Biology · Biotechnology and Its Applications · NEET
NCERT lists exactly three: (i) agro-chemical based agriculture, (ii) organic agriculture, and (iii) genetically engineered crop-based agriculture. Learn them in this order because it is the exact NCERT line, and NEET can ask 'which is NOT one of the three options'.
No. The Green Revolution is not one of the three options. It is a past event that used improved crop varieties and agrochemicals to triple food supply. NCERT mentions it only to explain WHY these three options are now needed, because Green Revolution alone was 'not enough' for the growing population.
No. Tissue culture is a technology that got developed later because traditional breeding failed to keep pace with demand. It supports the third option (crop improvement) but it is not listed as one of the three options itself. Do not confuse the three options with the methods used inside them.
Agro-chemical based agriculture increases yield using fertilisers and pesticides (the Green Revolution approach). Genetically engineered crop-based agriculture increases yield by using GM crops that are pest-resistant or more nutritious. Organic agriculture, the middle option, avoids synthetic agrochemicals.
The Green Revolution tripled food supply, but the human population kept growing. Agrochemicals became too expensive for developing-world farmers, and existing varieties could not yield more through conventional breeding. This is why the three new options and biotechnology were needed.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Yes. NCERT writes them as (i) agro-chemical based, (ii) organic, (iii) genetically engineered. Learn this order so you can answer 'which is the second option' type questions.
Biotechnology (rDNA technology and tissue culture) mainly supports the third option, genetically engineered crop-based agriculture, and also helps produce better varieties for organic and general farming.
It is a direct one-line recall from NCERT. Such factual lines are easy marks, and NEET frequently frames them as 'which is NOT one of the three options' to test careful reading.
NCERT next explains the Green Revolution and why agrochemicals are not enough, then moves to plant tissue culture, totipotency, and genetically modified organisms.
