medium · GMAT Verbal
An almond orchard replaced its fixed daily watering schedule with an irrigation system that releases water only when in-ground soil-moisture sensors detect that moisture has fallen below a threshold set for each growth stage. In the growing season after installation, the orchard's almond yield per acre rose by twelve percent compared with the previous season. The orchard's agronomist concludes that the sensor-triggered system raised yield by preventing the periods of water stress that had previously reduced nut development.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the agronomist's conclusion?
- Sensor logs show the system released extra water during the season's two dry stretches, precisely when soil moisture had previously fallen below the stress threshold.
- The sensor-triggered system cost substantially less to install than a fully automated drip-irrigation system with continuous flow monitoring would have cost the orchard.
- Almond prices at the regional market rose by roughly ten percent during the same growing season, reflecting strong regional demand for the crop that year.
- Orchard workers reported across several seasons that the new system required noticeably less manual labor to operate than the old fixed schedule had required.
- The orchard's total water usage for the season was roughly the same under the new system as it had been under the old fixed schedule.
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