
2. Pomegranate MPKV varieties: Phule Bhagwa, Phule Arakta, Ganesh.
3. Hence banana.

Short trick: Jalgaon (banana city) → Phule Pride.

Concept: Key pests of plantation crops:

1. Coconut – rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) → IV.
2. Cashew – tea mosquito bug (Helopeltis antonii) → III.
3. Rubber – scale insects (e.g. Saissetia) → II; Arecanut – spindle bug (Carvalhoia arecae) → I.

Short trick: Coconut-Rhino, Cashew-TMB, Areca-Spindle bug.

Concept: Each vitamin has a classic deficiency disease.

1. Nicotinic acid (niacin, B₃) – pellagra → III.
2. Thiamine (B₁) – beri-beri → IV.
3. Ascorbic acid (C) – scurvy → I; Carotene (pro-vitamin A) – night blindness → II.

Short trick: B1-Beriberi, B3-Pellagra (3 Ds), C-Scurvy, A-Night blindness.

Concept: Spacing depends on the growth habit of the rose group.

1. Hybrid Tea – about 75 cm → I.
2. Climbers spread widely – about 250 cm → IV.
3. Standard (tree) rose – about 100 cm → II; Polyanthas (compact, bushy) – about 45 cm → III.

Short trick: Bigger plant, bigger spacing: Climber 250 > Standard 100 > HT 75 > Polyantha 45.

Concept: Cultivated bananas arose in South-East Asia (Indo-Malaysian region) from Musa acuminata (A) and M. balbisiana (B).

1. Early domestication in New Guinea/Malaysia; India is a secondary centre of diversity.
2. Banana reached Africa and later the Americas (Central America) through trade.
3. Mediterranean – olive, grape; Central America – papaya, avocado.

Short trick: Banana = Indo-Malayan (SE Asia).

Concept: North Indian vetiver (wild, seeded type; traditionally distilled in ‘bhapka’ stills as ruh khus) gives a superior laevorotatory oil with a greenish tint, described as greenish-yellow.

1. South Indian (non-seeded, cultivated) type gives a dextrorotatory, brown to reddish-brown oil.
2. Oil content about 1–1.5% of dry roots; main constituent khusimol/vetiverol.
3. Used in perfumery, attar and as fixative.

Short trick: North = green tinge (bhapka ruh khus); South = brown.