CHAPTER 9

STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCEMENT IN FOOD PRODUCTION

MULTIPLE- CHOICE QUESTIONS

1 The chances of contacting bird flu from a properly cooked (above 100∘ C ) chicken and egg are:
a. very high
b. high
c. moderate
d. negligible
2 A group of animals which are related by descent and share many similaritties are referred to as:
a. breed
b. race
c. varlety
d. species
3 Inbreeding is carried out in animal husbandry because it:
a. increases vigour
b. improves the breed
c. increases heterozygosity
d. increases homozygosity
4 Sonalika and Kalyan Sona are varieties of:
a. wheat
b. rice
c. millet
d. tobacco
5 Which one of the following is not a fungal disease?
a. Rust of wheat
b. Smut of Bajra
c. Black rot of crucifers
d. Red rot of sugarcane
6 In virus-infected plants the meristematic tissues in both apical and axillary buds are free of virus because:
a. the dividing cells are virus resistant
b. meristems have anti viral compounds
c. the cell division of meristems are faster than the rate of viral multiplication
d. Viruses cannot multiply within meristem cell (s).
7 Several South Indian states raise 2-3 crops of rice annually. The agronomic feature that makes this possible
is because of
a. shorter rice plant
b. better irrigation facilities
c. early yielding rice variety
d. disease resistant rice variety.
8 Which one of the following combination would a sugarcane farmer look for in the sugarcane crop?
a. Thick stem, long internodes, high sugar content and disease resistant
b. Thick stem, high sugar content and profuse flowering
c. Thick stem, short internodes, high sugar content, disease resistant
d. Thick stem, low sugar, conten, disease resistant
9 Fungicides and antibiotics are chemicals that:
a. enhance yield and disease resistance
b. kill pathogenic fungi and bacteria, respectively
 c. kill all pathogenic microbes
d. kill pathogenic bacteria and fungi respectively.
10 Use of certain chemicals and radiation to change the base sequences of genes of crop plants is termed:
a. recombinant DNA technology
b. transgenic mechanism
c. mutation breeding
d. gene therapy.
11 The scientific process by which crop plants are enriched with certain desirable nutrients is called:
a. crop protection
b. breeding
c. bio-fortification
d. bio-remediation.
12 The term 'totipotency' refers to the capacity of a:
a. cell to generate whole plant
b. bud to generate whole plant
c. seed to germinate
d. cell to enlarge in size.
13 Given below are a few statements regarding somatic hybridization. Choose the correct statements.
(i) protoplasts of different cells of the same plant are fused
(ii) protoplasts from cells of different species can be fused
(iii) treatment of cells with cellulase and pectinase is mandatory
(iv) the hybrid protoplast contains characters of only one parental protoplast.
a. (i) and (iii)
b. (i) and (ii)
c. (i) and (iv)
d. (ii) and (iii)
14 An explant is:
a. dead plant
b. part of the plant
c. part of the plant used in tissue culture
d. part of the plant that expresses a specific gene.
15 The biggest constraint of plant breeding is:
a. availability of desirable gene in the crop and its wild relatives
b. infrastructure
c. trained manpower
d. transfer of genes from unrelated sources.
16 Lysine and tryptophan are:
a. proteins
b. non-essential amino acids
c. essential amino acids
d. aromatic amino acids.
17 Micro-propagation Is:
a. propagation of microbes in vitro
b. propagation of plants in vitro
c. propagation of cells in vitro
d. growing plants on smaller scale.
18 Protoplast is:
a. another name for protoplasm
b. an animal cell
c. a plant cell without a cell wall
d. a plant cell.
19 To isolate protoplast, one needs:
a. pectinase
b. cellulase
 c. both pectinase and cellulase
d. chitinase.
20 Which one of the following is a marine fish:
a. Rohu
b. Hilsa
c. Catla
d. Common Carp.
21 Which one of the following products of apiculture is used in cosmetics and polishes:
a. honey
b. propolis
c. wax
d. Royal jelly
22 More than 70 per cent of livestock population is found in:
a. Denmark
b. India
c. China
d. India and China.
23 The agriculture sector of India employs about:
a. 50 per cent of the population
b. 70 per cent of the population
c. 30 per cent of the population
d. 60 per cent of the population.
24 33 percent of India's Gross Domestic Product comes from
a. Industry
b. Agriculture
c. Export
d. Small-scale cottage industries
25 A collection of all the alleles of all the genes of a crop plant is called:
a. germplasm collection
b. protoplasm collection
c. herbarium
d. somaclonal collection.

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1 Millions of chicken were killed in West Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Maharashtra recently. What was the
reason?
2 Can gamma rays used for crop improvement programmes prove to be harmful for health? Discuss.
3 In animal husbandry, if two closely related animals are mated for a few generations, it results in loss of
fertility and vigour. Why is this so?
4 In the area of plant breeding, it is important not only to preserve the seeds of the variety being cultivated,
but also to preserve all its wild relatives. Explain with a suitable example.
5 Name a man-made cereal? Trace how it was developed and where is it used?
6 Fill in the blanks :
7 A few statements are given below followed by a set of terms in a box. Pick the correct term and write it
against the appropriate statement
a. Mating of closely related individuals (i) Cross breeding,
within the same breed
b. Mating of animals of same breed but (ii) Inter-specific hybridization,
having no common ancestors on either side
for 4-6 generations
c. Mating of animals of two different species (iii) Out breeding,
d. Breeding of animals belonging to different breeds (iv) Out crossing,
(v) Inbreeding
8 What is meant by 'hidden hunger'?
9 Why are plants obtained by protoplast culture called somatic hybrids?
10 What is protoplast fusion?
11 Why is it easier to culture meristems compared to permanent tissues?
12 Why are proteins synthesised from Spirulina called single cell proteins?
13 A person who is allergic to pulses was advised to take a capsule of Spirulina daily. Give the reasons for the
advise.
14 What is aquaculture? Give example of an animal that can be multiplied by aquaculture.
15 What are the duties of a veterinary doctor in management of a poultry farm?
16 Would it be wrong to call plants obtained through micro-propagation as 'clones'? Comment.
17 How is a somatic hybrid different from a hybrid?
18 What is emasculation? Why and when is it done?
19 Discuss the two main limitations of plant hybridization programme.
20 Interspecific crosses are rare in nature and intergeneric crosses almost unknown. Why?
21 Differentiate between pisciculture and aquaculture.
22 Give two important contributions of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan.

23 The term 'desirable trait' can mean different things for different plants. Justify the statement with suitable
examples.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1 You are planning to set up a Dairy Farm. Describe the various aspects you would consider before you start
the venture.
2 It is said, that diseases are spreading faster due to globalisation and increased movement of people. Justify
the statement taking the example of H5N1 virus.
3 Explain the concept of the Blue Revolution.
4 A farmer was facing the problem of low yield from his farm. He was advised to keep a beehive in the
vicinity. Why? How would the beehive help in enhancing yield?
5 Life style diseases are increasing alarmingly in India. We are also dealing with large scale malnutrition in
the population. Is there any method by which we can address both of these problems together?
6 How can we improve the success rate of fertilisation during artificial insemination in animal husbandry
programmes?
7 What is meant by germplasm collection? What are its benefits?
8 Name the improved characteristics of wheat that helped India to achieve green revolution.
9 Suggest some of the features of plants that will prevent insect and pest infestation.
10 It is easier to culture plant cells in vitro as compared to animal cells. Why?
11 The culture medium (nutrient medium) can be referred to as a 'highly enriched laboratory soil. Justify the
statement.
12 Is there any relationship between dedifferentiation and the higher degree of success achieved in plant
tissue culture experiments?
13 "Give me a living cell of any plant and I will give you a thousand plants of the same type" Is this only a
slogan or is it scientifically possible? Write your comments and justify them.
14 What is the difference between a breed and a species? Give an example for each category.
15 Plants raised through tissue cultures are clones of the 'parent' plant. Discuss the utility of these plants.
16 Discuss the importance of testing of new plant varieties in a geographically vast country like India.
17 Define the term 'stress' for plants. Discuss briefly the two types of stress encountered by plants.
18 Discuss natural selection and artificial selection. What are the implications of the latter on the process of
evolution?
19 Discuss briefly how pure lines are created in animal husbandry.
20 What are the physical barriers of a cell in the protoplast fusion experiment? How are the barriers
overcome?
21 Give few examples of biofortified crops. What benefits do they offer to the society?

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1 You are a Botanist working in the area of plant breeding. Describe the various steps that you will undertake
to release a new variety.
2 (a) The shift from grain to meat diets creates more demands for cereals. Why?
(b) A 250 kg cow produces 200 g of protein per day but 250 g of Methylophillus methylotrophus can
produce 25 tonnes of protein Name this emerging area of research. Explain its benefits.
3 What are the advantages of tissue culture methods over conventional method of plant breeding in crop
improvement programmes?
4 'Modern methods of breeding animals and plants can alleviate the global food shortage'. Comment on the
statement and give suitable examples.
5 Does apiculture offer multiple advantages to farmers? List its advantages if it is located near a place of
commercial flower cultivation.
6 (a) Mutations are beneficial for plant breeding. Taking an example, justify the statement.
(b) Discuss briefly the technology that made us self-sufficient in food production.
7 Discuss how the property of plant cell totipotency has been utilised for plant propagation and
improvement.
8 What are three options to increase food production? Discuss each giving the salient features, merits and
demerits.
Answer and Solutions
 MCQ
1. d
2. a
3. d
4. a
5. c
6. c
7. c
8. a
9. b
10. c
11. c
12. a
13. d
14. c
15. a
16. c
17. b
18. c
19. c
20. b
21. c
22. d
23. d
24. b
25. a

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Millions of chicken were killed (culled) in West Bengal, Orissa and Maharashtra because they were found to be
infected with H5N1 virus the causal organism of Bird Flu
2. No radiation treatment has been used to create thousands of new plant varieties. These varieties are cultivated
as food and feed. Radiation is known to be much more disruptive for chromosomal structure than the
manipulations used to make transgenic plants. Such radiation treatment of crop plants has caused no
documented instances of ill-health among consumers despite having been used commercially for several
decades. For rice crops alone, hundreds of different mutant varieties have been developed mostly made by
using ionising radiations, like gamma rays.
3. The phenomenon being referred to is called ‘Inbreeding Depression’ and results in loss of fertility and vigour.
This happens because the recessive alleles tend to get together and express harmful effects in the progeny
4. Collection and preservation of all the different wild varieties, species and relatives of the cultivated species is a
important for effective exploitation of natural genes available in the population. e.g., sources of resistance
genes may be cultivated varieties, germplasm collections of the crop or wild relatives
5. Triticale. It was developed by crossing Triticum aestivum (wheat and Secale cereale (rye)
6. I Cellulase; II Somatic hybridization; III Potato; IV Somatic hybrid
7. (a) Mating of closely related individuals within the same breed is called inbreeding.
(b) Mating of animals of same breed but having no common ancestors on either side for 4-6 generations is
called outbreeding.
(c) Mating of animals of two different species is called interspecific hybridisation.
(d) Breeding of animals belonging to different breeds is called cross-breeding.
8. Consumption of food deficient in nutrients particularly, micronutrients, proteins and vitamins is called hidden
hunger
9. Plants obtained by protoplast culture are called somatic hybrids because they are formed by the fusion of isolated
protoplasts from two different varieties of plants, each having a desirable character, to obtain a hybrid protoplast
which can be further grown to form a plant.
10. The ability of protoplasts obtained from two different cells to fuse and form a hybrid protoplast is called
protoplast fusion.
11. Meristems have the capacity to divide continuously throughout their life. Their walls are thin and elastic to
facilitate the division, hence are suitable for tissue culture. Permanent cells lose their ability to divide and their
walls are thick. They have to differentiate to divide, hence are not easier to culture.
12. Single cell proteins are proteins obtained from unicellular organisms/microorganisms. Spirulina is one such
unicellular microbe. So, the proteins synthesised by Spirulina are called single cell proteins.
13. The person with allergies to pulses is advised to take Spirulina daily due to the following reasons
(i) It could be a substitute for protein rich pulses.
(ii) Spirulina is rich in beta-carotene and anti-oxidants besides all essential amino acids that help in improving
the allergic symptoms appeared due to consumption of pulses
14. When culturing of aquatic plants and animals is done in freshwater bodies, it is called aquaculture. Examples of
animals that can be multiplied by aquaculture are
Finfish — Tilapia, Carp, Catfish, etc.
Shellfish — Shrimps, Oysters, etc.

15. A veterinary doctor has to ensure proper and safe farm conditions to keep the animals disease-free and treat
them appropriately if diseased.
16. No, it is not wrong to call plants obtained through micro-propagation as clones because each of these plants
will be genetically identical to each other and the parent plant
17. Somatic hybrids are obtained by uniting protoplasts from two different varieties of plants and then further
cultured to form a novel plant. Compatibility between two plants is not a limitation. Any two protoplasts can be
united. Whereas, hybrids are obtained by crossing two selected parent plants of opposite sex. Many times
compatibility is a limitation for breeding.
18. Removal of stamens from the bisexual flower that is used as a female parent in plant hybridisation is called
emasculation. This is done to avoid unwanted self-pollination. This has to be done at bud condition before the
anthers dehisce.
19. The limitations of plant hybridisation programme include
(i) Availability of a limited number of identified disease resistant genes that are present in various crop
varieties or wild relatives.

(ii) Compatibility of parents.

(iii) Time consuming and tedious process.

20. In interspecific crosses, male and female animals of two different related species are mated. In some cases, the
progeny may combine desirable features of both the parents, and may be of considerable economic value, e.g.,
the mule.
An interspecific hybrid’s fertility varies. Many of Panthera (ligers, tigons leopons etc.) hybrid males are
infertile, while the female counterparts can breed with the species she contains (female ligers can breed with a
lion or a tiger to produce li-ligers or ti-tigers). These are rare in nature. Intergeneric hybridisation is the
crossing of two different animals/plants of different genus. It is almost unknown in nature. Intergeneric
hybrids more or less never form complete zygotes/embryos. These are sterile/infertile.
21. Fish farming in isolated water bodies is called pisciculture. Similarly, when culturing of aquatic plants and
animals is done in freshwater bodies, it is called aquaculture.
22. Contributions of Dr. MS Swaminathan are as follows
(i) Introduction of short, high yielding varieties of wheat in India.
(ii) Development of short duration, high yielding varieties of rice.

23. The desirable trait can be different for different for different plants. The breeders have tried to incorporate
these into crop plants. The list may be as follows
(i) Increased tolerance to environmental stress (salinity, extreme temperature, drought) e.g., hybrid maize,
jowar and bajra which are resistant to water stess.

(ii) Resistance to pathogens (viruses, fungi and bacteria) e.g., moong bean (resistance to yellow mosaic virus
and powdery mildew).

(iii) Increased tolerance to insect pests. e.g., a new variety of Brassica (rapeseed mustard) is resistant to aphids.
(iv) High-yielding and improved quality of crop plant. e.g., Atlas 66 used as a donor for developing wheat
varieties with improved protein content.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. The following aspects are required to be considered

(i) Good breeds with high-yielding potenital should be kept.
(ii) Cattle should be fed in scientific manner with good quality and quantity of fodder.
(iii) Animal shed should be kept clean, away from dirt and pollution.
(iv) Cattle and handler should be kept in hygienic condition.
(v) Regular visit by veterinary doctors with proper record is needed.
(vi) Cattle should be housed well with adequate water and conditions should be disease-free.

2. The avian flu (bird flu) is a current and significant issue involving the global environment as well as the health
of millions of people around the world. The H N 5 1 virus (influenza-A) occurs mainly in birds, is highly
contagious among them and can be deadly. The major global environmental issue that plays a large role in the
advancement of the H5N1 avian influenza virus is globalisaiton. i.e., increasing integration of countries.
Through globalisation, the progression of the H5N1 avian influenza virus occur through the world at a pace
faster than scientists can anticipate, and also technology and research cannot possibly keep up. Globalisation
will give theH5N1 avian influenza virus an opportunity to travel to various parts of the world without
impediment.

Once, it has developed the ability to spread easily from human to human, the major concern becomes the travel
of individuals around the world, particularly air travel. Through air travel, an infected individual could infect
dozens of people during their movement, those newly infected individuals would in turn, infect dozens more,
and so on and so forth.

3. The term ‘Blue Revolution’ refers to the remarkable emergence of aquaculture as an important and highly
productive agricultural activity. Aquaculture refers to all forms of active culturing of aquatic animals (including
fish) and plants, occuring in marine, brackish or freshwater
4. Bee keeping or apiculture is an important enterprise of agriculture concerned with the maintenance of hives of
honeybees for the commercial production of honey and wax. Bee keeping is a low investment, less problematic
and highly profitable cottage industry. The beehives when kept in the fields of sunflower, Brassica, apple and
pear, increase the pollination efficiency of flowering plants and improve the yields
5. The answer to address both these problems is called biofortification. This area looks at improving food quality
with respect to protein, oil, vitamin, micro nutrient and mineral content. The oils need to be rich in omega 3
fatty acids which are good for heart. Similarly, proteins should have more of lysine and tryptophan (essential
amino acids). Many varieties of maize, carrots and spinach have been released which fulfill the above criteria.
6. The technology is called MOET or Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer. During the procedure, a cow is given
hormonal treatment so that more than one ovule (6-8 eggs) is produced per cycle. After mating or artificial
insemination the embryos at 8-32 celled state are transferred to different surrogate mother cows. The method
has been successfully used for cattle, sheep, buffalo etc.
7. The collection of all the diverse alleles of all the genes of a crop plant is called germplasm collection. It is of
great benefits in plant breeding programmes as it offers, to the breeders, the entire of genes and alleles and the
characteristics which they express. The breeder selects the most favourable characters of a particular gene and
manipulates its transfer to a desirable parent.
8. i. Semi-dwarf nature
ii. Quick yielding feature

iii. High yielding feature

iv. Disease resistant feature

9. i. Increasing hair growth on aerial parts of plants.
ii. Rendering the flowers nectar less.
iii. Enabling plants to secrete insect killing chemicals (toxins).
10. It is easier to culture the plant cells in vitro as compared to animal cells because, the plant cells have the
property to grow into a new plant. This property of plant cell is termed as totipotency. This ability is limited in
animal cells.
11. Soil is the reservoir of water and plant nutrients. Similarly, culture medium or nutrient medium is the reservoir
of water and plant nutrients for plants being grown on culture medium. Soil may have higher or lower nutrient
content, and many nutrients may be missing. But in the culture medium, all the essential nutrients are supplied
as per need. Hence, the culture medium is richer in terms of nutrients for plants. Due to these reasons, the
culture medium can be called as a highly-enriched laboratory soil.
12. Yes, When a cell dedifferentiates once, it gets regressed back to its embryonic stage and then can again
differentiate into any form of tissue. So, the plant tissue culture can be more successful as any kind of tissue can
be produced even from differentiated cells.
13. “Give me a living cell of any plant and I will give you a thousand plants of the same type”, yes it is scientifically
possible by plant tissue culture.
Plant tissue culture is a technique to culture cells, tissues or organs of a plant on a nutrient medium under
sterile and controlled conditions for production of large numbers of the same plant in a short duration of time.
This process is known as micro-propagation and helps to produce a large number of plantlets in a short
duration which can be transferred to the crop field.
14. A breed is a specific group of animals or plants having homogenous appearance, behaviour and other
characteristics that distinguish it from other animals or plants of the same species, e.g., Afghan shepherd,
American bulldog are breeds of dog.
Species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. It can be defined as the largest
group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. e.g., lion, cow, dog are species.
15. Plants raised through tissue culture have the following benefits:
(a) A large number of clones can be produced in a shorter time span.
(b) Desirable characters can be easily selected through tissue culture.
(c) Somatic hybrids can be prepared using this method.
(d) High yield varieties can be produced from through tissue culture.
(e) A healthy plant can be recovered from a diseased plant.
16. Before the new plants are generated through plant breeding programs, they need to be evaluated for their yield
and other agronomic traits of quality, disease resistance, etc. The testing is done on the farmers’ field for at
least three growing seasons, at different locations in the country representing all the agroclimatic zones, where
 the crop is usually grown. The material is evaluated in comparison to the best available local crop cultivar
known as a check or reference cultivar
17. Stress is defined as the internal force per unit area that develops within a material when it is subjected to an
external force. It is a measure of the intensity of the internal forces acting within a deformed body.
Mathematically, stress (σ) can be expressed as:
σ=FA
where F is the force applied, and A is the area over which the force is distributed.
Stress can be classified into several types based on the nature of the force applied and the direction of the
stress. The main types of stress include:
1. Normal Stress: This occurs when the force is applied perpendicular to the surface of the material. It can be
further divided into:
- Tensile Stress: When the force tends to stretch or elongate the material.
- Compressive Stress: When the force tends to compress or shorten the material.
2. Shear Stress: This occurs when the force is applied parallel to the surface of the material. It tends to cause
the layers of the material to slide over each other.
3. Tangential Stress: This is another term often used interchangeably with shear stress, referring to the stress
that acts tangentially to the surface.
4. Longitudinal Stress: This is a type of normal stress that occurs along the length of a material, typically when
it is subjected to tensile or compressive forces.
Summary of Types of Stress
- Normal Stress: Perpendicular to the surface (includes tensile and compressive stress).
- Shear Stress: Parallel to the surface.
- Tangential Stress: Similar to shear stress, acting tangentially.
- Longitudinal Stress: Along the length of the material.

18. Natural selection:

The process by which nature selects the organisms which have variations that make them well adapted to their
surroundings and capable of reproducing is called natural selection. This process does not have direct
intervention of human beings.
Artificial selection:
In artificial selection, human beings select the organisms with desirable characteristics and breed them in a
controlled manner to produce offspring with desired traits. This is done to improve varieties of domestic
animals from wild ancestors.
Examples of desirable characteristics for which organisms are artificially selected over others are larger size of
grains and fruit in plants, disease resistance in both plants and animals, better milk yielding cows etc. Cows
with high milk yield are selected and bred with superior disease resistant bulls to obtain offspring showing
superior characteristics of both the parents.

Artificial selection and evolution:

Implication of artificial selection:
 Artificial selection leads to domestication of wild varieties. The domesticated fruits are larger with less
seeds than their wild counterparts, domesticated animals are more domicile than their wild counterparts.
 Artificial selection over the years have resulted in the formation of many types of breeds within a species.
For example, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower have been developed by artificial
selection and breeding from the same species of Brassica oleracea.
19. When breeding is between animals of the same breed, it is called inbreeding. If we want to evolve a pureline in
any animal, inbreeding (for 4-6 generation) is necessary. It also helps in accumulation of superior genes and
elimination of less desirable genes by increasing homozygosity
20. Cell wall is the most important physical barrier in such experiments. This can be overcome by treatment with
enzymes like cellulose and pectinase which have the ability to digest the cell wall and liberate the naked
protoplast surrounded only by the cell membrane.
21. Maize, wheat, rice, bathua, spinach, pulses have biofortified varieties. Maize hybrids have twice the amount of
amino acids, fortified wheat variety has high protein content, fortified rice has high quantity of iron.
Consumption of such biofortified foods will enrich the nutritive value of our common foods and will vastly
 improve public health. Instead of consuming different food items for obtaining different nutrients, if 2 or 3
nutrients can be incorporated into a single crop, it offers enormous benefits to human beings and may even
help cover come several nutrient deficiency disorders latent in our country.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. The steps in breeding a new genetic variety of a crop are

i) Collection of variability.
ii) Evaluation and Selection of parents.
iii) Cross hybridisation among selected parents.
iv) Selection and testing of superior recombinants.
v) Testing, release and commercialization of new cultivars.
(i) Collection.of variability:
a) Genetic variability is important.for any breeding programme.
b) Pre-existing genetic variability available in wild varieties, a species and relatives ofcrop species is collected
and preserved.
c) Evaluation of their characteristics is a pre-requisite for the effective exploitation of natural genes available in
the population population.
d) The entire collection of plants / seeds having all diverse alleles for all genes in a given crop is called
germplasm collection.
(ii) Evaluation and selection of parents
a) It is carried out by evaluating germplasm to identify plants with desirable combination of characters.
b) The selected plant is multiplied and hybridized.
c) By self-pollination, purelines are created wherever desired.
(iii) Cross hybridization among selected parents :
a) Cross hybridization is carried out to combine desired genetic characters from two different plants (parents).
b) Cross hybridization is a time consuming and tedious process as it involves collection of pollen grains from
the desired plants and other pollination techniques to incorporate desired traits.
c) It is also not certain the hybrids combine desired characters. The chances of desirable combination is usually
only one in few hundred to a thousand crosses carried out.
(iv) Selection and testing of superior combinants :
a) This step consists of selection of plants among the progeny of the hybrids with desired combination of
characters.
b) It yields plants that are superior to both of the parents. This is known as hybrid vigour/heterosis.
c) They are self pollinated for several generations till they reach a state of uniformity or homozygosity so that
characters will not segregate in the progeny.
V. Testing, release and commercialization of new cultivars:
a) Evaluation is done for newly selected lines for their yield and other agronomic traits of quality, disease
resistance, etc.
b) Selected plants, are grown in research fields and their performance is recorded under ideal fertilizer
application - irrigation and other crop management practices.
c) Testing of hybrid line is done in farmer.s field after evaluation.
d) After testing, the crop is grown at different locations in the country with different agroclimatic zones for at
least three growing seasons.
e) The tested material is evaluated in comparison to the best available local crop cultivar used as reference
cultivar.
f) Release of tested material is done in bulk after selection and certification.
2. (a) The shift from grain to meat diets creates more demand for cereals as it takes 3-10 kg of grain to produce 1
kg of meat by animal farming.
(b) This research is related to single cell protein. Microbes are being grown on an industrial scale as a source of
good protein. Microbes like Spirulina can be grown easily on materials like wastewater from potato processing
plants (containing starch), straw, molasses, animal manure and even sewage, to produce large quantities and
 can serve as food rich in protein, minerals, fats, carbohydrate and vitamins. Such utilisation also reduces the
environmental pollution

3. As traditional (conventional) breeding methods failed to keep pace with demand and to sufficiently provide
fast and efficient systems for crop improvement, another technology called tissue culture developed.
The advantages of tissue culture over conventional breeding are as follows
(i) It can be used to produce large number of plantlets within a short period by micropropagation.
(ii) All cells in the culture are derived from a single explant by mitotic division, therefore all have the similar
genotype and constitute a clone.
(iii) Tolerance to stress can be obtained by providing pollutants, toxins, salts, etc., in culture medium in
increasing dosage. The surviving healthy cells are selected for raising resistant plants.
(iv) Virus free plantlets can be obtained by meristem culture.
(v) Embryos which do not survive inside seeds can be grown by tissue culture to form new plants.
4. With ever increasing population of the world, enhancement of food production is a major necessity. Modern
biological principles as applied to animal husbandry and plant breeding have a major role in our efforts to
increase food production. These modern techniques include embryo transfer technology and tissue culture
techniques. Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET) is a programme for herd improvement in
animals like cattle, sheep, rabbits, buffaloes, mares, etc.
High milk-yielding breeds of female are bred with high quality meat-yielding (meat with less lipid) bulls to
increase herd size. It ensures good quality of progeny. It is also economic and time saving process to obtain the
desirable progeny.
The procedure for MOET is as follows
(i) A cow is administered hormones with FSH-like activity to induce follicular maturation and super-ovulation.
(ii) The cow produces 6-8 eggs instead of one egg produced normally.
(iii) It is now, either mated with an elite bull or artificial insemination is carried out.
(iv) When the fertilised eggs attain 8-32 cells stage, they are non-surgically removed and transferred to a
surrogate mother.
(v) The genetic mother can now be again super ovulated. Modern methods in plant breeding involves following
(i) Tissue culture is an in vitro technique of regeneration of a whole plant from any part of a plant (explant) by
growing it on culture medium under aseptic conditions.
(ii) Biofortification is the method for developing crops with higher levels of vitamins, minerals, proteins and
healthier fats to improve public health.
(iii) Single cell protein is an alternative protein source for animal and human nutrition from certain beneficial
microorganisms like Spirulina.
5. Yes, apiculture offers many advantages to farmers such as
(i) Honey produced by honeybees is a food of high nutritive value.
(ii) It is used in the indigenous system of medicine.
(iii) Honeybee also produces beeswax, which is used in the preparation of cosmetics and polishes of various
kinds.
If apiculture is done near a place of commercial flower cultivation it offers several advantages. Bees are the
pollinators of many crop species such as sunflower, Brassica, apple and pear. Keeping beehives in crop fields
during flowering period
(i) Increases pollination efficiency.
(ii) Improves the yield which is beneficial both from the point of view of crop yield and honey yield.

6. (a) It is possible to induce mutations artificially in plants through use of chemicals or radiations (like gamma
radiations), and then selecting and using those plants that have the desirable character as a source in breeding.
This process is called mutation breeding. In mung bean, resistance to yellow mosaic virus and powdery mildew
was induced by mutations.
(b) Traditional farming can only yield a limited biomass, as food for humans and animals. Better management
practices and increase in agricultural land area can increase yield, but only to a limited extent. Plant breeding
as a technology has helped increase production to avery large extent.
 Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of plant species in order to create desired
plant types that are better suited for cultivation, give better yields and are disease
resistant. This technology has given support to green revolution, which was responsible for not
merely meeting the national requirements in food production, but also helped us to
export it.
7. The capacity to generate a whole plant from any cell/explant is called totipotency. By application of these
methods it is possible to achieve propagation of a large number of plants in very short durations. This method
of producing thousands of plants through tissue culture is called micro propagation. Each of these plants will
be genetically identical to the original plant from which they were grown i.e. they are somaclones. Many
important food plants like tomato banana apple etc. have been produced on a commercial scale using this
method. Try to visit a tissue culture laboratory with your teacher to better understand and appreciate the
process.Another important application ef the method is the recovery of healthy plants from diseased plants.
Although the plant is infected with a virus the meristem apical and axillary is free of virus. Hence one can
remove the meristem and grow it in vitro to obtain virus-free plants. Scientists have succeeded in culturing
meristems of banana sugarcane potato etc.
8. Traditional farming can only yield a limited biomass as food for humans and animals. Better management
practices and increase agricultural land can increase yield, but only to a limited extent.
Following are the three options to increase food production
(a) Single Cell Protein
The biomass obtained from microorganisms can be treated or processed in industry to be used as food and is
called single cell protein.
Merits of Single Cell Proteins
(i) Its production reduces pollution as it uses organic wastes and industrial effluents.
(ii) It provides a protein-rich diet.
(iii) It fulfills the demand of protein for human diet and takes off the pressure on agriculture system.
Demerits of Single Cell Protein
(i) Sometimes the microbial biomass when taken as diet supplement may lead to allergic reactions.
(ii) Many types of microorganisms produce substances which are toxic to the humans and also to the animals.