IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD
RESOURCES
[Link] FATIMA
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
Contents
INTRODUCTION
PLANT BREEDING
CROP IMPROVEMENT
[Link] VARIETY IMPROVEMENT
2. CROP PRODUCTION IMPROVEMENT
[Link] PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
[Link] FARMING
[Link]
[Link] FARMING
[Link]
Table of contents
01 02
INTRODUCTION POPULATION AND CROPS
SOURCES OF CROP
CROP SEASON
03 04
TYPES OF REVOLUTION
RESOURCE
A resource is anything available in our environment that can be used to satisfy
human needs or wants, provided it's technologically feasible, economically viable,
and culturally acceptable,
WHY TO
more than one IMPROVE ?it is still growing.
India is a very populous country. Our population is
billion people, and
As food for this growing population, we will soon
need more than a quarter of a billion tonnes of
grain every year.
This can be done by farming on more land. But India
is already intensively cultivated. As a result, we do
not have any major scope for increasing the area of
land under cultivation. Therefore, it is necessary to
increase our production efficiency for both crops
and livestock.
Efforts to meet the food demand by increasing food production
have led to some successes so far. We have had the green
revolution, which contributed to increased food-grain production.
We have also had the white revolution, which has led to better and
more efficient use as well as availability of milk.
VARIOUS TYPES OF REVOLUTION
Father of Green Revolution: MS
SWAMINATHAN
. IMPROVEMENT IN CROP YEILD
EXAMPL
SOURCE AND
FUNCTIONS ES
1. CEREALS : CARBOHYDRATES FOR 1. WHEAT, RICE, MILLET AND
ENERGY SORGHUM
2. PROTEINS: GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT 2. Pulses like gram (chana), pea
3. FATS: NECESSARY FATS (matar), black gram (urad), green
4. VITAMINS AND MINERALS gram (moong), pigeon pea (arhar),
5. FODDER lentil (masoor),
3. Soyabean, ground nut, sesame,
castor, mustard, linseed and
sunflower
4. VEGETABLES, SPICES AND FRUITS
5. Berseem, oats or sudan grass
Some Important terms
PHOTOPERIOD
KHARIF CROPS AND RABI INCREASE IN PRODUCTION
CROPS
Different crops require different There are some
climatic crops, which are grown in rainy
conditions, temperature and the major
season, called the kharif season
photoperiods for from the month of June to groups of activities
their growth and completion of October, and some of the crops for improving crop
their life cycle. yields
Photoperiods are related to the are grown in
duration of the winter season, called the can be classified as:
sunlight. Growth of plants and rabi season from • Crop variety
flowering are November to April. Paddy, improvement
dependent on sunlight. As we all soyabean, pigeon • Crop production
know, plants pea, maize, cotton, green gram
manufacture their food in sunlight management
and black
by the process of photosynthesis. gram are kharif crops, whereas • Crop protection
wheat, gram, management
peas, mustard, linseed are rabi
crops.
CROP VARIETY
IMPROVEMENT
WAYS OF
IMPROVEMENT
FACTORS
CROP VARIETY
IMPROVEMENT
HYBRIDIZATION
INTRODUCTION OF GENE
One way of incorporating desirable characters into crop varieties is by hybridisation.
Hybridisation refers to crossing between genetically dissimilar plants. This crossing may be
intervarietal (between different varieties), interspecific (between two different species of
the same genus) or intergeneric (between
different genera).
Another way of improving the crop is by introducing a gene that would provide the
desired characteristic. This results in genetically modified crops.
FACTORS FOR WHICH CROP VARIETY
IMPROVEMENT IS DONE
HIGHER YIELD
IMPROVED QUALITY
BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC RESISTANCE
CHANGE IN MATURITY DURATION
WIDER ADAPTIBILITY
DESIRABLE AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
CROP PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
NUTRIENT
MANAGEMENT
NUTRIENTS
IRRIGATION
MANURE AND FERTILIZERS
CROPPING PATTERN SIGNIFICANCE
CROPPING PATTERN
METHODS
MIXED CROPING
INTERCROPING
CROP ROTATION
NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
Nutrients are essential chemical compounds uses for energy, growth, repair, and to
regulate various processes, with the main types being macronutrients needed in large
amounts, and micronutrients needed in smaller amounts, all crucial for survival and
maintaining health.
MANURE
Manure contains large quantities of organic matter and also supplies small
quantities Of nutrients to the soil.
Manure is prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta and plant
waste. Manure helps in enriching soil with nutrients and organic matter
and increasing soil fertility.
Manure helps in improving the soil structure. This involves increasing the
water holding capacity in sandy soils. In clayey soils, the large quantities of
organic matter help in drainage and in avoiding water logging.
Based on the kind of biological material used,
manure can be classified as:
COMPOST AND GREEN MANURE
VERMICOMPOST
The process in which farm waste material like Prior to the sowing of the crop seeds,
livestock excreta (cow dung, etc.), vegetable some plants like sun hemp or guar are
waste, animal refuse, domestic waste, sewage mulched by ploughing them into the
waste, straw, eradicated weeds etc. is soil. These green plants thus turn into
green manure which helps in enriching
decomposed in pits is known as composting. The the soil in nitrogen and phosphorus.
compost is rich in organic matter and nutrients.
Compost is also prepared by using earthworms to
hasten the process of decomposition of plant and
animal refuse. This is called vermi-compost.
FERTILIZERS
Fertilizers are commercially produced plant nutrients.
Fertilizers supply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
They are used to ensure good vegetative growth (leaves, branches and flowers),
giving rise to healthy plants.
This excess fertilizer then leads to water pollution.
Continuous use of fertilizers in an area can destroy soil fertility because the organic
matter in the soil is not replenished and micro-organisms in the soil are harmed by
the fertilizers used.
Short-term benefits of using fertilizers and long-term benefits of using manure for
maintaining soil fertility have to be considered while aiming for optimum yields in
crop production.
ORGANIC FARMING
Organic farming is a farming system with minimal or no use of
chemicals as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, etc., and with a
maximum input of organic manures, recycled farm-wastes (straw
and livestock excreta), use of bio-agents such as culture of blue
green algae in preparation of biofertilizers, neem leaves or turmeric
specifically in grain storage as bio-pesticides, with healthy cropping
systems.
IRRIGATION: SUPPY OF WATER TO AGRICULTURAL CROPS.
Wells: There are two types of wells, namely dug wells and tube wells. In a dug well, water
is collected from water bearing strata. Tube wells can tap water from the deeper strata.
Canals: This is usually an elaborate and extensive irrigation system.
In this system canals receive water from one or more reservoirs or from rivers.
The main canal is divided into branch canals having further distributaries to irrigate fields.
River Lift Systems: In areas where canal flow is insufficient or irregular due to
inadequate reservoir release, the lift system is more rational. Water is directly drawn from
the rivers for supplementing irrigation in areas close to rivers.
Tanks: These are small storage reservoirs, which
intercept and store the run-off of smaller catchment
areas.
Fresh initiatives for increasing the water available
for agriculture include rainwater harvesting and
watershed management.
This involves building small check-dams which lead
to an increase in ground water levels. The check-
dams stop the rainwater from flowing away and
also reduce soil erosion.
Mixed cropping is growing two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land, for example,
wheat + gram, or wheat + mustard, or groundnut +
sunflower. This
reduces risk and gives some
insurance against failure of one of the
crops.
Inter-cropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same
field in a definite pattern (Fig.12.2). A few rows of one crop alternate with a few
rows of a second crop, for example, soyabean + maize, or finger millet (bajra) +
cowpea (lobia). The crops are selected such that their nutrient requirements are
different. This ensures maximum utilisation of the nutrients
supplied, and also prevents pests and diseases from spreading to
all the plants belonging to one crop in a field. This way, both crops
can give better returns.
The growing of different crops on a piece of land in a pre-
planned succession is known as crop rotation.
Depending upon the duration, crop rotation is done for
different crop combinations.
The availability of moisture and irrigation facilities decide
the choice of the crop to be cultivated after one harvest.
If crop rotation is done properly then two or three crops can
be grown in a year with good harvests.
CROP PROTECTION MANAGEMENT
PESTS,
WEEDS PATHOGENS STORAGE
AND DISEASES
Weeds are unwanted plants in the cultivated field,
for example, Xanthium (gokhroo), Parthenium (gajar
ghas), Cyperus rotundus (motha).
They compete for food, space and light. Weeds take
up nutrients and reduce the growth of the crop.
Therefore, removal of weeds from cultivated fields
during the early stages of crop growth is essential for
a good harvest.
Generally insect pests attack the plants in
three ways:
(i) they cut the root, stem and leaf,
(ii) they suck the cell sap from various parts
of the plant, and
(iii) they bore into stem and fruits. They
thus affect the health of the crop and
reduce yields.
CONTROL METHODS OF WEEDS, PESTS AND DISEASES
Most commonly used methods is the use of pesticides, which
include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
2. Weed control methods also include mechanical removal.
3. Preventive methods such as proper seed bed preparation,
timely sowing of crops, intercropping and crop rotation also
help in weed control.
4. Some other preventive measures against pests are the use of
resistant varieties, and summer ploughing, in which fields are
ploughed deep in summers to destroy weeds and pests.
STORAGE OF GRAINS
Storage losses in agricultural produce can be very high.
Factors responsible for such losses are biotic— insects,
rodents, fungi, mites and bacteria, and abiotic—
inappropriate moisture and temperatures in the place of
storage.
These factors cause degradation in quality, loss in weight,
poor germinability, discolouration of produce, all leading to
poor marketability.
Preventive and control measures
These factors can be controlled by proper treatment and
by systematic management of warehouses.
They include strict cleaning of the produce before
storage, proper drying of the produce first in sunlight and
then in shade, and fumigation using chemicals that can
kill pests.
