Chapter 12: IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD

RESOURCES
Food supplies proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins
and minerals. They are required for body development,
growth and health.
Agriculture and animal husbandry provides food.
India needs more than a quarter of a billion tonnes of
grain every year. But there is only limited land area for
cultivation. So increasing the production efficiency of
crops and livestock is essential.
Green revolution increased food-grain production
and White revolution increased milk production.
But these also led to intensive use of natural resources,
causing environmental damage. Hence, food
production should be increased without degrading
environment.
Scientific management practices, including mixed
farming, intercropping, and integrated farming should
be adopted for high yields and sustained livelihoods.
IMPROVEMENT IN CROP YIELDS
- Cereals like wheat, rice, maize, millets, and sorghum
provide carbohydrates for energy.

- Pulses like gram, pea, black gram, green gram, pigeon pea
and lentil provide protein.
- Oil seeds like soyabean, ground nut, sesame, castor,
mustard, linseed and sunflower provide fats.
- Vegetables, spices and fruits provide vitamins, minerals,
small amounts of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
- Food crops like berseem, oats or sudan grass are grown for
livestock.
- Different crops require different climatic conditions,
temperature and photoperiods (duration of sunlight) for their
growth, flowering and completion of life cycle.
- The crops which are grown in rainy season (June to
October i.e., kharif season) are called kharif crops. E.g.,
Paddy, soyabean, pigeon pea, maize, cotton, green gram and
black gram.
- The crops which are grown in the winter season (November
to April i.e., rabi season) are called rabi crops. E.g., wheat,
gram, peas, mustard, linseed etc.
- In India, there has been four times increase in the
production of food grains from 1952 to 2010 with only 25%
increase in the cultivable land area.
- 3 stages of farming:
• Choice of seeds for planting.
• Nurturing of the crop plants.
• Protection of growing and harvested crops from loss.
- Major groups of activities for improving crop yields:
• Crop variety improvement
• Crop production improvement
• Crop protection management.

CROP VARIETY IMPROVEMENT

- It depends on finding a crop variety that yield well.

This includes breeding for characteristics like disease
resistance, better response to fertilisers, product
quality, and high yield.
- Hybridisation is a way to incorporate desirable
characters into crop varieties. It is the crossing of
genetically dissimilar plants. Hybridisation may be
• Intervarietal: Between different varieties.
• Interspecific: Between 2 species of the same genus.
• 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.
- New varieties must produce high yields under various
environmental conditions.
- Good quality seeds are essential for farmers,
ensuring uniform germination under the same
conditions.
- Cultivation practices and crop yield depend on
weather, soil quality and water availability. Varieties
that withstand diverse climates (such as drought and
flood situations) and tolerant to high soil salinity are
useful.
Key factors for variety improvement:
• Higher yield: To increase the productivity per acre.
• Improved quality: Depends on the crop. E.g., Baking
quality in wheat, protein quality in pulses, oil quality in
oilseeds and preserving quality in fruits and
vegetables.
• Biotic and abiotic resistance: Development of
varieties resistant to biotic (diseases, insects and
nematodes) and abiotic (drought, salinity, water
logging, heat, cold and frost) stresses.
• Change in maturity duration: Shorter crop duration
helps to grow multiple rounds of crops in a year. It also
 reduces the cost of crop production. Uniform maturity
simplifies harvesting and minimizes losses.
• Wider adaptability: Varieties that grow in various
environmental and climatic conditions stabilise
production.
• Desirable agronomic characteristics: Tallness and
profuse branching are desirable for fodder crops.
Dwarfness is desired in cereals, so that less nutrients
are consumed. Thus they give higher productivity.

CROP PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Production practices are at different levels - ‘no cost’,

‘low cost’ and ‘high cost’.
(i) NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
- Nutrients are supplied to plants by air, water and soil.
- Some nutrients are required in large quantities. They
are called macro-nutrients. Other nutrients are needed
in small quantities. They are called micro-nutrients.
Source Nutrients
Air Carbon, oxygen
Water Hydrogen, oxygen
(i) Macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur
Soil
(ii) Micronutrients: iron, manganese, boron,
zinc, copper, molybdenum, chlorine
- Deficiency of nutrients affects plant’s physiological
processes like reproduction, growth and susceptibility
to diseases.
- To increase the yield, soil can be enriched by adding
nutrients through manure and fertilizers.
 MANURE
- It contains organic matter and some nutrients.
- It is prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta
and plant waste.
- It enriches soil with nutrients and organic matter and
increase soil fertility. The organic matter improves the
soil structure. This involves increasing the water
holding capacity in sandy soils. In clayey soils, the
organic matters help in drainage and avoid water
logging.
- Manure reduces excessive fertilizer use and recycles
farm waste, protecting the environment.
- Based on the kind of biological material used, manure
can be classified as:
1. Compost and vermicompost: The process in which
farm waste material like livestock excreta (cow dung,
etc.), vegetable waste, animal refuse, domestic waste,
sewage waste, straw, eradicated weeds etc. is
decomposed in pits is known as composting.
The compost is rich in organic matter and nutrients.
Compost prepared by using earthworms hastens the
decomposition of plant and animal refuse. This is
called vermicompost.
2. Green manure: Before sowing crop seeds, plants
like sun hemp or guar are grown and then ploughed
into the soil as mulch. This green manure enriches the
soil with nitrogen and phosphorus.
FERTILIZERS
- These are commercially produced nutrients
supplying
 nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium for better vegetative
growth (leaves, branches, flowers) and higher yields in
high-cost farming.
- They should be applied with proper dose, timing,
and pre- and post-application precautions to avoid
wastage and water pollution. E.g., fertilizers may be
washed away by excessive irrigation. This causes water
pollution.
- Overuse of fertilizers reduce soil fertility by depleting
organic matter and harming soil microorganisms.
- Fertilizers offer short-term benefits, but manure
provides long-term soil fertility.
- 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 and use of bio-agents.
The bio-agents include culture of blue green
algae (biofertilizers), neem leaves or turmeric in grain
storage (bio-pesticides).
Organic farming depends on healthy cropping systems
such as mixed cropping, inter-cropping and crop
rotation. These are beneficial in insect, pest and wheat
control besides providing nutrients.
(ii) IRRIGATION
- Indian agriculture relies on rain-fed systems, making
crop success dependent on timely and sufficient
monsoons. Poor rainfall leads to crop failure, while
timely irrigation increases yields.
- Irrigation reduces dependence on rain, especially in
drought-prone areas with light soils that retain less
water. Scientists have developed drought-tolerant crop
varieties.
- India’s irrigation methods:
• Wells: 2 types - dug wells and tube wells.
Dug well: Water is collected from water bearing strata.
Tube wells: Water is tapped from the deeper strata.
• Canals: An elaborate and extensive irrigation
system in which they receive water from one or more
reservoirs or rivers. The main canal is divided into
branch canals to irrigate fields.
• River Lift Systems: Water is directly drawn from the
rivers to supplement irrigation in areas close to rivers.
It is useful in areas where canal flow is insufficient or
irregular due to inadequate reservoir release.
• Tanks: Small storage reservoirs, which intercept
and store the run-off of smaller catchment areas.
- Rainwater harvesting and watershed
management, including check-dams, are fresh
initiatives to boost water availability, raising
groundwater levels and reducing soil erosion.
(iii) CROPPING PATTERNS
• Mixed cropping: Growing two or more crops
simultaneously on the same land.
E.g., wheat + gram, or wheat + mustard, or groundnut +
sunflower. This reduces risk and gives some insurance
against failure of one of the crops.
• Inter-cropping: Growing two or more crops
simultaneously on the same field in a definite pattern.
A few rows of one crop alternate with a few rows of a
second crop, E.g., soyabean + maize, or finger millet
(bajra) + cowpea (lobia).
Crops are selected based on their different nutrient
needs. This ensures maximum nutrient utilisation, and
 prevents pests and diseases from affecting all plants
of the same crop. Thus, both crops give better yields.

Intercropping

• Crop rotation: The growing of different crops on a

piece of land in a pre-planned succession.
The choice of crops depends on the availability of
moisture and irrigation. If done properly, it allows two
or three harvests per year with good yields.

CROP PROTECTION MANAGEMENT

- Weeds, insect pests & diseases may damage field

crops.
- Weeds are unwanted plants in the cultivated field.
E.g., Xanthium (gokhroo), Parthenium (gajar
ghas), Cyperinus rotundus (motha). They compete for
food, space and light and take up nutrients reducing the
crop growth.
- Insect pests attack the plants in 3 ways:
· They cut the root, stem and leaf.
· They suck the cell sap from various plant parts.
 · They bore into stem and fruits.
- Plant diseases are caused by pathogens like bacteria,
fungi, and viruses, which can spread through soil, water,
and air.

Prevention and control of weeds, insects & diseases:

· Pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides, and
fungicides are used on crops or for seed and soil
treatment. However, excessive use can harm plants and
animals, leading to environmental pollution.
· Mechanical removal of weeds.
· Preventive methods like proper seed bed preparation,
timely sowing, intercropping and crop rotation help in
weed control.
· Preventive measures against pests: Use of resistant
varieties and summer ploughing (fields are ploughed
deep in summers to destroy weeds and pests).

STORAGE OF GRAINS

Factors causing storage losses in agricultural produce:

· Biotic: Insects, rodents, fungi, mites and bacteria.
· Abiotic: Inappropriate moisture and temperatures in
the place of storage.
These factors cause degradation in quality, loss in
weight, poor germinability, discolouration of produce.

Preventive and control measures:

· Strict cleaning of the produce before storage.
· Drying of the produce in sunlight and then in shade.
· Fumigation using chemicals that can kill pests.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
- It is the scientific management of animal livestock.
- It includes feeding, breeding and disease control.
- Animal-based farming includes cattle, goat, sheep,
poultry and fish farming.

CATTLE FARMING

- Cattle husbandry serves two purposes - milk production

and draught labour for agricultural work such as tilling,
irrigation and carting.
- Indian cattle include two species- Bos
indicus (cows) and Bos bubalis (buffaloes).
- Milk-producing females are called milch animals (dairy
animals). Cattles used for farm labour are called draught
animals.
- Milk production can be increased by increasing the
lactation period.
- Exotic or foreign breeds (E.g., Jersey, Brown Swiss) are
selected for long lactation periods, while local breeds
(E.g., Red Sindhi, Sahiwal) show excellent diseases
resistance. The two can be cross-bred to get animals
with both the desired qualities.
- Proper cleaning and shelter are essential for humane
farming, animal health, and the production of clean milk.
- Animals need regular brushing to remove dirt and loose
hair. They should be sheltered in well-ventilated roofed
sheds to protect from rain, heat and cold. The floor
should be sloped for dryness and easy cleaning.
- Food requirements of dairy animals are 2 types:
a. Maintenance requirement: Food required to
support a healthy life.
 b. Milk producing requirement: Food required during
the lactation period.
- Animal feed includes:
· Roughage: It is largely fibre.
· Concentrates: These are low in fibre and contain
relatively high levels of proteins and other nutrients.
- Besides food, feed additives containing micronutrients
promote the health and milk output of dairy animals.
- Cattle suffer from various diseases which reduce milk
production and may cause death.
- Cattle parasites include
· External parasites: They live on the skin and cause
skin diseases.
· Internal parasites: Worms affect stomach and
intestine. Flukes damage the liver.
- Vaccinations protect farm animals from major viral and
bacterial diseases.
 Nutritional value in Per cent (%)
Ani S
mal Pr u
Pro F ot g Min W Vit
duc a ei a era at ami
ts t n r ls er ns
Milk B1, B2,
(Cow) 3.60 4.00
4.50 0.70 87.20 B12, D, E
Trace
12.0 amou
Egg 0 13.00 nt 1.00 74.00 B2, D
Trace
amou
Meat 3.60 21.10 nt 1.10 74.20 B2, B12
Trace
amou Niacin,
Fish 2.50 19.00 nt 1.30 77.20 D, A
POULTRY FARMING

- It is the farming of domestic fowl for egg production

and chicken meat.
- Improved poultry breeds are developed to
produce layers (for eggs) and broilers (for meat).
- The cross-breeding programmes between Indian
(indigenous, E.g., Aseel) and foreign (exotic, E.g.,
Leghorn) breeds aims to develop new varieties for the
following desirable traits:
· Number and quality of chicks.
· Dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production.
· Summer adaptation capacity/ tolerance to high
temperature.
· Low maintenance requirements.
 ·Reduced size of the egg-laying bird with ability to
utilise more fibrous cheaper diets formulated using
agricultural by-products.
EGG AND BROILER PRODUCTION
- Broiler chickens are fed with vitamin-rich
supplementary feed for good growth rate and feed
efficiency. They are managed to prevent mortality and
maintain feathering and carcass quality, and are sent to
market for meat.
- Management practices for good production:
· Maintenance of temperature and hygienic conditions
in housing and poultry feed.
· Prevention and control of diseases and pests.
- Broilers have different housing, nutritional, and
environmental needs compared to egg layers.
- Broiler feed is protein-rich with adequate fat and high
levels of vitamins A and K.
- Poultry fowl suffer from diseases caused by virus,
bacteria, fungi, parasites, and nutritional deficiencies.
Preventative measures include:
· Proper cleaning, sanitation & spraying of disinfectants.
· Vaccination.

FISH PRODUCTION

- Fish is a cheap source of animal protein for our food.

- Fish production includes the finned true
fish and shellfish such as prawns and Molluscs.
- There are two ways of obtaining fish.
· Capture fishing: From natural resources.
· Culture fishery: Fish farming.
(i) MARINE FISHERIES
- India’s marine fishery resources include 7500 km of
coastline and the deep seas.
- Popular marine fishes: Pomphret, mackerel, tuna,
sardines, and Bombay duck.
- Marine fish are caught using various nets from fishing
boats. Yields are increased by locating schools of fish
using satellites and echo-sounders.
- Some marine fish of high economic value are also
farmed in seawater. E.g., finned fishes like mullets,
bhetki, and pearl spots, shellfish such as prawns,
mussels and oysters as well as seaweed.
- Oysters are also cultivated for the pearls they make.

- As marine fish stocks become depleted, increasing

demand for fish can be met through culture fisheries,
called mariculture.
(ii) INLAND FISHERIES
- Inland fisheries use fresh water resources like canals,
ponds, reservoirs, rivers, and brackish water resources
(estuaries & lagoons). Although capture fishing occurs
here, most fish production comes from aquaculture.

- Fish culture can be combined with rice cultivation,

where fish are grown in paddy fields.

- Intensive fish farming uses composite fish culture

systems, involving both local and imported species. Here,
 five or six fish species are stocked in a single pond. They
are selected for their different food habits – surface
feeders (e.g., Catlas), middle-zone
feeders (e.g., Rohus), bottom feeders (e.g., Mrigals and
Common Carps), and weed feeders (e.g., Grass Carps). It
ensures efficient use of all food resources in the pond
without competition, thereby increasing fish yield.

- A challenge in composite fish culture is that many fish

breed only during the monsoon. Also, wild-caught fish
seed may be mixed with other species. To ensure quality
seed availability, hormonal stimulation techniques have
been developed to breed fish in ponds.

BEE-KEEPING

It is an agricultural enterprise of rearing honeybees

for honey and wax.
Beehives are the source of wax. It is used in medicines.
The local bee varieties used for commercial honey
production are Apis cerana indica (Indian bee), A.
dorsata (rock bee) and A. florae (little bee).
The Italian bee variety, A. mellifera, is introduced which
has high honey collection capacity, lower stinging, stay
in a beehive for long periods, and breed very well.
For commercial honey production, bee farms or apiaries
are established.
The quality and taste of honey depend on the pasturage,
or the flowers available for nectar and pollen collection.