Food Resources

Question Why is there a need to improve food production in India? tap to flip ↻ Answer India's population is growing rapidly, requiring more than a quarter of a billion tonnes of grain annually. With limited cultivable land, increasing production efficiency is essent… Question What are the three major groups of activities for improving crop yields? tap to flip ↻ Answer Crop variety improvement, crop production improvement, and crop protection management. Question What is hybridisation in crop improvement? tap to flip ↻ Answer Crossing between genetically dissimilar plants to incorporate desirable characters. It can be intervarietal, interspecific, or intergeneric. Question What are genetically modified crops? tap to flip ↻ Answer Crops improved by introducing a gene that provides a desired characteristic. Question List factors for which crop variety improvement is done. tap to flip ↻ Answer Higher yield, improved quality, biotic and abiotic resistance, change in maturity duration, wider adaptability, and desirable agronomic characteristics. Question What are macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients for plants? tap to flip ↻ Answer Macro-nutrients are required in large quantities (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Micro-nutrients are required in small quantities (e.g., iron, manganese, boron). Question What is manure and how does it help soil? tap to flip ↻ Answer Manure is organic matter from decomposition of animal excreta and plant waste. It enriches soil with nutrients, improves soil structure, water holding capacity, and drainage. Question What is vermi-compost? tap to flip ↻ Answer Compost prepared by using earthworms to hasten decomposition of plant and animal refuse. Question What is green manure? tap to flip ↻ Answer Plants like sun hemp or guar grown before sowing and mulched by ploughing into soil, enriching it with nitrogen and phosphorus. Question What are fertilizers? tap to flip ↻ Answer Commercially produced plant nutrients supplying nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to ensure good vegetative growth. Question What is organic farming? tap to flip ↻ Answer Farming with minimal or no use of chemicals, maximum use of organic manures, recycled farm-wastes, bio-agents, and healthy cropping systems. Question Name the types of irrigation systems used in India. tap to flip ↻ Answer Wells (dug and tube), canals, river lift systems, and tanks. Question What is mixed cropping? tap to flip ↻ Answer Growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land, e.g., wheat + gram. Reduces risk of crop failure. Question What is inter-cropping? tap to flip ↻ Answer Growing two or more crops simultaneously in a definite pattern, e.g., soyabean + maize. Ensures maximum nutrient utilisation and prevents pest spread. Question What is crop rotation? tap to flip ↻ Answer Growing different crops on a piece of land in a pre-planned succession. Allows two or three crops per year with good harvests. Question What are weeds? Give examples. tap to flip ↻ Answer Unwanted plants in cultivated fields, e.g., Xanthium (gokhroo), Parthenium (gajar ghas), Cyperus rotundus (motha). They compete for food, space, and light. Question How do insect pests attack plants? tap to flip ↻ Answer They cut root, stem, and leaf; suck cell sap; or bore into stem and fruits. Question What are the preventive measures for weed control? tap to flip ↻ Answer Proper seed bed preparation, timely sowing, intercropping, crop rotation, use of resistant varieties, and summer ploughing. Question What factors cause storage losses in grains? tap to flip ↻ Answer Biotic factors (insects, rodents, fungi, mites, bacteria) and abiotic factors (inappropriate moisture and temperature). Question What is animal husbandry? tap to flip ↻ Answer Scientific management of animal livestock including feeding, breeding, and disease control. Question What are milch animals and draught animals? tap to flip ↻ Answer Milch animals are milk-producing females (dairy animals). Draught animals are used for farm labour like tilling, irrigation, and carting. Question What is the lactation period? tap to flip ↻ Answer The period of milk production after the birth of a calf. Milk production can be increased by increasing the lactation period. Question Name exotic and local breeds of cattle for milk production. tap to flip ↻ Answer Exotic breeds: Jersey, Brown Swiss (long lactation periods). Local breeds: Red Sindhi, Sahiwal (disease resistance). Question What are the two types of food requirements of dairy animals? tap to flip ↻ Answer Maintenance requirement (food for healthy life) and milk producing requirement (food during lactation). Question What are roughage and concentrates in animal feed? tap to flip ↻ Answer Roughage is largely fibre. Concentrates are low in fibre and high in proteins and other nutrients. Question What are the desirable traits for poultry breed improvement? tap to flip ↻ Answer Number and quality of chicks; dwarf broiler parent; summer adaptation; low maintenance; reduction in size of egg-laying bird with ability to utilise fibrous diets. Question What are broilers and layers? tap to flip ↻ Answer Broilers are chickens raised for meat. Layers are chickens raised for egg production. Question What is the ration for broilers? tap to flip ↻ Answer Protein-rich with adequate fat, and high levels of vitamins A and K. Question Name two examples of kharif and rabi crops. tap to flip ↻ Answer Kharif: paddy, soyabean. Rabi: wheat, gram. Question What is the significance of photoperiod in crop growth? tap to flip ↻ Answer Photoperiods relate to duration of sunlight, affecting growth and flowering. Plants manufacture food in sunlight via photosynthesis.