UPHESC Assistant Professor Horticulture 2025 PYQs

Concept: Wide crotch angles (about 45°–90°, ideally 60°–70°) give strong scaffold branches.

1. Narrow angles trap bark between limb and trunk (included bark) → weak union, splitting under crop load.
2. Angles above 90° (drooping) reduce vigour and fruiting wood.
3. Spreaders/toothpicks are used to widen crotch angles in apple.

Short trick: Narrow V = weak; wide (45–90°) = strong.

Concept: Cytokinins delay senescence (Richmond–Lang effect) by retaining chlorophyll and protein synthesis.

1. Used to prolong shelf life of leafy vegetables and cut flowers (e.g. BA sprays).
2. Ethylene and ABA promote senescence and abscission.
3. IAA mainly controls cell elongation and rooting.

Short trick: Cytokinin = 'anti-ageing'; Ethylene/ABA = ageing.

Concept: Climacteric fruits show a sharp rise (peak) in respiration and ethylene at ripening and can ripen after harvest.

1. a ✔ respiration peak; d ✔ ripen off the plant (mango, banana, papaya, guava, apple, tomato).
2. b ✘ they accumulate starch, which is converted to sugars during ripening.
3. c ✘ pineapple is non-climacteric (like citrus, grape, strawberry).

Short trick: Climacteric = peak + starch→sugar + ripens after picking.

Concept: ‘Anupam’ (Chaubattia Anupam) is an apple bred at the Chaubattia station (Uttarakhand); the question links it with apple, the one fruit among the options in which dwarfing interstocks (interstems) are a standard practice.

1. Interstock = a piece of stem grafted between rootstock and scion to control vigour; in apple the classic dwarfing interstems are M-9 and M-27.
2. Grape is grown on rootstocks like Dogridge; in mango Vellaikolumban is a dwarfing rootstock; acid lime uses rootstocks such as Rangpur lime – interstocks are not the usual practice in these.
3. Anupam is an apple cultivar name, so the answer is apple.

Short trick: Chaubattia names (Anupam, Princess, Agaati) → apple.

Concept: Sympodial orchids grow laterally from a rhizome producing new pseudobulbs; monopodial orchids grow from a single apical stem.

1. Sympodial: Cymbidium, Cattleya, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum.
2. Monopodial: Arachnis, Vanda, Phalaenopsis, Aerides, Renanthera.
3. So Arachnis is not sympodial.

Short trick: Monopodial = 'VAPAR': Vanda, Arachnis, Phalaenopsis, Aerides, Renanthera.

Concept: Pome fruits (Rosaceae, Maloideae): apple, pear, quince, loquat. Of these, loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is an evergreen subtropical pome.

1. Apple and pear are temperate (need chilling).
2. Plum is a stone fruit (drupe), not a pome.
3. Loquat flowers in autumn–winter and ripens in March–April in the plains.

Short trick: Evergreen subtropical pome = Loquat.

Concept: Fuyu, Gosho (Giant Fuyu) and Suruga are non-astringent Japanese persimmon (Diospyros kaki) cultivars.

1. Astringent types: Hachiya, Tamopan, Hiratanenashi.
2. Olive cvs: Frantoio, Leccino; pecan: Mahan, Western Schley.
3. Hence persimmon.

Short trick: Japanese names (Fuyu, Jiro, Hachiya) → kaki persimmon.

Concept: Punjab Kesari (PAU) and Pusa Gaurav (IARI) are tomato varieties.

1. Other tomato cvs: Pusa Ruby, Pusa Early Dwarf, Arka Vikas, Punjab Chhuhara.
2. Potato names start with 'Kufri'; watermelon: Sugar Baby, Arka Manik.
3. Hence tomato.

Short trick: Punjab Kesari / Chhuhara, Pusa Gaurav / Ruby → tomato.

Concept: Azotobacter is a free-living (non-symbiotic), aerobic N-fixing bacterium used as biofertilizer for non-legumes (vegetables, fruits, cereals).

1. VAM/mycorrhizae mobilise phosphorus – they do not fix nitrogen.
2. BGA fixes N but is mainly for flooded rice.
3. Azotobacter also produces growth substances (IAA, GA).

Short trick: Non-legume, upland N biofertilizer = Azotobacter.

Concept: Maleic hydrazide (MH, 2000–2500 ppm) sprayed 2–3 weeks before harvest is translocated to bulbs/tubers and inhibits sprouting in storage.

1. It blocks cell division in buds.
2. Alar and Cycocel are growth retardants (anti-GA) for height control.
3. 2,4-D is a herbicide/auxin.

Short trick: Onion/potato storage sprouting → MH pre-harvest; CIPC post-harvest (potato).

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 …