9. STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCEMENT IN FOOD PRODUCTION
I. ANIMAL
HUSBANDRY
- It
is the scientific agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.
- It
deals with the care & breeding of livestock
(buffaloes, cows, pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, camels, goats etc.), poultry farming and fisheries.
- More
than 70% of the world livestock
population is in India & China. However, the contribution to the
world farm produce is only 25%, i.e.,
the productivity per unit is very low. Hence new technologies should be applied
to achieve improvement in quality and productivity.
Management
of Farms & Farm Animals
1. Dairy Farm Management (Dairying)
- It
is the management of animals for increasing yield and quality of milk and its
products.
- Milk
yield depends on the quality of breeds in the farm.
- It
is important to select good breeds having high yielding potential and
resistance to diseases.
- Ways
for the yield potential:
o
Look after the cattle (housing well, give adequate
water and maintain disease free).
o
Feeding of cattle in a scientific manner –
emphasis on the quality and quantity of fodder.
o
Stringent cleanliness and hygiene of
cattle & handlers while milking, storage and transport of the milk.
- Nowadays,
these processes have mechanized.
It reduces
chance of direct contact of the produce with the handler.
- To
ensure these stringent measures there should be
o
Regular inspections to identify and
rectify problems.
o
Regular visits by a veterinary doctor.
2. Poultry Farm Management
- Poultry
is the domesticated birds used for food or eggs. E.g. chicken, ducks, turkey
and geese.
- Components of poultry farm
management:
o
Selection of disease free and suitable
breeds.
o
Proper and safe farm conditions.
o
Proper feed and water.
o
Hygiene and health care.
Animal
Breeding
- A
breed is a group of organisms
related by descent and similar general appearance, features, size etc.
- Breeding is
the modification of genotype of an organism to make that organism more useful
to humans. E.g. Jersey (improved cattle
breed), Leghorn (improved chicken breed).
- Animal
breeding aims at increasing the yield of animals and improving the desirable
qualities of the produce.
- Breeding
is 2 types: Inbreeding and out-breeding.
a. Inbreeding
It
is the mating of more closely related individuals within the same breed for 4-6
generations. This strategy is as follows:
o
Identify and mate superior males & females
of same breed.
o
Evaluate the progeny obtained and identify
superior males and females among them for further mating.
In cattle, a superior female produces
more milk per lactation. A superior male (bull) gives rise to
superior progeny.
Advantages of Inbreeding:
o
It increases homozygosity to evolve
a pure line animal.
o
It exposes harmful recessive genes
that are eliminated by selection.
o
It helps in accumulation of superior
genes and elimination of less desirable genes. This increases the productivity
of inbred population.
Continued
inbreeding, especially close inbreeding, may reduce fertility and productivity.
This is called inbreeding depression. To solve this problem, selected
animals should be mated with unrelated superior animals of the same breed.
b. Out-breeding
It
is the breeding of the unrelated animals. It includes out-crossing, cross-breeding
and inter-specific hybridization.
i) Out-crossing:
- It
is the mating of animals within the same breed, but having no common ancestors
on either side of their pedigree up to 4-6 generations.
- The
offspring of such a mating is known as out-cross.
- It
is the best method for animals having low milk productivity, growth rate in
beef cattle, etc.
- It
helps to overcome inbreeding depression.
ii)
Cross-breeding:
- It
is the mating of superior males of one breed with superior females of another
breed.
- The
desirable qualities of 2 different breeds are combined.
- The
progeny hybrid animals may be used for commercial production or may be
subjected to inbreeding and selection to develop new stable superior breeds.
- E.g.
Hisardale (sheep) developed
in Punjab by crossing Bikaneri ewes
and Merino rams.
iii)
Interspecific hybridization:
- It
is the mating of male and female of two different species.
- In
some cases, the progeny may combine desirable features of both the parents, and
may be of considerable economic value. E.g. Mule (male ass X female horse).
Controlled breeding experiments
1. Artificial insemination
- The
semen collected from male parent is injected into the reproductive tract of selected
female by the breeder.
- Semen
is used immediately or is frozen and used later. Frozen semen can also be
transported.
- Success
rate of crossing mature male & female is low even though artificial insemination
is carried out.
2. Multiple Ovulation
Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET)
- It
is a programme for herd improvement. It improves chances of successful
production of hybrids.
- In
this, a cow is administered hormones such as FSH to induce follicular maturation & super ovulation
(production of 6-8 eggs per cycle instead of one egg).
- The
animal is either mated with an elite bull or artificially inseminated. Fertilised eggs at 8–32 cells stage
are recovered non-surgically and
transferred to surrogate mothers.
- MOET has been demonstrated for
cattle, sheep, rabbits, buffaloes, mares, etc.
- High
milk yielding breeds of females and high quality (lean meat with less lipid) meat-yielding
bulls have been bred successfully to increase herd size in a short time.
Bee-keeping
(apiculture)
- It
is the maintenance of hives of honeybees to produce honey and beeswax.
- Most
common species that can be reared is Apis
indica.
- Honey
is a food of high nutritive and medicinal value.
- Beeswax
is used in preparation of cosmetics, polishes etc.
- Apiculture
can be practiced in an area having bee pastures of some wild shrubs,
fruit orchards and cultivated crops.
Important
points for successful bee-keeping:
(i) Knowledge of the nature and habits of bees.(ii) Selection of suitable location for keeping beehives.(iii) Catching and hiving of swarms (group of bees).(iv) Management of beehives during different seasons.
(v) Handling and collection of honey and beeswax.
- Bees
are the pollinators of crop species such as sunflower, Brassica, apple
and pear.
- Keeping
beehives in crop fields during flowering period increases pollination. It improves
crop and honey yield.
Fisheries
- Fishery
is an industry of catching, processing or selling of fish, shellfish or other
aquatic animals (prawn, crab, lobster, edible oyster etc.).
- Freshwater fishes: Catla,
Rohu, common carp etc. Marine fishes:
Hilsa, Sardines, Mackerel, Pomfrets etc.
- Fisheries
provide income and employment to millions of fishermen and farmers.
- Aquaculture (farming
of aquatic organisms) & pisciculture
(farming of fishes) are the techniques to increase the production of aquatic plants
and animals.
- Blue Revolution: The
development and flourishing of the fishery industry.
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