Biology · Biodiversity and Conservation · NEET
It is the first of three reasons NCERT gives to conserve biodiversity. It says humans get countless DIRECT economic benefits from nature. The word 'narrow' means the benefit is direct and easy to see: you get food, firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes) and medicines straight from living things. Because the benefit is obvious and product-based, NCERT calls this argument 'obvious'.
Narrowly utilitarian = DIRECT products you can sell or use (food, medicine, bioprospecting). Broadly utilitarian = INDIRECT ecosystem services nature provides free, like the oxygen from Amazon forests, pollination by bees and bats, and aesthetic pleasure. NEET often asks you to sort an example into the right box. Rule of thumb: if you can put a product on a shelf, it is narrow; if it is a free background service, it is broad.
Bioprospecting means exploring molecular, genetic and species-level diversity for products of economic importance. It is narrowly utilitarian because the goal is to find NEW commercial products (new drugs, molecules) from wild species. NCERT says nations rich in biodiversity can expect enormous economic benefits from it. This is a very frequently tested one-word answer in NEET.
Medicine is NARROWLY utilitarian, because a drug is a direct product you get from a plant. NCERT states more than 25 per cent of drugs sold worldwide come from plants, and 25,000 species of plants contribute to traditional medicines used by native people. Do not confuse this with ecosystem services.
Because the benefits are direct and countable. You can literally point to the rice you eat, the wood you burn, the dye in cloth and the tablet you take. There is no hidden chain of ecology needed to see the value, unlike oxygen production or pollination, which are indirect and need explanation.
Exploration of molecular, genetic and species level diversity for novel products of economic importance is known as:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
NCERT groups reasons into three: narrowly utilitarian (direct economic benefits like food and medicine), broadly utilitarian (indirect ecosystem services like oxygen and pollination) and ethical (every species has value and we must pass on a healthy Earth to the next generation).
Food (cereals, pulses, fruits), firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes), medicinal products, and bioprospecting for new products of economic value.
More than 25 per cent of the drugs currently sold worldwide are derived from plants, and 25,000 plant species contribute to traditional medicines used by native peoples around the world.
No. Bioprospecting is the legal, planned exploration of diversity for economically useful products. Biopiracy is the unauthorized use of bioresources or traditional knowledge without proper permission or benefit-sharing. NEET uses biopiracy as a common distractor.
