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Difficulty: EasyPassage Assumptions and Underlying Premises

Read the following passage carefully:

"To build climate resilience among smallholder horticultural farmers in drought-prone districts, the State Agricultural Department recently launched a targeted grant program for solar-powered micro-irrigation systems. Under this initiative, farmers cultivating less than two hectares receive financial assistance to replace traditional diesel pumps with solar-powered drip irrigation kits. Policy advisers contend that substituting fuel-driven equipment with solar micro-irrigation will significantly boost net farm incomes by eliminating recurring fuel costs and enabling year-round cropping. However, the long-term viability of the policy depends on preventing the rapid depletion of local aquifers."

Based on the passage, evaluate whether the following statement represents an unstated but necessary premise underlying the proposed policy: The policy assumes that participating smallholder farmers have access to usable groundwater reserves during dry seasons.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is TRUE because the policy's main objective of year-round cropping via solar micro-irrigation logically requires that groundwater reserves are accessible during dry seasons.
The claim is TRUE. The policy advocates substituting diesel pumps with solar drip irrigation to facilitate year-round cropping. If groundwater reserves were absent during dry periods, the solar irrigation infrastructure would be useless for dry-season farming, defeating the project's central purpose. Using the negation test confirms that water availability during dry periods is a necessary underlying premise.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the author's primary argument and proposed policy goal.
The policy aims to increase smallholder farm incomes and enable year-round cropping by replacing diesel pumps with solar-powered drip irrigation kits.
Understanding the main claim is necessary before evaluating unstated assumptions.
2
Apply the negation test to the statement in question.
Negating the statement yields: 'Farmers do NOT have access to usable groundwater reserves during dry seasons.'
If negating a claim destroys the core logic of the policy, that claim is a necessary underlying assumption.
3
Evaluate the impact of the negated statement on the policy outcome.
Without dry-season groundwater, solar pumps cannot irrigate crops during dry periods, making year-round cropping impossible.
Since the policy fails without this condition, the statement is indeed a required underlying premise.

Key Concept

Identifying implicit premises and necessary assumptions in public policy passages using the negation test.
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Topics

Passage Assumptions and Underlying Premises

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