Question

Relationship between plant population and yield in fodder crops is

• A. Asymptotic
• B. Linear
• C. Parabolic
• D. Exponential

Hint:

Fodder yield is total green biomass, not seed set, so think about how much extra biomass one more plant adds once the field is already crowded.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks how total yield changes as plant population per unit area keeps rising, specifically for fodder crops that are cut for green biomass rather than grown for grain.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
In crop production, the yield to density curve takes one of two classic shapes based on what part of the plant is harvested. When the harvested product is seed or grain, yield rises with density up to an optimum point and then falls, because crowding cuts the number of seeds each plant can fill. That gives a parabolic curve. When the harvested product is total vegetative matter, such as fodder, every extra plant still adds some green matter even at high density, so yield keeps rising but at a steadily falling rate until it levels off near a ceiling. That gives an asymptotic curve.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Fodder crops are cut for leaves and stems, not for grain filling, so heavy crowding does not cause the sharp yield collapse seen in grain crops at high density.
As population increases, each single plant makes a bit less biomass, but the total biomass per unit area still keeps climbing, only more slowly, until adding more plants barely changes the total.
This rise-then-flatten pattern, without any later drop, is what is meant by an asymptotic response.
A linear relationship would need yield to keep rising at a fixed rate forever, which cannot happen once light, water and nutrients become limiting.
An exponential relationship would mean yield keeps accelerating upward with density, which does not match how crop stands behave.
A parabolic relationship, where yield falls again after reaching a peak, describes grain yield response to density, not the biomass yield of a fodder crop.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The plant population to yield relationship in fodder crops is asymptotic. \[ \boxed{\text{Asymptotic}} \]