Improvement In Food Resources Class 9 Science Chapter 12 Extra Questions are available here. These notes are made by the subject experts of our team.
Improvement In Food Resources Class 9 Science Chapter 12 Extra Questions
Question 1: Why is it necessary to improve production from agriculture and animal husbandry?
Answer: India is a very populous country with a growing population of more than one billion people. To feed this population, we will soon need more than a quarter of a billion tonnes of grain every year. Since India is already intensively cultivated and has limited scope for increasing the area of land under cultivation, it is necessary to increase production efficiency for both crops and livestock.
Question 2: Why can’t we make do with the current levels of production?
Answer: The current levels of production are insufficient to meet the growing food demands of India’s increasing population. Additionally, simply increasing grain production for storage does not solve malnutrition and hunger; people need to have access to and the means to purchase food
Question 3: How can we increase food production without degrading the environment?
Answer: It is important to adopt sustainable practices in agriculture and animal husbandry. These practices should aim to increase food production without degrading the environment or disturbing its balance.
Question 4: How can we combat the problem of hunger?
Answer: Combating hunger requires both availability and access to food. Increasing the incomes of people working in agriculture is necessary, and scientific management practices should be adopted to obtain high yields. Mixed farming, intercropping, and integrated farming practices, such as combining agriculture with livestock, poultry, fisheries, or bee-keeping, should be undertaken for sustained livelihoods.
Question 5: What types of crops provide carbohydrates for energy requirements?
Answer: Cereals such as wheat, rice, maize, millets, and sorghum provide carbohydrates for energy requirements.
Question 6: What types of crops provide proteins?
Answer: Pulses like gram (chana), pea (matar), black gram (urad), green gram (moong), pigeon pea (arhar), and lentil (masoor) provide proteins.
Question 7: What types of crops provide necessary fats?
Answer: Oil seeds, including soybean, groundnut, sesame, castor, mustard, linseed, and sunflower, provide necessary fats.
Question 8: What nutrients do vegetables, spices, and fruits provide?
Answer: Vegetables, spices, and fruits provide a range of vitamins and minerals in addition to small amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
Question 9: What are fodder crops, and what purpose do they serve?
Answer: Fodder crops like berseem, oats, or sudan grass are raised as food for livestock.
Question 10: What factors do different crops require for growth and life cycle completion?
Answer: Different crops require specific climatic conditions, temperature, and photoperiods (duration of sunlight) for their growth and completion of their life cycle.
Question 11: What is the role of sunlight in plant growth?
Answer: Sunlight is crucial for plant growth and flowering as plants manufacture their food in sunlight through the process of photosynthesis.
Question 12: What are kharif and rabi seasons?
Answer: Kharif season crops are grown from June to October during the rainy season, and rabi season crops are grown from November to April during the winter season.
Question 13: What are examples of kharif and rabi crops?
Answer: Kharif crops include paddy, soybean, pigeon pea, maize, cotton, green gram, and black gram, while rabi crops include wheat, gram, peas, mustard, and linseed.
Question 14: How much has the production of food grains increased in India from 1952 to 2010?
Answer: There has been a fourfold increase in the production of food grains with only a 25% increase in the cultivable land area.
Question 15: What are the three stages involved in farming practices to improve crop yields?
Answer: The three stages are:
- Choice of seeds for planting.
- Nurturing of the crop plants.
- Protection of the growing and harvested crops from loss.
Question 16: What are the major groups of activities for improving crop yields?
Answer: The major groups of activities are:
- Crop variety improvement
- Crop production improvement
- Crop protection management
Question 17: What is the focus of crop variety improvement?
Answer: Crop variety improvement focuses on finding crop varieties that can give a good yield.
Question 18: What characteristics are considered when selecting crop varieties or strains?
Answer: Characteristics such as disease resistance, response to fertilizers, product quality, and high yields are considered when selecting crop varieties or strains.
Question 19: What is hybridisation in crop improvement?
Answer: Hybridisation is the process of crossing genetically dissimilar plants to incorporate desirable characteristics into crop varieties.
Question 20: What are the different types of hybridisation?
Answer: The types of hybridisation are intervarietal (between different varieties), interspecific (between two different species of the same genus), and intergeneric (between different genera).
Question 21: How can crops be genetically improved besides hybridisation?
Answer: Crops can be genetically improved by introducing a gene that provides the desired characteristic, resulting in genetically modified crops.
Question 22: What conditions must be met for new crop varieties to be accepted?
Answer: New crop varieties must produce high yields under different conditions found in various areas.
Question 23: What is necessary for farmers when adopting new crop varieties?
Answer: Farmers need to be provided with good quality seeds of a particular variety, ensuring that the seeds are all of the same variety and germinate under the same conditions.
Question 24: What factors influence cultivation practices and crop yield?
Answer: Cultivation practices and crop yield are influenced by weather, soil quality, and the availability of water.
Question 25: Why are crop varieties that can be grown in diverse climatic conditions useful?
Answer: Such varieties are useful because weather conditions, like drought and floods, are unpredictable.
Question 26: What types of crop varieties have been developed to address soil issues?
Answer: Varieties tolerant to high soil salinity have been developed.
Question 27: What are the key factors for which crop variety improvement is done?
Answer: Crop variety improvement is done for higher yield, improved quality, biotic and abiotic resistance, change in maturity duration, wider adaptability, and desirable agronomic characteristics.
Question 28: Why is higher yield important in crop variety improvement?
Answer: Higher yield is important to increase the productivity of the crop per acre.
Question 29: How do quality considerations vary among different crops?
Answer: Quality considerations vary as baking quality is important in wheat, protein quality in pulses, oil quality in oilseeds, and preserving quality in fruits and vegetables.
Question 30: What are biotic and abiotic stresses, and why is resistance to them important?
Answer: Biotic stresses include diseases, insects, and nematodes, while abiotic stresses include drought, salinity, waterlogging, heat, cold, and frost. Resistance to these stresses is important to improve crop production.
Question 31: How does changing the maturity duration of crops benefit farmers?
Answer: Shorter maturity duration allows farmers to grow multiple rounds of crops in a year, reduces the cost of crop production, makes harvesting easier, and reduces losses during harvesting.
Question 32: What is the benefit of developing crop varieties with wider adaptability?
Answer: Wider adaptability helps stabilize crop production under different environmental conditions, allowing one variety to be grown in different climatic conditions in various areas.
Question 33: What are desirable agronomic characteristics for different types of crops?
Answer: Tallness and profuse branching are desirable for fodder crops, while dwarfness is desired in cereals to ensure less nutrient consumption, leading to higher productivity.
Question 34: How does farming vary in India and other agriculture-based countries?
Answer: Farming ranges from small to very large farms, with variations in land size, money, and access to information and technologies.
Question 35: What factors influence the farming practices and technologies that farmers can use?
Answer: The financial conditions of farmers, including their access to money, determine the farming practices and agricultural technologies they can adopt.
Question 36: What is the relationship between inputs and yields in farming?
Answer: There is a correlation between higher inputs and higher yields.
Question 37: How does a farmer’s purchasing capacity affect their farming practices?
Answer: A farmer’s purchasing capacity for inputs determines their cropping system and production practices.
Question 38: What are the different levels of production practices mentioned?
Answer: The different levels of production practices are ‘no cost’ production, ‘low cost’ production, and ‘high cost’ production practices.
Question 39: Why do plants require nutrients?
Answer: Plants require nutrients for growth, development, and well-being.
Question 40: How are nutrients supplied to plants?
Answer: Nutrients are supplied to plants by air, water, and soil.
Question 41: What nutrients does air supply to plants?
Answer: Air supplies carbon and oxygen to plants.
Question 45: What nutrients does water supply to plants?
Answer: Water supplies hydrogen (and oxygen) to plants.
Question 46: What nutrients does soil supply to plants?
Answer: Soil supplies thirteen other nutrients to plants, including macronutrients and micronutrients.
Question 47: What are macronutrients and why are they important?
Answer: Macronutrients are nutrients required in large quantities by plants. They include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulphur.
Question 48: What are micronutrients and why are they important?
Answer: Micronutrients are nutrients used by plants in small quantities. They include iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and chlorine.
Question 49: How does nutrient deficiency affect plants?
Answer: Nutrient deficiency affects physiological processes in plants, including reproduction, growth, and susceptibility to diseases.
Question 50: How can soil be enriched to increase crop yield?
Answer: The soil can be enriched by supplying nutrients in the form of manure and fertilizers to increase crop yield.
Question 51: What does manure contain and supply to the soil?
Answer: Manure contains large quantities of organic matter and supplies small quantities of nutrients to the soil.
Question 52: How is manure prepared?
Answer: Manure is prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta and plant waste.
Question 53: What are the benefits of using manure for soil?
Answer: Manure enriches the soil with nutrients and organic matter, increases soil fertility, improves soil structure, and increases water-holding capacity in sandy soils. In clayey soils, it helps with drainage and prevents waterlogging.
Question 54: How does using manure protect the environment?
Answer: Using manure reduces the excessive use of fertilizers and recycles farm waste, protecting the environment.
Question 55: How is manure classified based on biological material used?
Answer: Manure is classified into compost, vermi-compost, and green manure.
Question 56: What is compost and how is it prepared?
Answer: Compost is prepared by decomposing farm waste material like livestock excreta, vegetable waste, animal refuse, domestic waste, sewage waste, straw, and eradicated weeds in pits. It is rich in organic matter and nutrients.
Question 57: What is vermi-compost and how is it different from regular compost?
Answer: Vermi-compost is prepared by using earthworms to hasten the decomposition process of plant and animal refuse.
Question 58: What is green manure and how is it used?
Answer: Green manure involves growing plants like sun hemp or guar and then mulching them by ploughing into the soil before sowing crop seeds. It enriches the soil with nitrogen and phosphorus.
Question 59: What are fertilizers and what nutrients do they supply?
Answer: Fertilizers are commercially produced plant nutrients that supply nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Question 60: What is the purpose of using fertilizers?
Answer: Fertilizers are used to ensure good vegetative growth (leaves, branches, and flowers), leading to healthy plants and higher yields in high-cost farming.
Question 61: How should fertilizers be applied to ensure their effectiveness?
Answer: Fertilizers should be applied carefully in terms of proper dose and timing, and pre- and post-application precautions should be observed for complete utilization.
Question 62: What can happen if fertilizers are not properly absorbed by plants?
Answer: If not properly absorbed, fertilizers can be washed away due to excessive irrigation, leading to water pollution.
Question 63: What are the potential negative effects of continuous fertilizer use?
Answer: Continuous use of fertilizers can destroy soil fertility by not replenishing organic matter and harming soil microorganisms.
Question 64: What should be considered when using fertilizers and manure for crop production?
Answer: The short-term benefits of using fertilizers and the long-term benefits of using manure for maintaining soil fertility should be considered to achieve optimum yields.
Question 65: What is organic farming?
Answer: Organic farming is a farming system that uses minimal or no chemicals as fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and maximizes the use of organic manures and recycled farm wastes.
Question 66: What inputs are maximized in organic farming?
Answer: Organic manures, recycled farm-wastes (like straw and livestock excreta), bio-agents (such as blue-green algae cultures for biofertilizers), and natural bio-pesticides (like neem leaves or turmeric for grain storage) are maximized in organic farming.
Question 67: What are some examples of bio-agents used in organic farming?
Answer: Examples of bio-agents include blue-green algae for biofertilizers and neem leaves or turmeric as bio-pesticides for grain storage.
Question 68: What cropping systems are considered healthy in organic farming?
Answer: Healthy cropping systems in organic farming include mixed cropping, inter-cropping, and crop rotation.
Question 69: What benefits do these cropping systems provide?
Answer: These cropping systems help in controlling insects, pests, and weeds, as well as providing nutrients.
Question 70: What is the main dependency for agriculture in India?
Answer: Most agriculture in India is rain-fed, meaning crop success depends on timely monsoons and sufficient rainfall throughout the growing season.
Question 71: What is the impact of poor monsoons on crops?
Answer: Poor monsoons can cause crop failure.
Question 72: How can the expected yields of crops be increased?
Answer: Ensuring that crops receive water at the right stages during their growing season can increase the expected yields.
Question 73: What are some irrigation systems used in India?
Answer: Irrigation systems in India include wells (dug wells and tube wells), canals, river lift systems, and tanks.
Question 74: How do dug wells and tube wells work?
Answer: Dug wells collect water from water-bearing strata, while tube wells tap water from deeper strata, with water lifted by pumps for irrigation.
Question 75: How does the canal irrigation system function?
Answer: Canals receive water from reservoirs or rivers, and the main canal is divided into branch canals with further distributaries to irrigate fields.
Question 76: What is the river lift system, and where is it used?
Answer: The river lift system draws water directly from rivers to supplement irrigation in areas close to rivers, especially where canal flow is insufficient or irregular.
Question 77: What are tanks, and how are they used in irrigation?
Answer: Tanks are small storage reservoirs that intercept and store runoff from smaller catchment areas.
Question 78: What are some initiatives for increasing water availability for agriculture?
Answer: Initiatives include rainwater harvesting and watershed management, which involve building small check-dams to increase groundwater levels and reduce soil erosion.
Question 79: What is mixed cropping?
Answer: Mixed cropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land, such as wheat + gram, or wheat + mustard. It reduces risk and provides insurance against the failure of one of the crops.
Question 80: What is inter-cropping and how does it differ from mixed cropping?
Answer: Inter-cropping involves growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in a definite pattern, such as alternating rows of soyabean and maize. Unlike mixed cropping, inter-cropping uses a planned pattern and involves crops with different nutrient requirements to maximize nutrient utilization and prevent the spread of pests and diseases.
Question 81: What are the benefits of inter-cropping?
Answer: Inter-cropping ensures maximum utilization of nutrients, prevents pests and diseases from affecting all plants of one crop, and can lead to better returns for both crops.
Question 82: What is crop rotation?
Answer: Crop rotation is the growing of different crops on a piece of land in a pre-planned succession to improve soil health and productivity.
Question 83: How does crop rotation depend on moisture and irrigation?
Answer: The choice of crop to be cultivated after one harvest in crop rotation depends on the availability of moisture and irrigation facilities.
Question 84: What are the potential outcomes of proper crop rotation?
Answer: Proper crop rotation can result in growing two or three crops in a year with good harvests.
Question 85: What problems can weeds, insect pests, and diseases cause in field crops?
Answer: Weeds, insect pests, and diseases can damage crops significantly, leading to substantial crop loss if not controlled at the appropriate time.
Question 86: What are weeds and how do they affect crops?
Answer: Weeds are unwanted plants in cultivated fields, such as Xanthium, Parthenium, and Cyperinus rotundus. They compete for food, space, and light, take up nutrients, and reduce crop growth. Early removal of weeds is essential for a good harvest.
Question 87: How do insect pests typically attack plants?
Answer: Insect pests attack plants in three ways: (i) by cutting the root, stem, and leaf, (ii) by sucking cell sap from various plant parts, and (iii) by boring into stems and fruits, which affects crop health and reduces yields.
Question 88: What causes plant diseases and how are they transmitted?
Answer: Plant diseases are caused by pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. These pathogens can be present in and transmitted through soil, water, and air.
Question 89: What are some common methods for controlling weeds, insects, and diseases?
Answer: Common methods include using pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides), mechanical removal of weeds, and preventive methods such as proper seed bed preparation, timely sowing, intercropping, crop rotation, using resistant varieties, and summer ploughing.
Question 90: What are the potential drawbacks of using pesticides?
Answer: Excessive use of pesticides can be poisonous to many plant and animal species and cause environmental pollution.
Question 91: What are the nutritional values of cow milk?
Answer: Cow milk contains 3.60% fat, 4.00% protein, 4.50% sugar, 0.70% minerals, 87.20% water, and vitamins B1, B2, B12, D, and E.
Question 92: What are the nutritional values of an egg?
Answer: An egg contains 12.00% fat, 13.00% protein, 1.00% minerals, 74.00% water, and vitamins B2 and D.
Question 93: What are the nutritional values of meat?
Answer: Meat contains 3.60% fat, 21.10% protein, 1.10% minerals, 74.20% water, and vitamins B2 and B12.
Question 94: What are the nutritional values of fish?
Answer: Fish contains 2.50% fat, 19.00% protein, 1.30% minerals, 77.20% water, and vitamins Niacin, D, and A.
Question 95: What are the factors responsible for storage losses in agricultural produce?
Answer: Storage losses can be caused by biotic factors (insects, rodents, fungi, mites, and bacteria) and abiotic factors (inappropriate moisture and temperatures).
Question 96: What are the consequences of these storage losses?
Answer: The consequences include degradation in quality, loss in weight, poor germinability, and discolouration of produce, all of which lead to poor marketability.
Question 97: How can these factors be controlled?
Answer: These factors can be controlled through proper treatment and systematic management of warehouses.
Question 100: What preventive and control measures should be taken before storing grains?
Answer: Preventive and control measures include strict cleaning of the produce before storage, proper drying (first in sunlight and then in shade), and fumigation using chemicals to kill pests.
Question 101: What is animal husbandry?
Answer: Animal husbandry is the scientific management of animal livestock, including aspects such as feeding, breeding, and disease control.
Question 102: What types of farming are included in animal-based farming?
Answer: Animal-based farming includes cattle, goat, sheep, poultry, and fish farming.
Question 103: Why is there an increasing demand for milk, eggs, and meat?
Answer: The increasing demand for milk, eggs, and meat is due to the growing population and rising living standards.
Question 104: What new limitations in livestock farming have emerged?
Answer: New limitations include the growing awareness of the need for humane treatment of livestock.
Question 105: What is needed for livestock production in light of these limitations?
Answer: Livestock production needs to be improved to address the new limitations and increasing demand.
Question 106: What are the two purposes of cattle husbandry?
Answer: The two purposes of cattle husbandry are milk production and draught labour for agricultural work, such as tilling, irrigation, and carting.
Question 107: What are the two species of Indian cattle mentioned?
Answer: The two species of Indian cattle mentioned are Bos indicus (cows) and Bos bubalis (buffaloes).
Question 108: What are the different types of milk-producing cattle?
Answer: Milk-producing females are called milch animals (dairy animals), while those used for farm labour are called draught animals.
Question 109: How can milk production be increased?
Answer: Milk production can be increased by extending the lactation period, which is the period of milk production after the birth of a calf.
Question 110: What are the characteristics of exotic and local cattle breeds?
Answer: Exotic breeds (e.g., Jersey, Brown Swiss) are selected for long lactation periods, while local breeds (e.g., Red Sindhi, Sahiwal) are known for their excellent resistance to diseases.
Question 111: What is the benefit of cross-breeding exotic and local cattle breeds?
Answer: Cross-breeding exotic and local breeds can produce animals with both long lactation periods and resistance to diseases.
Question 112: Why are proper cleaning and shelter facilities important for cows and buffaloes?
Answer: Proper cleaning and shelter facilities are important for humane farming, the health of the animals, and the production of clean milk.
Question 113: What cleaning practices are recommended for dairy animals?
Answer: Animals require regular brushing to remove dirt and loose hair.
Question 114: What kind of shelter is recommended for dairy animals?
Answer: Dairy animals should be sheltered under well-ventilated roofed sheds that protect them from rain, heat, and cold. The floor of the cattle shed should be sloping to stay dry and facilitate cleaning.
Question 115: What are the two types of food requirements for dairy animals?
Answer: The two types of food requirements are: (a) maintenance requirement, which is the food needed for a healthy life, and (b) milk-producing requirement, which is the food needed during the lactation period.
Question 116: What are the components of animal feed?
Answer: Animal feed includes (a) roughage, which is largely fiber, and (b) concentrates, which are low in fiber and contain high levels of proteins and other nutrients.
Question 117: What is essential for cattle in terms of diet?
Answer: Cattle need balanced rations containing all nutrients in proportionate amounts, along with feed additives containing micronutrients to promote health and milk output.
Question 118: What are the consequences of diseases in cattle?
Answer: Diseases can cause death and reduce milk production. A healthy animal feeds regularly and has a normal posture.
Question 119: What types of parasites affect cattle, and what do they cause?
Answer: Cattle may have external parasites, which live on the skin and cause skin diseases, and internal parasites, such as worms, which affect the stomach and intestines, and flukes, which damage the liver.
Question 120: How are infectious diseases in cattle caused and prevented?
Answer: Infectious diseases are caused by bacteria and viruses. Vaccinations are given to farm animals to protect against many major viral and bacterial diseases.
Question 121: What is the purpose of poultry farming?
Answer: Poultry farming is undertaken to raise domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat.
Question 122: What are the two main types of poultry breeds developed for specific purposes?
Answer: Improved poultry breeds are developed to produce layers for eggs and broilers for meat.
Question 123: What is the focus of cross-breeding programs in poultry farming?
Answer: Cross-breeding programs between Indian (indigenous) breeds, such as Aseel, and foreign (exotic) breeds, such as Leghorn, focus on developing new varieties with desirable traits.
Question 124: What are the desirable traits aimed for in cross-breeding programs?
Answer: The desirable traits include:
- Number and quality of chicks
- Dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production
- Summer adaptation capacity/tolerance to high temperature
- Low maintenance requirements
- Reduction in the size of the egg-laying bird with the ability to utilize more fibrous, cheaper diets formulated using agricultural by-products.
Question 125: What is the purpose of feeding broiler chickens with vitamin-rich supplementary feed?
Answer: Broiler chickens are fed with vitamin-rich supplementary feed to ensure a good growth rate and better feed efficiency.
Question 126: What measures are taken to ensure the quality of broiler chickens?
Answer: Care is taken to avoid mortality and maintain feathering and carcass quality.
Question 127: What management practices are important for good poultry production?
Answer: Good management practices include maintaining temperature and hygienic conditions in housing and poultry feed, as well as preventing and controlling diseases and pests.
Question 128: How do the requirements of broilers differ from those of egg layers?
Answer: The housing, nutritional, and environmental requirements of broilers are somewhat different from those of egg layers. Broilers require a protein-rich ration with adequate fat, and the level of vitamins A and K is kept high in their poultry feeds.
Question 129: What diseases affect poultry fowl, and how can they be prevented?
Answer: Poultry fowl suffer from diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and nutritional deficiencies. Proper cleaning, sanitation, and spraying of disinfectants at regular intervals are necessary. Appropriate vaccination can prevent infectious diseases and reduce poultry loss during disease outbreaks.
Question 130: What makes fish a valuable source of food?
Answer: Fish is a cheap source of animal protein for our food.
Question 131: What types of aquatic organisms are included in fish production?
Answer: Fish production includes finned true fish as well as shellfish such as prawns and molluscs.
Question 132: What are the two methods of obtaining fish?
Answer: The two methods of obtaining fish are capture fishing (from natural resources) and culture fishery (fish farming).
Question 133: What are the possible water sources for fish production?
Answer: The water source for fish production can be either seawater or freshwater, such as rivers and ponds.
Question 134: Where can fishing be conducted?
Answer: Fishing can be done by both capture and culture of fish in marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Question 135: What are India’s marine fishery resources?
Answer: India’s marine fishery resources include 7500 km of coastline and the deep seas beyond it.
Question 136: What are some popular marine fish varieties in India?
Answer: Popular marine fish varieties include pomfret, mackerel, tuna, sardines, and Bombay duck.
Question 137: How are marine fish caught?
Answer: Marine fish are caught using many kinds of fishing nets from fishing boats.
Question 138: How are yields of marine fish increased?
Answer: Yields are increased by locating large schools of fish in the open sea using satellites and echo-sounders.
Question 139: What marine fish of high economic value are farmed in seawater?
Answer: Finned fishes like mullets, bhetki, and pearl spots, shellfish such as prawns, mussels and oysters, as well as seaweed, are farmed in seawater. Oysters are also cultivated for the pearls they make.
Question 140: What is mariculture?
Answer: Mariculture is the practice of meeting the demand for more fish through culture fisheries as marine fish stocks get further depleted.
Question 141: What are some freshwater resources used for inland fisheries?
Answer: Freshwater resources used for inland fisheries include canals, ponds, reservoirs, and rivers.
Question 142: What are brackish water resources, and why are they important?
Answer: Brackish water resources are areas where seawater and fresh water mix together, such as estuaries and lagoons, and they are important fish reservoirs.
Question 143: How is fish production typically achieved in inland water bodies?
Answer: Most fish production from inland water bodies is achieved through aquaculture.
Question 144: What is a composite fish culture system?
Answer: A composite fish culture system involves using a combination of five or six fish species in a single fishpond, selected to avoid competition for food by having different types of food habits.
Question 145: How do different fish species in a composite fish culture system feed without competing?
Answer: In a composite fish culture system, Catlas are surface feeders, Rohus feed in the middle-zone, Mrigals and Common Carps are bottom feeders, and Grass Carps feed on weeds. This allows them to use all the food in the pond without competing.
Question 146: What problem arises with composite fish culture, and how is it addressed?
Answer: A problem with composite fish culture is that many fish breed only during the monsoon, leading to a lack of availability of good-quality seed. This is addressed by breeding fish in ponds using hormonal stimulation, ensuring the supply of pure fish seed in desired quantities.
Question 147: Why has bee-keeping become an agricultural enterprise?
Answer: Bee-keeping has become an agricultural enterprise because honey is widely used, and it requires low investments, making it an additional income-generating activity for farmers.
Question 148: Besides honey, what other product is obtained from beehives, and what is its use?
Answer: Beehives are also a source of wax, which is used in various medicinal preparations.
Question 149: What are the local varieties of bees used for commercial honey production?
Answer: The local varieties of bees used for commercial honey production are Apis cerana indica (the Indian bee), A. dorsata (the rock bee), and A. florae (the little bee).
Question 150: Which Italian bee variety is used to increase honey yield, and why?
Answer: The Italian bee variety used to increase honey yield is Apis mellifera because it has a high honey collection capacity, stings less, stays in a beehive for long periods, and breeds well.
Question 151: What determines the value or quality of honey?
Answer: The value or quality of honey depends on the pasturage, which is the flowers available to the bees for nectar and pollen collection. The quantity and type of flowers determine the taste of the honey.