Question

Read the following paragraph and answer the question that follows: Worldwide, tomato is one of the most important crops. Because this crop can be adapted for cultivation in various environments ranging from tropical to alpine regions, its cultivation area is now expanding worldwide into not so productive regions. On the other hand, traditional cultivation areas, the most favourable for tomato cultivation with warm and dry climate, are contracting. Every year, traditional cultivation areas lose 2 million hectares (ha) of land to environmental factors such as salinity, drought, and soil erosion. Which of the following is the correct inference based on the above passage?

• A. In recent years, per hectare production of tomato has increased worldwide.
• B. In recent years, per hectare wastage of tomato has increased worldwide.
• C. In recent years, per hectare production of tomato has decreased worldwide.
• D. In recent years, per hectare wastage of tomato has decreased worldwide.
• E. In recent years, per hectare production of tomato has remained the same worldwide.

Hint:

When solving inference-based questions, focus on the cause-and-effect chain. Expansion into unproductive areas and loss of fertile land both logically imply reduced productivity per hectare, even if total cultivation area increases.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

The passage provides two key pieces of information: 1. Tomato cultivation is expanding into less productive regions.
2. Traditional fertile cultivation areas are shrinking every year due to salinity, drought, and soil erosion, with a loss of about 2 million hectares annually.
Step 1: Understanding expansion into less productive regions
Although the cultivation area is increasing, the fact that new areas are "not so productive" implies that the overall yield per hectare would be lower than in the traditional high-yielding regions.

Step 2: Understanding the contraction of traditional fertile areas
The areas that were most favourable for tomato cultivation are shrinking rapidly due to environmental challenges. This means that the most efficient, high-yield areas are being lost, further reducing the average per hectare productivity.

Step 3: Drawing the inference
Since high-yield areas are shrinking and expansion is occurring in less productive zones, the combined effect is a decline in per hectare tomato production worldwide.

Why not the other options? \begin{itemize} \item

Option A: Incorrect, because per hectare production is not increasing; it is actually decreasing. \item

Option B: Incorrect, wastage of tomato is not mentioned in the passage. \item

Option D: Incorrect, again wastage is not the subject of the passage. \item

Option E: Incorrect, per hectare production cannot remain the same when fertile land is shrinking and expansion is into less productive regions. \end{itemize} Thus, the correct inference is that the per hectare production of tomato has decreased worldwide.

Final Answer: \[ \boxed{\text{C. In recent years, per hectare production of tomato has decreased worldwide}} \]