How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming? 1. Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are predominant. 2. Conventional chemical farming can cause increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming. 3. Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in semi-arid regions but permaculture farming is not so easily possible in such regions. 4. Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: B. Statements 1, 2, and 4 are correct; Statement 3 is wrong. PERMACULTURE (PERMAnent agriCULTURE) is an ecological design philosophy and farming approach developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren (1970s, Australia). It mimics natural ecosystems to create sustainable, self-sustaining agricultural systems. (1) MONOCULTURE: CORRECT. PERMACULTURE EXPLICITLY DISCOURAGES MONOCULTURE — its core principle is POLYCULTURE / PLANT GUILDS that use stacking, companion planting, and biodiversity. CONVENTIONAL CHEMICAL FARMING is dominated by single-crop monocultures over large areas (wheat-rice-cotton-corn), which is ecologically simpler to manage with mechanisation and chemical inputs. (2) SOIL SALINITY: CORRECT. CONVENTIONAL CHEMICAL FARMING (especially in irrigated arid/semi-arid regions) causes SECONDARY SALINISATION through repeated synthetic-fertiliser use, over-irrigation, and capillary rise of salts. PERMACULTURE uses mulch, biodiversity, and limited irrigation, AVOIDING SALINISATION pressure. (3) SEMI-ARID REGIONS: WRONG. The statement INVERTS the truth. PERMACULTURE IS WELL-SUITED TO SEMI-ARID REGIONS — its swales, mulching, water harvesting, and drought-tolerant polycultures have been extensively used in semi-arid lands (Geoff Lawton's Greening the Desert project in Jordan, Indian Permaculture sites in Hyderabad/Telangana). CONVENTIONAL CHEMICAL FARMING in semi-arid areas requires heavy irrigation and is environmentally PROBLEMATIC. So the statement is reversed. (4) MULCHING: CORRECT. MULCHING (covering soil with organic matter) is a CORNERSTONE of permaculture — it conserves moisture, suppresses weeds, builds soil, and moderates temperature. CONVENTIONAL CHEMICAL FARMING typically uses BARE-SOIL CULTIVATION and herbicides instead, with mulching being optional or absent. So 1, 2, 4 are correct; 3 is reversed. Source: NCERT Class 10 Geography references / Bill Mollison 'Permaculture: A Designer's Manual'.