Improvement in Food Resources

Synopsis 

Food Resources 

• Plants and animals are major food sources for us. We obtain food from agriculture and animal husbandry.
• Keeping in mind the population of India, it is necessary to increase India’s production efficiency for crops and livestock (Livestock: Animals domesticated to obtain food and other valuable products).
• Efforts to increase efficiency have been successful to some extent by the green and white revolutions
  Green Revolution: Production of hybrid varieties of crops;
  White Revolution: More milk yield from livestock.
• This may lead to increased use of natural resources and cause damage to them. Therefore, it is necessary to practise sustainable management.
• Sustainable management can be defined as the adoption of various farming and production management techniques to maximise yield in agriculture and animal husbandry.
• Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating soil, producing crops, rearing animals for food and useful products. 

Improvement in Crop Yields 

• Plants which are grown by man on a large scale to obtain food, clothing and other useful products are called crops.
  
  
• The requirements of climatic conditions, temperature and photoperiods for growth and completion of the life cycle vary from crop to crop.
• Based on the season of cultivation, crops are divided into two categories:
  
  

Crop Variety Improvement

• It is the technique or the skill of selection of the best varieties of crops for various desirable characters and incorporating those characters into the crops of the next generation.
• It involves the selection of varieties of crops with useful characteristics such as

• Disease resistance
• Product quality
• High yield
• Response to fertilisers 

1.   Hybridisation

• It is the technique of crossing between two genetically dissimilar plants to produce a plant of a new variety. The variety produced by using this technique is called a hybrid.
• Two ways of cross-breeding during hybridisation are
  
  
• The new varieties of crops obtained by hybridisation are called high-yielding varieties or HYV seeds.
• Production of HYV seeds has led to an increase in agricultural production, considerably reduced food shortage and generated more income in the agriculture sector. This is known as the Green Revolution. 
• Examples of hybrid varieties are
  
  

2.   Genetically Modified Crops

• A gene responsible for desirable characters is transferred from one crop variety to another crop variety. The crop into which the gene is introduced to obtain the desired result is called genetically modified crop (GMO) or transgenic plants.
• Example: BT cotton is a genetically modified crop.
  BT stands for Bacillus thuringiensis.
  The genes of Bacillus thuringiensis which provide resistance against insects are introduced in crops to make them resistant.
• Other genetically modified crops obtained by using the genes of Bacillus thuringiensis are rice, tomato, maize, potato, brinjal, cauliflower and cabbage. 

  

Disadvantages of Irrigation