12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 7: Agricultural Researcher

(A) This is not relevant to identifying the cause of the yield improvement. The question focuses on whether the hybrid seed's drought-resistant quality is the primary factor, not on the cost of seeds.

(B) If there has been an increase in rainfall or other favorable weather changes, these could account for the yield improvement instead of the hybrid seed's drought-resistant feature. Identifying this would help determine if the hybrid seed is the main driver.

(C) While this sheds some light on the hybrid seed’s role in the yield improvement, it does not confirm whether the improvement stems from its drought resistance or other factors.

(D) Whether farmers continue using traditional seeds does not directly address whether the hybrid seed’s drought-resistant quality is responsible for the yield improvement.

(E) The type of crops grown on farms does not clarify whether the hybrid seed’s drought resistance is the key factor behind the yield improvement.

Ans- opt. B.

(A) This does not help to assess the issue. - Incorrect

(B) Yes, if weather patterns are disturbing then that might also affect the efficacy of the hybrid seeds. - Correct

(C) This is not helping to identify the efficacy of the hybrid seeds. - Incorrect

(D) This tells about seeds only but there might be other factor like weather which might be reason. - Incorrect

(E) This is irrelevant of evaluating drought related impact. - Incorrect

Evaluate Argument

introduction caused crop yields improved significantly : to be evaluated

1. We dont care if a farmer spends his entire income or half of it to purchase seed : REJECT
2. Yes, if rainfall occured, then that would weaken argument ; if rainfall did not occur, it would strength the argument : HOLD
3. Which seed type (say, rice , wheat) will not give any info we want to prove that hybrid seeds were/werent the reason for higher yied : REJECT
4. HOLD
5. Does not bring the new hybrid seed into the question : REJECT

So I would go with C

The goal is to evaluate whether the improvement in crop yields can be attributed to the drought-resistant quality of the new hybrid seed. To do so, we need to determine whether the hybrid seed's performance is primarily due to its drought-resistant qualities or if other factors, such as weather changes, are responsible.

Analyzing the Options:
(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?
This provides information about the financial aspect of farming but does not directly address whether the yield improvement is due to the hybrid seed’s drought resistance. Eliminate.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?
This is highly relevant because if rainfall amounts have increased significantly, the improved crop yields might be due to better weather conditions rather than the drought-resistant quality of the hybrid seed. This directly assesses whether the hybrid seed's drought resistance is the key factor. Keep.

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?
While this could help identify the hybrid seed’s contribution to overall yield improvement, it does not specifically address whether the improvement is due to its drought-resistant qualities. Eliminate.

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?
This might provide insight into adoption rates but does not directly assess whether the hybrid seed’s drought-resistant qualities caused the yield improvement. Eliminate.

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?
This provides general information about farming patterns but does not address whether the hybrid seed’s drought resistance is responsible for the improvement in yields. Eliminate.

Correct Answer:
(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?

This directly assesses whether improved weather conditions, rather than the hybrid seed’s drought resistance, caused the yield improvement.

We would like to know if there's any other factor that could have lead to better yield across all seed variety.

(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?
[Seems irrelevant]
(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?
[Usage of last 2 years seems irrelevant and in case of weather changes, all seeds would react the same]
(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?
[If all other things same, the hybrid plant crops yields were more than it can be attributed to the seeds]
(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?
[Seems irrelevant]
(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?
[Seems irrelevant]

The answer is option B.

Given: The hybrid seeds have improved the crop yields and the question is which would strengthen to know that the new seeds were the reason to improve the crop yields.

A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds? --> tempting, but the argument is not talking about the farmers expenditure.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years? -->. Since we are talking about the drought resistance of the seeds, we need to know the weather patterns to know the seeds were really effective in this process.

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement? --> We don't have to know which yielded more, we just need to know why the yield was high.

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds? --> Again, don't need

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent? --> Out of scope

Evaluate question.
Conclusion: Crop yields can properly be attributed to the new drought resistance quality of the hybrid seed.

want to find something for which one ans strengthens and other weakens the claim.

Option D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?
YES - then this weakens the claim - as it says better yield is not because of hybrid seeds alone.
maybe there is some kind of synergy b/w these seeds which results in higher yields (like symbiotic relationship)

NO - this strengthens it. If no other seeds are used and yield has increased, it clearly is because of hybrid seeds.(at least more probable)

PS: i did use process of elimination to confidently reject all other options

(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?

• While this is useful for understanding the economics of seed purchasing, it doesn't directly address the issue of whether the improved yields are due to the new seed’s drought resistance. This information alone would not help assess the cause of the yield improvement.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?

• This is crucial for determining if improved crop yields are due to more favorable weather conditions (such as increased rainfall) rather than the drought resistance of the new hybrid seed. If the weather has improved, it might be the primary reason for the increased yields, not the seed itself. Therefore, this would be very helpful for assessing the cause of the improvement.

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?

• This could help identify if the hybrid seed is responsible for a significant portion of the yield improvement. However, it does not directly address whether the improvement is due to the drought resistance specifically, so it is not the most helpful in assessing the cause of the improvement.

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?

• This could provide insight into how farmers are using the new hybrid seeds and whether the adoption is widespread. However, it doesn't directly address the question of whether the yield improvement is due to the drought resistance of the new seed, so it is not the most relevant question for assessing the cause of the improvement.

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?

• This question is interesting from an agricultural standpoint, but it does not directly address the specific cause of the yield improvement after the introduction of the hybrid seed. It focuses on farming practices rather than the effectiveness of the new seed.

Conclusion:
The most helpful option to assess whether the improvement in crop yields can be attributed to the drought-resistant quality of the hybrid seed is
(B), as it examines whether weather changes, particularly rainfall, could have contributed to the yield improvement, helping to isolate the effects of the hybrid seed itself.

IMO B

To answer this evaluate the argument question we need to identify which piece of information would be most helpful in determining whether the improvement in crop yields can be attributed to the drought-resistance quality of the new hybrid seed lets analyze each option :

(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?
This information is not relevant to evaluating the effectiveness of the new hybrid seed. The cost of seed doesn't directly relate to their drought resistance or yield improvement.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?
This is the most relevant piece of information. If there has been a significant increase in rainfall, it could explain the improved crop yields rather than the drought resistance quality of the new seeds. Conversely, if rainfall has remained low or decreased, it would strengthen the argument that the new hybrid seeds are responsible for the improvement

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?
While this might seem relevant, it doesn't directly address the drought-resistance quality of the new hybrid seed. The question assumes that the new hybrid seed is responsible for the improvement and doesn't help evaluate this claim

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?
This information could be somewhat useful, but it doesn't directly address the main question of whether the yield improvement is due to the drought-resistance quality of the new seeds

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?
This information is not directly relevant to evaluating the effectiveness of the new hybrid seed. The types of farms don't help us determine if the yield improvement is due to the new seed's drought resistance

The correct answer is (B) knowing whether there has been a significant change in rainfall would be mot helpful in evaluating whether the improvement in crop yield can be attributed to the drought resistance quality of the new hybrid seed if rainfall increased it could explain the yield improvement without crediting the new seed if rainfall remained low or decreased it would strengthen the argument that the new hybrid seed's drought resistance is responsible for the improved yields

(A) Author hasn't mentioned or compared the cost of hybrid or traditional seeds hence we can't even use this fact in anyway.
(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years? This would prove the point that in drought conditions or similar conditions hybrid seeds were better than the traditional counterparts.
(C) While true, it could be due to better rainfall this year in some regions owing to which yield may be improved.
(D) This won't help us to justify the advantage of hybrid over the traditional, since we couldn't isolate the results.
(E) Has no mention of hybrid crops.

Hence (B)

It would be most helpful to find out which of the following in order to assess whether the improvement in crop yields can properly be attributed to the new drought resistance quality of the hybrid seed?

One assumption before looking at the option choices, would be that is there any other external factor which could have contributed to better overall yield taking the credit away from the new hybrid seed - Any option revolving around this idea would be a good contender.

(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds? We are not concerned with the economical impact of purchasing seeds, so this is out of scope.
(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years? This seems to be hitting close to our assumption that if rainfalls impacted the overall yield leading to an increase then that takes away credit from the hybrid seeds, so this is a strong contender which must be answered to logically conclude the given argument
(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement? Something good to know, but as we are told that there was an overall increase after using hybrid seed, this fails to consider any strong relation with any parallel impacting scenarios.
(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds? May be or may not be but that's irrelevant to the overall increase as every farmer would have seen different type of results if traditional seeds were predominantly used over hybrid seeds.
(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent? This again doesn't help in determining the cause for improvement.

Answer: B

B) - Correct. If there has been a significant change in rainfall patterns then it might mean that the improved crop yield is because of rain, and not the hybrid seed
A) Expenditure is irrelevant
C) - We dont need to know if hybrid seeds accounts for greatest improvement, even if it accounts for some improvement then hybrid seed can be attributed to the improvement. Furthermore this is irrelevant because the question clearly says after adopting hybrid seed.
D) Even if they do, we cant link this to the improvement. Doesnt help us evaluate effectiveness of hybrid seed.
E) Irrelevant in evaluating effectiveness of the hybrid seed

To assess whether the improvement in crop yields can be properly attributed to the new drought resistance quality of the hybrid seed, we must determine whether other factors (such as weather conditions) could have contributed to the improvement. Specifically, if weather conditions, particularly rainfall, have changed significantly, they could independently explain the improvement in yields, making it unclear whether the hybrid seed's drought-resistant quality was the key factor.


(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?
This information is unrelated to assessing whether the hybrid seed's drought resistance was responsible for the yield improvement.
Irrelevant.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?
If rainfall has increased significantly, it might explain the improved yields, reducing the likelihood that the drought resistance of the hybrid seed is the key factor. Determining this is critical to attributing the improvement to the seed.
Highly relevant.

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?
While this could provide insight into which seeds contributed most to the improvement, it does not directly help assess whether the drought-resistant quality of the hybrid seed was responsible for the improvement.
Partially relevant but insufficient.

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?
This might help understand the extent of hybrid seed adoption but does not address whether the improved yields are due to the drought-resistant quality of the hybrid seed.
Irrelevant.

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?
This information could provide context about farming trends but does not directly help assess the impact of the hybrid seed's drought-resistant quality on yield improvements.
Irrelevant.

A. The cost of seed is unrelated to the effectiveness of the hybrid seed in improving yields. INCORRECT

B. If the rainfall has increased or draught conditions have eased then improved yields might be due to improved weather conditions, if the weather has stayed the same then the hybrid seeds draught resistant quality did wonders. CORRECT

C. This helps identify the seed that contributed most to the yield increase, but does not help determine the factor that led to improvement. INCORRECT

D. This might help with adoption rate of hybrid seeds but does not assess whether the improvement can be attributed to hybrid seeds. INCORRECT

E. The distribution of farms does not help assess whether the improved yields resulted from hybrid seeds. The distribution could be true before the intro of hybrid seeds, yet there was an improvement. INCORRECT

Answer B.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?
If there was a significant increase in rainfall during the period when the new seeds were used, the improved yields could be attributed to the increased rainfall and not necessarily the drought resistance of the seeds. By investigating weather patterns, the researcher can isolate the impact of the seed itself.


(A) Seed expenditure: This doesn't directly relate to the cause of improved yields.
(C) Largest proportion of yield improvement: This might be interesting but doesn't address the core question of whether drought resistance is the primary factor.
(D) Continued use of traditional seeds: While relevant, it doesn't directly isolate the impact of the new hybrid seed.
(E) Farm specialization: This information is not directly relevant to the cause of the improved yields.

The most important question is
(B): Has there been a significant change in local weather patterns, particularly rainfall, in the last two years?
If there has been more rain, it could explain the better yields, not just the new seeds.

The other options are less critical because they don't directly address the possibility of weather being the cause of the improved yields.

Conclusion: After adopting the new hybrid seed, crop yields significantly improved across the country.

Assumption: No change in circumstances.

(A) What proportion of the farmers' total expenditure is spent on purchasing seeds?

The proportion of farmer's expenditure is not relevant. We need to find an option that helps evaluate whether there has been any change in circumstances.

(B) Has there been a significant change in the local weather patterns, particularly in rainfall amounts, in the last two years?

Correct.
If the answer is Yes = Weakens the argument
If the answer is No = Strengthens the argument

(C) Among all the crops planted, which seed type accounts for the largest proportion of the yield improvement?

The information is not relevant. Even if the hybrid seeds do not contribute to the largest proportion of yield improvement, we can't disregard the contribution. Eliminate C.

(D) Do any farmers continue to use traditional seeds along with the new hybrid seeds?

Out of Scope. The fact any some farmers may use traditional seeds along with hybrid seeds has no bearing on the argument. Eliminate D.

(E) Are there more farms specializing in crops that are traditionally drought-resistant or in those that are typically more water-dependent?

The information is irrelevant to draw the conclusion. Hence, we can eliminate E.

Option B