Improvement in
food resources
Class-IX Biology
1. What do we get from cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables?
Ans- Cereals provide carbohydrates.
Pulses
provide proteins.
Fruits
provide vitamins, minerals and sugars (glucose/fructose).
Vegetables
provide vitamins, minerals, fibers and carbohydrates.
2.
How do biotic and abiotic factors
adverse affect crop production?
Ans- a. Biotic factors:
i. Cattle, rodents and insects feed
on standing crop and destroy either crop plants or their produce.
ii. Nematodes, bacteria, viruses and
fungi destroy crop by causing various diseases.
b. Abiotic factors: Drought, water- logging, cold, frost, hailstorm,
day length, acidity or alkalinity of soil, etc, influence growth and flowering
in plants.
3.
What are desired agronomic
characteristics for crop improvement?
Ans-
Agronomic features:
a. For cereals plants: short in height, profuse branching and short maturation period.
b. For legume crops: Extensive branching for bearing more pods and more foliage.
c. For fodder crops: tall plants with intensive branching, good foliage and juicy stem.
4.
What are macronutrients and why are
they called macronutrients?
Ans- Macronutrients are essential
inorganic elements required by plants in relatively large quantities for growth
and reproduction. They are called macronutrients because they ate required in
relatively large quantities, e.g.,
Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, etc.
5.
How do plants get nutrients?
Ans- Plant get nutrients from air, water and soil. Carbon
and oxygen are obtained from air, hydrogen from water and remaining 13
essential elements Nitrogen , phosphorous, potassium, calcium, Magnesium ,
Sulphur, Iron, Manganese, Boron, zinc, copper, Molybdenum and chlorine from
soil through absorption along with water.
6.
Compare the use of manure and
fertilizers in maintaining soil fertility.
Ans- Manure contains organic substances. It is degraded
and absorbed easily by plants. It increases and prolongs the fertility of soil without
causing any harm. However, manure contains small quantity of minerals salts and
is not nutrients –specific.
The
chemical fertilizers, on the other hand, contain nutrients in considerable
amount but improve the soil fertility for a short duration. Continuous use of
fertilizers destroys the natural soil fertility potential and also degrades the
environment.
7.
Why should preventive measures and
biological control methods be preferred for protecting crops?
Ans-
Both preventive and biological control methods are preferred for protecting
crops because:
a. They are environment friendly. c. They are target- specific.
b. They do not cause pollution. d.
They are harmless to other life forms.
8. What factors may be responsible for loss of grains during storage?
Ans- Factor responsible for the loss of
stored grains are both abiotic and biotic.
Abiotic factors include improper temperature of
store house, humidity of air and high moisture content of the grains. Improper
containers for storage also cause loss of grains.
Biotic factors include infestation of insects; infestation
with mites, birds, rodents; diseases caused by microorganisms and enzymes
action that occur within stored food grains.
9. Which method is commonly used for improving cattle breeds and why?
Ans- Cattle breeds are improved by cross
breeding between indigenous breed and exotic breeds. The indigenous breeds are
hardy and resistant to several diseases, and exotic breeds have high- milk
yield and longer lactation period. The progeny resulting from cross breeding
contains the desirable traits of both the breeds.
10. Discuss the implication of the following statement:
“It is interesting to
note that poultry is India’s most efficient converter of low fiber food stuff
(which is unfit for human consumption) into highly nutritious animal protein
food.”
Ans- The agriculture wastes produced
during food processing, e.g. rice bran, fish meal, oil cakes are unfit for
human consumption. These are utilized as poultry feed. Poultry birds
effectively convert these substances into highly nutritious eggs and meat rich
in animal protein.
11. What management practice is common in dairy and poultry farming?
Ans- The common management practices
adopted in dairy and poultry farming are:
a.
Providing
shelter, rich feed and clean drinking water.
b.
Maintain
optimum temperature and good hygienic conditions in farmhouse and poultry farm.
c.
Providing
health care and timely vaccination to farm animals.
12. What are the differences between broilers and layers and their
management?
Ans- Broilers
are young chickens of 6-10 weeks of age. They grow fast and are used as meat
which is of good quality and good taste. The layers are sexually mature hens
which are raised to lay eggs.
Management: Broilers are given protein – rich
food with adequate amount of fat and vitamins. They are provided good space,
adequate temperature and best of the hygiene. The layers are given
comparatively poor quality of feed. Temperature regulation is not required but
they are given plenty of light.
13. Explain any one method of crop production which ensures high yield.
Ans- To increases crop production,
various agricultural practices like mixed cropping, intercropping, crop
rotation hybridization, etc. are in use. If same crop is grown year after year,
it creates deficiency of certain nutrients in the soil and soil loses its
fertility. Crop rotation helps in restoring fertility. It involves growing
different types of crops on the same piece of land in a specific succession.
Crops chosen are such that when one withdraws nutrients from soil, the other
crop replenishes them. If crop rotation is done properly, two or three crops
can be grown in a year with good yield.
14. Why are manures and fertilizers used in fields?
Ans- Manures and fertilizers are added to
enhance and enrich the soil with both organic and inorganic nutrients. Manures
also provide porosity to the soil, increase its water retention and enhance
activity of microorganisms.
15. What are the advantages of intercropping and crop rotation?
Ans- Intercropping:
1.
Intercropping
ensures greater crop yield.
2.
It
helps in better utilization of natural resources (land, water, nutrients and
sunlight).
3.
It
prevents soil erosion.
4.
Each
crop can be harvested threshed and marketed separately at different times.
5.
Since
different crops are sown in separate rows and mature at different times, there
is no mixing of produce of these crops.
6.
Intercropping
saves time and labor of the farmer.
Crop rotation:
1. The soil fertility is maintained for
longer period.
2. The chemical nature of soil is not
altered.
3. It helps in weed and pest control through
breaking the cycle by rotation of crop variety.
4. Crop rotation saves a lot of nitrogen
fertilizer and land is not left free of cultivation. As a result, 2-4 crops are
raised per year. This increases income of farmers.
16. What is genetic manipulation? How is it useful in agricultural practices?
Ans- Genetic manipulation is transfer of
one or more desirable genes from one
plant of same or other species or variety to another. The transfer of gene may
be carried out by cross breeding, mutation breeding or recombinant DNA technology.
Through genetic manipulation, high yielding and disease resistant crop
varieties can be produced.
17. How do storage grains losses occur?
Ans- Losses of stored grains may occur
due to a) high moisture content of
grains and increased humidity in air provide suitable environment for the
growth of microorganisms which in turn disintegrate the food grains . b) Insects pests and enzymatic activity
also damages stored grains leading to their loss. c) Rodents, birds feed on grains. d) Weevils, Pulse borers, Khapra beetles also damage by boring or
feeding on stored grains.
18. How do good animal husbandry practices benefit farmers?
Ans- Good animal husbandry practices
benefit farmers by:
a.
Good
hygiene protects cattle and other animals from infectious diseases.
b.
Clean
and spacious shelter keeps animals healthy.
c.
Proper
healthy diet enhances growth and yield of livestock.
d.
Segregation
of sick animals protects other livestock.
e.
Vaccination
prevents and protects young animal products like milk, eggs and meat.
f.
Prevents
loss of livestock due to diseases.
19. What are the benefits of cattle farming?
Ans- a. farming of milk animal, such as
cow, buffalo, goat and camel provide us with milk and milk byproducts like
ghee, butter, paneer, etc. Use of exotic and hybrid varieties has resulted in White
revolution.
b. Farming of
draught animals, such as bullocks provide animals for agricultural purposes,
such as tilling, irrigation and transport of food grains.
c. Growing
fodder for cattle enriches soil.
d. Organic
waste generated by cattle farming can be used for manure.
e. It provides
extra income.
20. For increasing production, what is
common in poultry, fisheries and bee-keeping?
Ans- The
common features among poultry, fisheries and bee-keeping are:
a)
Good
quality of breeds.
b)
Good,
nutritious food.
c)
Proper
clean, airy and well-lighted accommodation.
d)
Proper
medical and health care to control diseases.
21. How do you differentiate capture fishing, mariculture and aquaculture?
Ans- Capture fishing
a.
In
capture fishing, the fishes are collected from various natural sources such as
rivers, ponds, lakes and seas.
b.
No
seeding or rearing of fish is required.
Mariculture
a.
In
mariculture, the marine fishes, shellfishes and sea weeds are cultured in
coastal water.
b.
Fish
and other organisms are seeded and reared.
Aquaculture
a.
In
aquaculture, economically important freshwater plants and animals, including
fishes, are cultured in freshwater reservoirs.
b.
Fish
and other organisms are seeded and reared.