Food Resources and Crop Improvement

Food Resources

• All living organisms require food, including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
• Both plants and animals are major food sources.
• Efforts are continually made to improve agricultural and animal husbandry practices to increase food production to accommodate growing populations.
• India's large and growing population requires significant grain production increases.
• Intensified farming is necessary due to limited arable land.
• Sustainable practices in agriculture and animal husbandry are essential to maintain environmental balance.
• Food security depends on both availability and affordability of food.
• Increasing farmer incomes supports food security.
• Scientific management practices, mixed farming, intercropping, and integrated farming (combining agriculture with livestock, poultry, or fisheries) can increase production.

Crop Improvement

• Crop yield improvement involves three stages:
  • Selecting high-yielding seeds.
  • Nurturing crop plants effectively.
  • Protecting crops from damage.
• Crop variety improvement focuses on creating higher-yielding, disease-resistant, and quality varieties through breeding and genetic modification.
• Hybridisation creates genetically dissimilar plant varieties.
• Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) include genes that provide desired characteristics to improve yield.

Crop Production Management

• Crop production management utilizes various approaches for high yield and efficiency, including different types of farming.
• Correct nutrient management and application are crucial in maintaining soil fertility.
• Macronutrients (required in large quantities) include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
• Micronutrients (required in smaller amounts) include iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and chlorine.
• Soil, water, and air are the main sources of plant nutrients.
• Manure supplies organic matter and nutrients, while fertilizers supply essential macronutrients.
• Sustainable approaches include crop rotation and intercropping to maintain soil fertility and balance.

Crop Protection Management

• Field crops are exposed to weeds, insect pests, and diseases.
• Weed control includes mechanical removal and preventive methods like crop rotation and timely sowing.
• Insect and disease control methods include using insecticides and fungicides.

Irrigation

• India's agriculture is primarily rain-fed.
• Irrigation is essential to boost yields from various water sources like wells, canals, rivers, and tanks.
• Different irrigation methods are used based on available water resources.
• Rainwater harvesting and watershed management are crucial to increase water availability.

Cropping Patterns

• Mixed cropping involves growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same land.
• Intercropping involves growing two or more crops in a pre-planned succession (in alternating rows).
• Crop rotation is growing different crops in a pre-planned sequence to maintain soil fertility and reduce pest and disease outbreaks.

Animal Husbandry

• Animal husbandry involves scientific management of animals such as livestock, including feeding, breeding, and disease management.
• Milk and meat demands increase with population growth.
• Improving livestock breeds, including their care, is important.
• Cattle are important for milk production and farm labor (draught animals).
• Poultry (chickens and ducks) are raised for meat or egg production, depending on the breed.
• Honey production comes from beekeeping. Beekeeping is a source of honey and wax.

Fish Production

• Fish are a significant source of protein.
• Fish is obtained through capture fishing, mariculture, and aquaculture.
• Fish farming techniques utilize both marine and freshwater environments.
• Composite fish culture practices involve growing different fish species together in a single body of water to maximize resource utilization.

This quiz explores the importance of food resources for living organisms, emphasizing the roles of agriculture and animal husbandry in food production. It discusses the necessity for sustainable practices to achieve food security and improve crop yields to meet the demands of a growing population.