Improvement in Food Resources

Improvement in Food Resources

• Various practices are used to increase crop, fish, milk, and oil production scientifically.
• Green Revolution: increase in food grain production.
  • Father of Green Revolution in India: M.S. Swaminathan
• Blue Revolution: increase in fish production.
• White Revolution: increase in milk production.
• Yellow Revolution: increase in oil production.
• Golden Revolution: increase in pulse production.

Different Types of Crops

• (A) Based on Nutrients*

• Cereals: high carbohydrate content, providing energy.

  • Examples: Wheat, Maize, Rice, Barley, Rye, Oats, Sorghum

• Pulses: rich in protein.

  • Examples: Gram (Chana), Black gram (Urad), Green gram (Moong), Pigeon gram (Arhar), Lentil (Masoor)

• Oil-yielding Plants: provide fatty acids.

  • Examples: Groundnut, Castor, Cotton, Sunflower, Coconut, Mustard, Sesame, Linseed, Niger

• Vegetables, Spices & Fruits: contain vitamins, minerals, and some protein, carbohydrates, and oil.

  • Examples: Spices - Ginger, Turmeric, Cloves, Pepper, Fennel, Coriander, Cumin

• Fiber-yielding Plants:

  • Examples: Cotton, Jute

• Beverages: low nutritional value, but stimulating.

  • Examples: Tea, Coffee

• Fodder Crops:

  • Examples: Berseem, Sudan grass, Oat grasses

• (B) Based on Growing Season*

• Kharif Crops: grown during the rainy season (June-October).

  • Examples: Paddy, Soyabean, Arhar, Maize, Cotton, Urad, Moong

• Rabi Crops: grown during the summer season (November-April).

  • Examples: Wheat, Gram, Peas, Mustard, Linseed

Crop Variety Improvement

• Key steps to improve crop yield:
  • Higher yield.
  • Better quality.
  • Disease and insect resistance
  • Increased tolerance to different weather conditions
  • Improved responses to fertilizers.
  • Hybridisation: combining desirable traits from different varieties
    • Intervarietal, Interspecific, Intergeneric
  • Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Crop Production Management

• Nutrient Requirements:
  • Macronutrients (needed in large amounts): Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulfur (S)
  • Micronutrients (needed in small amounts): Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Boron (B), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), Chlorine (Cl)
• Sources of Nutrients: Air (Carbon, Oxygen), Water (Hydrogen), Soil (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, B, Zn, Co, Mo, Cl).

Crop Protection Management

• Weeds: unwanted plants that compete with crops in the field
  • Weed control methods: manual removal, chemical herbicides (e.g., 2,4-D), biological control
• Insects, pests, and diseases: cause damage to crops. Methods include resistant varieties, optimum sowing time, crop rotation, deep ploughing, and using insecticides, fungicides, and other control methods.

Crop Rotation

• The practice of growing different types of crops alternately in the same field to maintain soil fertility and minimise pest issues.

Organic Farming

• Farming method that avoids chemical fertilizers and pesticides, reliant on crop rotation, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, and biological pest control instead.

Animal Husbandry

• The science of caring for and raising animals, focusing on feeding, providing shelter, health, and breeding.
  • Aims to provide a proper nutrition to our growing population.

Different Types of Cattle

• Milch animals: produce milk (e.g., cow, buffalo, goat).
• Meat and egg-yielding animals: produce meat and eggs (e.g., goat, sheep, pig, fish, chicken).
• Draught animals: used for work (e.g., horse, bullock, camel, donkey).
• Hair and skin-yielding animals: produce hair and skin (e.g., sheep, goat, rabbit).

Cattle Farming

• Purpose: milk production and bullock labour (tilling, irrigation).
  • Breeds of cattle (Indigenous and Exotic): Milk breeds, Draught breeds, Dual purpose breeds

Feeding of Cattle

• Feed types: roughage & concentrate
• Balanced feed is crucial for proper health and productivity.

Breed Improvement

• Natural breeding (random, controlled cross breeding)
• Artificial breeding (Insemination)

Poultry Farming

• Production of meat and eggs using birds (chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigeons).
  • Indigenous breeds and Exotic breeds.

Fish Farming (Pisciculture)

• Rearing and breeding fish in ponds, tanks, etc.
  • Capture fisheries, Culture fisheries
  • Marine, inland, and brackish-water fisheries

Composite Fish Culture (Polyculture)

• Rearing multiple fish species in the same water body

Explore the various practices that enhance the production of crops, fish, milk, and oil. This quiz covers significant initiatives such as the Green Revolution and its contributions to food security, along with the different types of crops and their nutritional benefits. Test your knowledge on agricultural advancements and crop varieties.