Genetics & Plant Breeding is one of 9 topics in the Grade 12 Agricultural Sciences CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. Which of these is a common plant breeding goal mentioned in this lesson?
Improved disease and pest resistance
Reducing the number of leaves on every plant
Making all plants exactly the same colour regardless of species
Eliminating the need for water entirely
Answer: Improved disease and pest resistance — Improved disease and pest resistance is a key plant breeding goal, alongside higher yield, drought tolerance and quality improvements.
Easy
2. Hybridisation in plant breeding refers to:
Deliberately cross-pollinating two different parent plants to combine desirable traits into a new hybrid offspring
Growing a single plant variety in complete isolation from all others
Removing all seeds from a crop before harvest
Applying fertiliser to increase soil nutrient content
Answer: Deliberately cross-pollinating two different parent plants to combine desirable traits into a new hybrid offspring — Hybridisation is the deliberate cross-pollination of two different parent plants (often distinct pure-breeding lines) to combine desirable traits in their offspring.
Medium
3. Name the generation of hybrid seed commonly bought fresh each season by commercial maize farmers, produced by crossing two specific inbred parent lines.
Answer: F1 — F1 hybrid seed, produced from two specific inbred parent lines, is what commercial maize farmers typically buy fresh each season rather than saving seed from their own harvest.
