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IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD RESOURCES

To fulfil the need of food to geometrically growing population, the various practices involved in crop
production should be more scientific. Till now following revolutions to increase food, fish, milk and
oil production have been successful with due efforts made by scientist.

1. Green revolution: for increase in food grain production.

Father of green revolution –
Father of green revolution in India – Mr. M.S.Swaminathan
2. Blue revolution: for increase in fish production.
3. White revolution: for increase in milk production.
4. Yellow revolution: for increase in oil production.
5. Golden revolution: for increase in pulse production.

Different types of crop:

On the basis of season in which they are grown:
(i) Kharif crop: grown in rainy season (from June to October)
e.g. – Paddy, Soya bean, Arhar, Maize, Cotton, Urad, Moong etc.
(ii) Rabi crop: grown in summer season (November to April)
e.g.- Wheat, Gram, Peas, Mustard, Linseed
“They are also called “summer season crop”.

To obtain higher yield from farmland following three systems are being used:
1. Crop variety improvement.
2. Crop production management.
3. Crop protection management.

1. CROP VARIETY IMPROVEMENT:

The first and foremost important step to improve the crop yield is to improve the variety of crop which
has following characteristics i.e. crop variety improvement is done for the following purposes:

1. Higher yield.
2. Better quality.
3. Biotic & abiotic resistance i.e. disease, insects & pest resistance.
4. Desirable agronomic characters for specific crops like dwarfness, intensive branching, more
tillering & increased fertiliser responsiveness.
5. Wider adaptability: developed improved crops help in stabilizing crop production under
different climatic conditions.
6. Early maturation(ripening)
7. Better response to fertilisers.

Crop variety can be improved by plant breeding. Plant breeding can be done either by selection or
hybridisation.
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Hybridisation is the crossing of two plants differing from each other genetically in one or more
characters.
By hybridisation it is possible to combine all the good characters in a single variety and to exploit &
utilise the hybrid vigour.

2. CROP PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Includes - Nutrients requirement, Irrigation

& Cropping pattern.

(i) NUTRIENT REQUIREMENT: There are two types of nutrients required by the plants

(a) Macronutrients: needed by the plants in large amount. E.g.- N2, P, K, Ca,Mg, S
(b) Micronutrients: needed by the plants in very small amount.e.g. - Fe, Cu, Zn, Bo, Mo, Cl.

Sources of plant nutrients:

Air – Carbon, Oxygen

Water – Hydrogen
Soil – N2, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Bo, Zn, Co, Mo, Cl
“Most important nutrients needed for growth of plants are N2, P, and K”.
Differences between Manures & Fertilisers:

1. Is a salt or Organic compound containing

essential part of nutrients.
2. It is nutrient specific i.e. it contain much
2. It is not nutrient specific and tends to higher amount of particular nutrients and
remove general deficiency of the soil. are used to remove particular deficiency of
the soil.
3. It adds humus to the soil. 3. It does not add any humus to the soil.
4. Nutrients present in the manure are absorbed
5. Since it is soluble in water it is readily
slowly by the crop since it is not soluble in
absorbed by plants.
water.
6. It is voluminous and bulky so it is
6. It is compact so it is easy to store, transport
inconvenient to store, transport, handle and
and apply to crops.
apply to the crop.

Disadvantages of fertilisers:
1. They are expensive.
2. It does not add any humus to the soil.
3. In a long run it destroys the soil texture making it infertile.
Types of manure:
1. Farm-yard manure (FYM): Consists of rotted vegetable and animal refuse.
2. Compost manure: It mainly consists of rotted vegetable and animal refuse.
3. Green manure: In preparing green manure a quick growing crop is cultivated and ploughed
under to incorporate into the soil. E.g.- Sunhemp, Dhaincha, Gur etc.
Advantages of manure:
1. It enriches soil with nutrients.
2. It adds organic matter to the soil which improves the texture and increase water holding
capacity of the soil.
3. It provides food for soil organisms.
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Limitations of manure:
1. It is voluminous and bulky so it is inconvenient to store, transport, handle and apply to the
crop.
2. The nutrients of manure are released slowly.
3. They are not nutrient specific.
BIO-FERTILISERS: Living beings used to increase the soil fertility are called bio-fertilisers.
e.g.- Anabaena, Nostoc, Rhizobium, Blue-green algae, Azollaetc etc.
(ii) IRRIGATION:
The technique of providing water to the crops in the fields by means of Canals, Reservoir, Wells
and Tube-wells etc is called irrigation.

Importance of irrigation:
1. Irrigation water supplies two essential elements to crops i.e. Hydrogen and Oxygen.
2. Moisture available in the soil leads to germination of seeds.
3. Water made available to field by the process of irrigation helps in absorption of nutrients by
plants from the soil.

Irrigation System: The design equipment and technique of replenishing the soil water deficit by
applying irrigation water is referred to as irrigation system.
Requirement of good irrigation system:
1. There should be minimum or no wastage of water.
2. It should be inexpensive and economically justifiable.
Types of irrigation system: Canal system, Tanks, Wells, River valley system.

(iii) CROPPING PATTERN: Following ways of growing crops can be used to give
maximum benefits

1. Mixed cropping
2. Inter cropping
3. Crop rotation

Mixed Cropping: The process of growing two or more different crops together in the same piece
of land is called mixed or multiple cropping.

e.g. - Cotton & ground nut, Maize & Urad, Rice with Jowar or Maize, Cotton with Jowar or Red
gram or Coriander etc, Wheat with Mustard.
Advantages of mixed cropping:

1. Multiple cropping saves time and labour of farmers.

2. It helps in optimum utilisation of the soil.
3. It avoids depletion of soil nutrients due to different nutrient requirement of different crops in
the same field.
4. The waste material and product released by one crop may be beneficial to the other crop in
mixed cropping.
5. When two crops of different nature are grown simultaneously, risk of total crop failure is
minimised due to uncertainty in monsoon.
6. It results in increase in yield because growing of legume crop along with cereals will
increase the yield of cereals due to coverage of nitrogen deficiency in soil.
7. Minimise pest damage because a particular type of plant is infected by a particular type of
pest.
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Inter Cropping: is the growing of two or more crops simultaneously in the same field in definite
row pattern.

A few rows of one crop alternate with a few rows of a second crop. Crops are selected in a
fashion that their nutrients needs differ. E.g. - Soyabean + Maize, or Bajra + Lobia(Cow pea)

Advantages of inter cropping:

1. It ensures maximum utilization of nutrients.

2. It checks spreading of pests and disease to all plants.
3. Both crops can give better returns.

Crop rotation: the process in which different types of crops are grown alternately in the same
field is called crop rotation.

Advantages of crop rotation:

1. Improves the fertility of the soil and results in the increase in the food production.
2. It helps in pest control.
3. It improves crop quality.
4. It keeps the land occupied with greater part of time with crops.

3. CROP PROTECTION MANAGEMENT: It includes protection of the growing crops

and harvested crops.

Weeds, insects, pests and diseases infest the field crops. It can be controlled by adopting following
methods:-

1. To grow resistant verities.

2. Optimum time of sowing the crops.
3. Crop rotation and cropping systems.
4. Deep ploughing in summers to kill weeds, pathogen etc. i.e. summer ploughing.

Weed control:
Weeds are unwanted plants which grow of their own along with crop plants.
e.g. - Xanthium (gokhroo), Parthenium (gajar ghas), Cyprinus rotundus (motha), Opuntia etc.
The growth of weeds is harmful because of the following reasons:
1. The weeds consume a lot of nutrients, sunlight, water and fertilizers thereby reducing crop
production.
2. It occupies space meant for crop thereby reducing crop yield and lower the quality of food grain.
3. The weeds spread very fast because they produce a large quantity of seeds.

Weeding: The process of removing weeds from a crop field is called weeding. It can be done by
following methods:
1. Removal by hands.
2. Removal by instruments like trowel (khurpa)
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3. By using chemicals called weedicides. Eg-2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid),

Butachlor, Atrazine, Isoproturon, Fluchloralin etc.

4. Control of weed by biological methods: in this method some selective insects or other
organisms are put into the crop field having weeds. These insects or organisms selectively
destroy the weed plants without harming the crop plants. Eg- Cochineal insects are used to
remove weeds called Opuntia.

Cultural methods: Proper seed bed prepration , timely sowing of crops, inter cropping & crop
rotation control the weeds growth.

Storage of grains:
Need for safe storage:

1. Ensures availability of grains throughout the years.

2. It facilitates distribution to far away places of a country.
3. Grains are harvested once in a year, however due to fixed eating habits they are needed
regularly throughout the year.
4. It helps in making buffer stocks for emergency periods.
5. For surplus food, if available , storage is required.
Modes of storing of grains:

1. Perishable food material: the food material which gets spoiled easily on keeping for some
time at room temperature is called Perishable food. E.g.- fruits, vegetables, fish, meat,
milk, etc. they can be stored in cold-storage.
2. Non- Perishable food material: The food materials which don’t get spoiled even on keeping
for long time at room temperature are called Non- Perishable food material. These contain
very less amount of water and are alsao called dry food. E.g. - foodgrains, wheat-flour,
sugar, spices, etc. they can be stored by dry storage methods.

Non-perishable food materials are stored on a commercial scale in gunny bags or in grain silos.
Animal husbandry
The science of rearing, feeding, caring, breeding and disease control of animals is called animal
husbandry. Main elements of animal husbandry are:

1. Proper feeding of animals.

2. Providing fresh water and good shelter to animals.
3. Proper health and protection against diseases.
4. Proper breeding of animals.

Need for animal husbandry: To ensure proper nutrition to our growing population

Advantages of animal husbandry:

1. Increased milk production through cattle farming.

2. Increased egg production through cattle farming.
3. Improvement of quality of meat through fish farming, pig farming, goat farming etc.
4. Proper utilization of animal waste.
5. To produce more honey and bees wax through bee keeping.
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On the basis of utility animals have been categorized into following four types:
1. Milch (milk-yielding) animals: e.g.- cow, buffalo, goat
2. Meat and Egg-yielding animals: e.g.- goat, sheep, pig, fish, chicken, duck, etc
3. Draught (working) animals: e.g.- horse, bullock, camel, donkey, mule, elephant
4. Hair and skin: yielding animals; e.g.- sheep, goat, rabbit, cow, buffalo etc.
5.

CATTLE FARMING
Cattle farming is done for two purposes: - milk production and bullock labour (e.g.- tilling,
irrigation, and carting).

Breeds of cattle:

Indigenous breed:
Milch breed: e.g. - Gir,Sahibal, Red Sindhi, Deoni etc.
Draught breed: e.g. - Nageri, Hallikar, Malvi etc.
Dual purpose breed: e.g. - Deoni, Sahibal, Kankrej, tharparkar, Dangi etc.
Breeds of Indian buffalo: e.g. - Murrah, Nagpuri, Mehsana, Jaffrabadi, Surti, Bhadawari, Nilli,
Ravi etc.
Exotic breed of milch cow: eg- Holstein-Friesien(Holland), Jersey(Island of Jersey of England),
Ayrshire (Scotland), Brown-Swiss(Switzerland), Red Dane(Denmark), etc.

Cross breeds of cow:- eg- Karan-Swiss, Karan-Fries, Frieswal, Brown Swiss-Sahiwal, Jersey-
Sindhi, Ayrshire-Sahiwal, Karan-Swiss etc.

Feeding of cattle:
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The animal feed is of two types:

Roughage: contains large amount of fibres with low nutrition. Eg- hay, fodder, silage, legumes like
barseem, lucrene, cowpea; etc. it also includes fodder grasses, like Napier grass, Guinea grass and
Elephant grass.

Concentrate: They are rich in protein and other nutrients. It contains mixture of cereals, like maize,
jowar, broken grass, rice polish, cotton seed, molasses, oilseed cake etc.

The animal food requirement is divided into two categories:

1. Maintenance requirement: which supports the basic function of the life?

2. Milk- producing requirement: which increase the milk production.

Farm management practice:

A good animal shelter is also important aspects of animal husbandary.a good animal shelter should
have following characteristics:

1. It should protect the animals from heat, cold, and rain and also from other animals.
2. It should be clean, dry, airy, and well ventilated.
3. It should have proper sunlight during the day.
4. It should have proper arrangement for clean drinking water.
5. It should be spacious so as to provide enough space for each animal to stay comfortabely.
6. It should have a sloping floor for the hygienic disposal of animal excreta.
7. Regular brushing of animals to remove dirt and loose hair.

Some common animal disease:

➢ Bacterial: Anthrax, Tuberculosis, Rinderpest.
➢ Viral: Rabies, Cowpox, Encephalitis, Foot & mouth disease.
➢ Fungal: Ring worm
➢ Worms: Ascariasis.
POULTRY FARMING
Poultry is the branch of animal husbandry concerned with rearing of birds for eggs and meet. Egg
laying birds are called LAYERS while meat-yielding birds are called BROILERS. It includes chickens
(fowls), ducks, turkeys, pigeons etc. among these fowls are most widely domesticated birds in India.

Poultry breeds:

Indigenous: Assel-has four popular breed Peela, Yakub, Nurie, & Kajal, Ghagus, Basara,
Chittagong

Exotic: white leghorn cock, white leghorn hen, rhode island red hen,

Cross bread: IBL-80, B-77, HH-260, etc.

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Desired traits for improved verities:

1. Quality and quantity of chicks.

2. Dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production.
3. Summer adaptability capacity / tolerance to high temperature.
4. Low maintenance requirement.
5. Reduction in size of egg laying birds.

Care should be taken to avoid mortality and to maintain feathering & carcass quality. To prevent
poultry from diseases following measures should be taken.

1. They should be kept in spacious, airy, and ventilated shelter.

2. The shelter should be clean properly and regularly.
3. Quick and hygienic disposal of excreta should be ensured.
4. Disinfectant should be sprayed regularly.
5. Animal should be vaccinated at regular interval to minimize it from common infection and
disease.

FISH FARMING (PISCICULTURE)

Pisciculture or fishery or fish farming involves the rearing and breeding of fish scientifically by man
in ponds, tanks, etc.

TYPE OF FISH FARMING:

On the basis of nature of source of fishes:

1. Capture fisheries: fish caught directly from their natural resources.

2. Culture fisheries: fish is cultivated in artificial water bodies called breeding ponds.

On the basis of nature of water sources:

1. Marine fisheries: it involves fish production in marine waters.

2. Inland fisheries: it involves fish production in fresh water systems and brackish waters like
estuaries and lagoons.

Breeds of fishes:

Indigenous breeds: - fresh water: katla, rohu, calbusa, mrigla. Salt water fish-chanos, mullets

Exotic breeds: - fresh water- common carp, mirror carp, Chinese carp, silver carp and grass carp

MARINE FISHERIES: Important marine food fishes are –Pomphrets,Mackererls, tuna, sardines,
Bombay duck, mullets, bhetki, pearl spots, etc. In addition sea weeds and shelfish (like prawns),
oyster, etc . This is called MARICULTURE.

COMPOSITE FISH CULTURE (POLYCULTURE): it is the method of fish farming in which

many types of fishes are cultured together into a pond or water body.
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Significance of Composite fish culture:

(i) All the zones of water body is exploited.

(ii) There will be no competition between different species because they have different habits e.g.-
catla is a surface feeder, rohu is a column feeder, cirrhinus is a bottom feeder.

(iii) These fishes help in growth of each other.

The fish capturing is now easier due to employing of modern technologies like echo-sounders and
use of satellites which are used to locate the fish shoals.

APICULTURE

Apiculture is the process of rearing of honey bees in the artificial hives, called apiaries, for the
production of honey at commercial level.

Species of honey bee:

Indigenous species: Apis dorsata commonly called rock bee or giant bee, Apis indica commonly
called Indian bee, Apis florae commonly called little bee etc

Exotic species: Apis mellifera commonly called Italian bee etc.

BEE FORAGE / PASTURAGE: it includes all those flowering plants which provide pollens and
nectar to the honey bees. The pasturage is different from region to region and depends upon the
geographical location. The quality and taste of honey depends upon the nature of flora from which the
nectar is collected.