Improvement in Food Resources

Cheatsheet Content

1. Why We Need More Food (Introduction) Basic Need: Every living thing, including us, needs food to grow, stay healthy, and have energy. Food provides essential nutrients like proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Food Sources: Our main food comes from plants (through farming, called agriculture) and animals (through raising animals, called animal husbandry). The Challenge: Growing Population: The number of people in the world is increasing rapidly. For example, India has over a billion people, and this number is still growing, meaning we need huge amounts of food every year. Limited Land: We can't just find more land to farm. Most land suitable for farming is already being used very intensively. The Solution: We must find smarter ways to get more food from the same amount of land and with the same number of animals. This means making farming more efficient. Past Successes: Green Revolution: This was a big effort that helped us grow much more food grains like wheat and rice. White Revolution: This improved how we produce and get milk, making it more available. New Problem: These "revolutions" used a lot of natural resources (like water and soil) very heavily. This can harm our environment, like causing water pollution or making soil less fertile. Our Goal: We need to produce more food but in a way that doesn't damage our environment or use up resources too quickly. This is called sustainable farming . Food Security: It's not enough just to grow food. People also need to be able to afford and access that food. Helping farmers earn more money is also part of solving hunger. 2. Making Crops Better (Crop Yield Improvement) To get more and better food from crops, we focus on three main areas: Improving the Crop Itself: Choosing and developing better varieties of plants. Managing How We Grow Crops: Taking good care of the plants while they are growing. Protecting Crops: Keeping them safe from harm until they are harvested and stored. 2.1 What Different Crops Give Us (Nutritional Value) Cereals: These are grains like wheat, rice, maize (corn), and millets . They give us energy, mainly from carbohydrates. Example: Eating rice or bread gives you energy to study and play. Pulses: These are edible seeds from legume plants, like gram (chickpeas), peas, and lentils . They are rich in protein. Example: Dal (lentil soup) provides protein for muscle growth. Oil Seeds: These are seeds from which we get oil, such as soybean, groundnut (peanut), and mustard . They provide healthy fats. Example: Cooking with groundnut oil gives you fats needed for body functions. Vegetables, Fruits, and Spices: These provide essential vitamins and minerals, along with small amounts of other nutrients. Example: Oranges give Vitamin C, and spinach gives iron. Fodder Crops: These are plants like berseem and oats that are grown specifically as food for livestock (farm animals). Example: Cows eat berseem to produce more milk. 2.2 Crop Seasons in India Kharif Crops: These are grown during the rainy season (usually June to October). They need a lot of water. Example: Paddy (rice), soybean, maize, and cotton are kharif crops. Rabi Crops: These are grown during the winter season (usually November to April). They need less water and cooler temperatures. Example: Wheat, gram (chickpea), peas, and mustard are rabi crops. 2.3 Improving Crop Varieties (Choosing Better Seeds) This means finding or creating new types of crops that grow better, yield more, or have other useful features. Breeding for Good Traits: Scientists select plants with good characteristics and breed them together. Example: If one wheat plant resists a disease well and another gives a lot of grain, scientists might cross them to get a new wheat variety that does both. Hybridisation: This is like creating a "hybrid" by crossing two different types of plants. This combines the best features from both "parents." Example: Crossing two different varieties of corn to get a hybrid corn that grows faster and produces larger cobs. Genetically Modified (GM) Crops: This involves adding a specific gene to a plant to give it a new desired trait. Example: Bt cotton is a GM crop that has a gene making it resistant to certain insect pests, so farmers don't need to spray as much insecticide. What Makes a Crop Variety Desirable? Higher Yield: Getting more produce from the same area of land. Example: A new rice variety that yields 20% more grain per acre. Improved Quality: Making the crop better for its specific use. Example: Wheat with higher protein content for better bread, or oilseeds that produce healthier oil. Resistance to Problems: Being able to fight off diseases, pests (biotic factors), or cope with bad weather conditions like drought, flood, or very salty soil (abiotic factors). Example: A potato variety that doesn't get infected by a common fungus, or a corn variety that can grow even when there's less water. Shorter Maturity Time: The time from planting to harvesting is reduced. Example: A bean plant that matures in 60 days instead of 90 days allows a farmer to grow another crop in the same field within the year. It also reduces costs. Wider Adaptability: A crop that can grow well in many different environments and climates. Example: A new variety of millet that grows successfully in both hot and moderately cool regions. Desirable Plant Shape (Agronomic Characteristics): Example: For fodder crops (animal feed), tall plants with many branches are good. For cereals (like wheat), shorter plants are better because they put more energy into making grains and less into growing tall stems that might fall over. 3. Managing How We Grow Crops (Production Management) This focuses on how farmers take care of the plants while they are growing to ensure a good harvest. 3.1 Feeding the Plants (Nutrient Management) Just like humans need food, plants need nutrients to grow properly. Nutrient Sources: Air: Supplies carbon and oxygen. Water: Supplies hydrogen and oxygen. Soil: Supplies 13 other essential nutrients. Types of Nutrients from Soil: Macronutrients: Needed in large amounts. Examples: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sulphur (S). Micronutrients: Needed in small amounts. Examples: Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), Chlorine (Cl). Importance: If plants don't get enough of these nutrients, their growth, ability to reproduce (make seeds/fruits), and resistance to diseases will be affected. How to Add Nutrients: We enrich the soil by adding manure and fertilizers . 3.2 Manure Manure is natural plant food made from decomposed animal waste (like cow dung) and plant waste. Benefits: Enriches Soil: Adds lots of organic matter (decayed plant and animal material) and some nutrients to the soil. Improves Soil Structure: Example: In sandy soils, manure helps the soil hold more water. Example: In clayey soils (which can get waterlogged), manure helps water drain better. Eco-friendly: It uses biological waste, which is good for the environment. Types of Manure: Compost & Vermi-compost: Compost: Farm waste (like animal poop, vegetable scraps, weeds) is put in pits and allowed to decompose (rot). The rotten material is rich in nutrients. Vermi-compost: This is compost made faster using earthworms, which help break down the waste. Green Manure: Farmers grow specific plants (like sun hemp or guar) directly in the field. Before these plants fully mature, they are ploughed back into the soil. Example: These green plants add nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil, making it more fertile for the next crop. 3.3 Fertilizers Fertilizers are commercially made chemicals that provide specific plant nutrients, mainly Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Purpose: They help plants grow strong leaves, branches, and flowers, leading to higher crop yields. Important Cautions: Careful Use: Fertilizers must be applied in the right amount, at the right time, and with care. Pollution Risk: If too much fertilizer is used or if it's washed away by heavy rain, it can pollute water bodies. Example: Excess fertilizer runoff can cause algae blooms in lakes, harming aquatic life. Soil Damage: Continuous use of chemical fertilizers without adding organic matter can harm the soil's natural fertility and kill beneficial microorganisms in the soil. 3.4 Organic Farming This is a farming method that uses very few or no artificial chemicals like fertilizers, pesticides, or weed killers. Focus: It relies heavily on natural methods. Example: Using manure, compost, and recycled farm waste to fertilize the soil. Example: Using natural biological agents (like certain bacteria or neem leaves) to control pests instead of chemical sprays. Example: Using smart cropping patterns like mixed cropping or crop rotation to manage pests and improve soil health. Benefit: It's better for the environment and produces food free from chemical residues. 3.5 Watering the Crops (Irrigation) Most farming in India depends on rainwater. If the monsoon rains are bad, crops can fail. Irrigation ensures crops get water when they need it. Why it's Important: Giving crops water at the right stages of their growth can significantly increase their yield. Different Irrigation Systems in India: Wells: Dug wells: Water is collected from underground water sources close to the surface. Tube wells: These tap water from much deeper underground sources. Example: Farmers use pumps to lift water from wells for their fields. Canals: These are long, man-made channels that carry water from large reservoirs or rivers to many fields. Example: Water from a big dam is sent through a network of canals to irrigate vast agricultural areas. River Lift Systems: In some areas, water is directly pumped from rivers to fields nearby, especially if canal water is not enough. Tanks: These are small storage reservoirs that collect and store rainwater runoff. New Ideas for Water Management: Rainwater Harvesting: Collecting and storing rainwater for later use. Watershed Management: Building small dams (called check-dams) across streams to stop rainwater from flowing away too quickly. This helps more water soak into the ground, raising the groundwater level, and also reduces soil erosion. Drought: This happens when there's not enough rain or the rain is uneven. It's a big threat to rain-fed farming. Scientists are developing crop varieties that can survive dry conditions. 3.6 Smart Ways to Plant Crops (Cropping Patterns) These are different strategies for planting crops to get the most benefit from the land and resources. Mixed Cropping: Growing two or more different crops on the same piece of land at the same time. Example: Planting wheat and gram (chickpea) together, or groundnut and sunflower. Benefit: If one crop fails due to bad weather or disease, the farmer still has the other crop, reducing risk. Inter-cropping: Growing two or more crops in a definite pattern on the same field at the same time. Example: Planting a few rows of soybean, then a few rows of maize, then soybean again. Benefits: We choose crops that need different nutrients, so they don't compete. This also helps prevent pests and diseases from spreading easily to all plants of one type. Both crops can give good yields. Crop Rotation: Growing different crops one after another on the same piece of land in a planned sequence. Example: A farmer might grow wheat one year, then beans the next, and then maize. Benefits: This helps keep the soil healthy, improves its fertility, and can break the life cycles of pests and diseases specific to one crop. If done correctly, a farmer can get two or three good harvests in a year.