CHAPTER - 15

IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD
RESOURCES

CLASS :- IX
1) Need for increasing food production :-
Our population is more than one billion and it is still
growing. We will need more than a billion tonnes of grain
every year to feed this growing population.
Since increasing the area of land for cultivation is
limited, it is necessary to increase the production efficiency
of crops and livestock.
The production efficiency of crops and livestock can be
increased by adopting scientific management practices to
improve crop yield, undertaking mixed farming,
intercropping, and integrated farming practices like
combining agriculture with livestock, poultry, fisheries,
bee-keeping etc.
2) Different types of crops :-
Cereals like rice, wheat, maize, millets, sorghum etc. provide us
carbohydrates.
Pulses like peas, beans, grams, lentils etc. provide us proteins.
Oil seeds like ground nut, sesame, castor, mustard, linseed,
sunflower etc. provide us fats.
Vegetables, spices and fruits provide us vitamins and minerals along
with small amounts of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Fodder crops like berseem, oats or sudan grass are grown as food for
livestock.
Different crops require different climatic conditions, temperature and
duration of sunlight (photoperiods).
Kharif crops :- are crops grown during the rainy season from June to
October like paddy, soyabean, maize, pigeon pea, green gram, black
gram, cotton etc.
Rabi crops :- are crops grown during winter season from November
to April like wheat, gram, peas, mustard, linseed etc.
3) Improvement in crop yield :-
Crop yield can be improved by three main activities. They are :-
i) Crop variety improvement
ii) Crop production improvement
iii) Crop protection management

4) Crop variety improvement :-

Crop variety improvement is done by selecting good varieties of
crops. This is done by hybridisation. Hybridisation is the crossing
between genetically dissimalar plants to obtain crops having useful
characteristics like disease resistance, good quality and high yields.
Hybridisation may be intervarietal (between different varieties,
interspecific (between different species of the same genus) or
intergeneric (between different genera).
Another way of improving crop variety is by introducing a gene to
obtain the desired characteristic. This produces genetically modified
crops.
 Crop variety improvrment is done for the following :-
i) Higher yield :- To increase productivity of crop per acre.
ii) Biotic and abiotic resistance :- To increase resistance of
crops to biotic factors like insects, diseases etc. and
abiotic factors like draught, salinity, heat, cold etc.
iii) Change in maturity duration :- To reduce the duration
between sowing and harvesting so that farmers can grow
multiple crops during the year.
iv) Wider adaptibility :- To grow crops in different climatic
conditions.
v) Desirable agronomic characters :- Characters like
tallness and more branching are useful for fodder crops
and dwarfness (shortness) is desirable for cereal crops.
5) Crop production management :-
Crop production management includes i) Nutrient management
ii) Irrigation and iii) Cropping management
a) Nutrient management :-
Plants get nutrients from air, water and soil. There are sixteen
nutrients required by plants for their proper growth. Air supplies oxygen
and carbon dioxide, water supplies hydrogen and the remaining thirteen
nutrients are obtained from the soil.
Among the sixteen nutrients required by plants, six are required in
large quantities and are called macro nutrients.
The macro nutrients are :- nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium,
magnesium and sulphur.
The other seven are required in small quantities and are called micro
nutrients. Soil can be enriched by supplying nutrients in the form of
manures and fertilizers.
The micro nutrients are :- iron, magnesium, boron, zinc, copper,
molybdenum and chlorine.
 Manure :-
Manure is prepared by the decomposition of plant and animal waste.
It contains organic matter and nutrients. It helps to increase soil fertility.
It also helps to reduce use of fertilizers and recycle farm waste and
protects the environment.
There are two main types of manures. They are compost and green
manure.
Compost :- is prepared by the decomposition of plant and animal
waste in compost pits. Compost prepared by using earthworms is
called vermi-compost. Compost is rich in organic matter and nutrients.
Green manure :- Before sowing seeds in fields, some green plants
like sun hemp, gaur etc. are mixed in the soil by ploughing. These
plants turn into green manure which makes the soil rich in nitrogen and
phosphorus.
Fertilzers :-
Fertilizers are chemical substances made commercially. They supply
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and helps to increase crop yield.
Fertilizers should be used only in required amounts. Excessive use of
fertilizers can reduce soil fertility and also cause water pollution.
b) Irrigation :-
The supply of water to the crops is called irrigation. Water is
necessary for the proper growth of plants and helps to increase crop
yield.
Different kinds if irrigation systems are used to supply water to
agricultural land. They are wells, canals, rivers, tanks, check dams etc.
i) Wells :- There are two types of wells called dug wells and tube wells.
In dug wells water is collected from water bearing strata. In tube
wells water is collected from deeper strata.
ii) Canals :- In this system, canals receive water from reservoirs or
rivers and distributes it to fields.
iii) River lift systems :- In this system water is lifted from rivers to
irrigate fields close to rivers.
iv) Tanks :- These are small storage reservoirs which supply water to
fields.
v) Check dams :- These are used to stop rain water from flowing away
and helps to increase groundwater levels and reduce soil erosion.
c) Cropping patterns :-
Different ways of growing crops are used for maximum benefit.
These include mixed cropping, inter-cropping and crop rotation.
i) Mixed cropping :- is growing two or more crops simultaneously in
the same field. Eg :- wheat + gram, wheat + mustard, groundnut +
sunflower etc. This reduces the risk even if one crop fails.
ii) Inter-cropping :- is growing two or more crops simultaneously in the
same field in alternate rows. Eg :- maize + soya bean, millet + cow
pea etc. Crops with different nutrient requirements are selected. This
helps in better use of nutrients and prevents spreading of diseases
to all plants of the same crop.
iii) Crop rotation :- is growing different crops in the same field in
succession. Growing leguminous crops after growing cereal crops
helps to increase soil fertility. If crop rotation is done properly, two or
three crops can be grown in a year profitably.
6) Crop protection management :-
Crops in the field are damaged by weeds, insect pests and deases.
Weeds are unwanted plants which grow in the field. Eg :- Xanthium,
Parthenium, Cyperinus rotundus etc. They compete with the crop for
food, space and sunlight and use nutrients and reduce crop yield.
Insect pests cause damage to the root, stem and leaves, suck cell sap
and bore into stems and fruits. They can reduce crop yield.
Diseases in plants are caused by pathogens like virus, bacteria and
fungi and reduces crop yield.
Weeds, insect pests and diseases can be controlled by using chemicals
like weedicides, pesticides, fungicides etc. They are sprayed on crop
plants or used for treating seeds and soil. Since these chemicals are
poisionous, excessive use of these chemicals can cause environmental
pollution.
Storage of grains :-
The factors responsible for the damage and loss of grains are biotic
factors like bacteria, fungi, insects, rodents etc. and abiotic factors like
moisture and temperature in the place of storage. Before storage, the
grains are cleaned and dried in sunlight to remove moisture and the
storage places are fumigated to kill pests.
7) Animal husbandry :-
Animal husbandry is the scientific management of animal livetock including
their feeding, breeding and disease control.
Animal farming includes cattle, sheep, goat, poultry and fish farming.
a) Cattle farming :-
Cattle farming is done for two main purposes. They are for milk production and
farm labour. Milk producing females are called milch animals and those used for
farm labour are called draught animals.
Milk production depends on the duration of the lactation period – the period of
milk production after the birth of the calf. Milk production can be increased by
increasing the lactation period. Foreign breeds like Jersy and Brown Swiss have
long lactation periods and local breeds like Red Sindhi and Sahiwal are resistant
to diseases. They can be cross-bred to get animals with both the qualities.
Cattle shelter should be clean and well ventilated with sloping floors for easy
cleaning.
Cattle feed should include roughage containing mainly fibre and concentrates
containing protein and other nutrients.
Cattle disease are caused by parasites, bacteria and virus. External parasites
cause skin diseases. Internal parasites like worms affect stomach and intestine
and flukes damage the liver. Vaccinations are given to protect from viral and
bacterial diseases.
8) Poultry farming :-
Poultry farming is done for egg production and chicken meat.
Improved poultry breeds are developed to produce layers for eggs
and broilers for meat.
Cross-breeding between Indian varieties like Aseel and foreign
varieties like Leghorn is done to develop new varieties.
For good production of poultry birds they are given proper nutrition
and kept in hygienic conditions and proper temperature conditions.
Broiler chickens are fed with vitamin, protein and fat rich feed for better
growth.
Poultry fowls are affected by diseases caused by virus, bacteria, fungi
and parasites. They are protected from diseases by proper sanitation,
spraying disinfectants and vaccination. Leghorn

Aseel
9) Fish production :- (Pisciculture)
Fish is a source of animal protein in our food. There are two ways of obtaining
fish. They are from natural sources called capture fishing and from fish farming
called culture fishery. The water source of fishes can be sea water (marine) or
fresh water like rivers, ponds, lakes etc.
i) Marine fisheries :-
The popular marine fish varieties are pomphret, mackerel, tuna, sardines etc.
They are caught by fishing nets from boats.
Some marine fishes are farmed in sea water. These include prawns, mullets,
perl spots, mussels, oysters etc. We get pearls from oysters.
ii) Inland fisheries :-
Culture fishery is done in freshwater and brackish water where sea water and
fresh water mix together. Sometimes fish culture is done in combination with
paddy crop in the field. This is called composite fish culture.
The common fishes in inland fish farms are rohu, catla, mrigal, grass carp,
silver carp, common carp etc.

Marine fishes Inland fishes

10) Bee-keeping :-(Apiculture)
Bee-keeping is done to obtain honey and wax. Honey is used as a
source of energy and also has medicinal uses. Wax is used in medicinal
preparations and for making polishes.
The local varieties of bees used for honey production are the Indian
bee, Rock bee and Little bee. An Italian variety of bee is also being used
for large scale production of honey.
The bees collect nectar from flowers and is convert it into honey in
the bee hives. Bees are artificially grown in apiaries and the honey is
extracted by machine called honey extractors.
Apiary Honey extractor

Bee hive