IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD RESOURCES

Food is the fundamental requirement of all living organisms because they need energy to run all the life processes. Food consists of various components like Carbohydrate, Fat, Mineral, vitamins and Proteins. Each of the components has a specific role to play in our body and therefore a balanced diet is important for all of us.

Sustainable Development
The intensive farm practices in the past have led to overexploitation of our land resources. Furthermore excessive use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides has degraded the quality of our environment. The need of the hour is to increase the food production without further damage to the environment. In other words there is an urgent need for sustainable development i.e. a type of development that fulfils the needs of the present generation without compromising on the needs of the future generations.

IMPROVEMENT IN CROP YIELDS

Food crops Cereals pulses oil seeds Green vegetables, fruits and spices provide vitamins and minerals needed for proper functioning of human body.

Fodder crops: Some plants grown to feed the livestock. Examples: Berseem, oats, and Sudan grass

Requirements of crop growth

Climatic conditions

CROP
Kharif crop Grown in rainy season from June to October Examples:Paddy,soya bean, pigeon pea, maize, cotton, green and black gram

Rabi crop Grown during winter season from November to April Examples: Wheat, peas, mustard and linseed

Photoperiod
Crops also require light for different durations a phenomenon called Photoperiod for proper growth and flowering.

CROP IMPROVEMENT

Crop variety improvement

Crop production improvement

Crop protection improvement

CROP VARIETY IMPROVEMENT

Hybridization

Genetically Modified crops

Hybridization
Traditional method of crop improvement. This involves crossing two different plants which are genetically different.

Hybridization

Intervarietal between 2 different varieties

Interspecific between 2 species

Intergeneric between 2 different genera

Some important terms related to hybridization:

Variety: Group of plants characterized by specific desirable features. Species: Category of closely related organisms that can breed among themselves to give rise to fertile off springs. Genus: Group of closely related species.

GM or Genetically Modified crops

This is based on a newer method called genetic engineering. It involves cutting and transfer of specific genes to crop plants for their improvement. The method leads to rapid and desirable results but there are many ethical and safety concerns related to such food crops.

Objectives achieved through crop improvement programs

Higher yield per unit of land. Improved product quality. Resistance against Biotic stresses (disease causing organisms such as bacteria, fungi insects and nematodes) and Abiotic stresses (adverse climate and soil conditions)

 Reducing the crop maturity time. Tolerance to a wider range of climatic conditions. Better agronomic features- For example profuse branching is desirable in fodder crops; dwarf ness is desirable in cereal crops etc.

Crop production management

Nutrient management

Irrigation

Cropping patterns.

NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
Plants need nutrients which they collect from various sources. Source Air Water
Soil

Nutrient Carbon, oxygen Hydrogen, oxygen

Macro & micro nutrients.

Nutrients in the soil

Macronutrients needed in large quantities

Micronutrients needed in small quantities

Macronutrients
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium

Micronutrients
Iron Manganese Boron

Calcium Magnesium Sulpher

Zinc Copper Molybdenum Chlorine.

Methods to replenish nutrients in soil

MANURE: These are products of degradation of biological materials like animal excreta and plant waste .They contain large quantities of organic matter and nutrients. Importance of using manure:
They help in enriching soil fertility. Helps improving the soil texture by increasing water holding capacity in sandy soils and improving drainage ( by avoiding water logging) in clayey soil.

Types of manure

Compost and vermi-compost The source of this manure is varied and may include materials like livestock excreta (like cow dung), vegetable waste, etc

Green Manure: As the name suggests the source material in this case is plants only.

 FERTILIZERS
These are commercially produced sources of nutrients which supply Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) . Fertilizers are an important factor in higher yields in high cost farming. Since they are chemical in nature and are loaded with nutrients these must be used carefully in terms of quantity, dosage and time of application. Excessive use of fertilizers has led to contamination of water bodies. Continuous use of fertilizers also destroys soil fertility

ORGANIC FARMING
It is a system of farming with minimal or no use of chemicals as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides etc. and with maximum input of organic manure recycled farm waste use of bioagents such as Blue green algae as Biofertilizer, neem leaves to kill pests and healthy cropping systems. These are beneficial in insect, pest and weed control apart from increasing productivity in an environment friendly manner.

IRRIGATION
Wells Canals River lift system Tanks rainwater harvesting Watershed management

CROPPING PATTERNS
Mixed cropping is growing two or more crops together on the same piece of land. Intercropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in a definite pattern. Crop rotation is growing of different crops on a piece of land one after another in a preplanned manner.

CROP PROTECTION MANAGEMENT

Weeds: are unwanted plants in a crop field which reduce yields by competing with the crops for resources like water nutrients and sunlight. insect pests damage the crops in three ways:
cut root, stem and leaves suck sap from plants eat the developing fruits

 Bacteria, fungi and viruses cause various plant diseases affecting their productivity adversely

Preventive methods
use of various chemicals as insecticides, fungicides and weedicides. use of resistant varieties summer ploughing which involves ploughing of fields deep in summers to destroy weeds and pests.

STORAGE OF GRAINS
Factors causing lass of grains:
Biotic (insects, rodents, fungi mites and bacteria) Abiotic (inappropriate moisture and temperature in the place of storage)

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

 It is the procedure of scientifically managing the animal livestock. This involves feeding, breeding and disease control. Animal based farming includes rearing of cattle, goat, sheep, poultry and fish farming. With ever-increasing population and improvement in living standards, the demand for milk, eggs and meat is also increasing. Therefore good management of livestock has become the need of the hour.

CATTLE FARMING
main objectives of cattle husbandry
increasing milk production raising animals with better draught ability which are used in agriculture fields for tilling, irrigation and carting.

 Two main species of cattle in India:

Bos indicus (cows) Bos bubalis (buffalos).

Milk producing cows are called Milch or Dairy animals while animals raised for farm labor are called draught animals.

 Lactation period of the animal: the period of milk production after the birth of a calf. Methods of increasing the milk production is to increase the lactation period. Foreign breeds (Jersey, Brown Swiss) show long lactation periods while the local breeds (Red Sindhi, Sahiwal) show excellent disease resistance. These two are crossed to get animals with both the desired qualities.

Food requirements of dairy animals

Maintenance requirement is the food required to support the animal to live a healthy life. Milk producing requirementis the food needed during lactation period.

 Animal food includes:

roughage (which is largely fiber) concentrates (low in fiber and rich in proteins and other nutrients) .

Disease affecting cattle

A number of both internal (worms affecting stomach and intestine, fluke affecting liver) and external parasites (mainly affecting skin and causing skin diseases) damage cattle health. They may also get infected with pathogenic bacteria and viruses which quickly spread to all the animals in a farm. To prevent this vaccination is given to farm animals against major viral and bacterial diseases.

POLUTRY FARMING
This is undertaken with the objective of raising domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat. Two main varieties are raised in farms
layers for eggs broilers for meat

Cross breeding programs

The cross breeding programs between Indian (example-Aseel) and foreign(example leghorn) have focused on getting new varieties with the following features
Number and quality of chicks Dwarf broiler for commercial chick production Summer adaptation---adaptation to high temperatures Low maintenance requirements Reduction in the size of the egg laying bird with ability to utilize more fibrous cheaper diets made from agricultural by-products.

FISH PRODUCTION
Fish production includes the finned true fish as well as shell fish like prawns and molluscs. Fish is either obtained by natural resources (called capture fishing) or from fish farming(called culture fishing). Fish can be freshwater (living in rivers and ponds) or marine (living in sea). Fishing thus can be done both by capture and culture of fish in marine and freshwater ecosystems.

MARINE FISHERIES
Pomphret, Mackerel, Tuna, Sardines and Bombay duck are some of the common marine fish. Some such examples are Mullets, Bhetki and pearl spots and shellfish such as prawns, mussels, oysters and seaweeds. Oysters are also farmed for the pearls they make. As the fish resources are getting constantly depleted the increasing fish demand can only be met by such culture fisheries earlier called mariculture.

INLAND FISHERIES
This refers to fish farming in fresh and brackish water reservoirs (where seawater freshwater mix together, such as estuaries and lagoons).

Fish culture
Many a times fish culture is combined with rice farming and fish are grown in the water of paddy fields. More intensive fish farming is done in composite fish culture systems

Composite fish culture systems

A combination of 4-5 fish is used in a single fishpond such that they do not have the same feeding habits and hence do not compete with each other . This way all the food in the fishpond is also utilized. Catlas are surface feeders, Rohus feed in the middle layers of the pond and grass carps are bottom feeders.

BEE KEEPING
Honey is widely used for its nutritional and medicinal properties and that is why bee keeping or Apiculture has become an agricultural enterprise. In Addition to honey the beehives are a source of bee wax which also is used in a number of medicinal preparations. Commercial bee farms are called Apiaries.

Commonly grown varieties

Some of the commonly grown varieties are
Apis indica (Indian bee) Apis cerana (rock bee) Apis florae (the little bee.)

Italian variety
An Italian variety Apis mellifera has been introduced to increase honey production on a commercial scale. These have
higher honey production capacity, sting less, stay in beehives for long breed very well.