BIOLOGY IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD RESOURCES

Animal Husbandry
Cattle Farming

 The breeding of wild animals for specific purposes is called domestication, and such animals are
called domestic animals.
 Animal husbandry is the branch of biology which deals with feeding, shelter, caring and breeding of
domesticated animals.

Dog was the first domesticated animal. It was domesticated to

help in hunting and guarding.

 Animals domesticated for companionship at home are called pets.

 Animals domesticated to obtain food and other valuable products are called livestock.

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There are three types of animals:

Draught Breeds  They are primarily used for drawing bullock carts, ploughing
land and transportation of materials.
 The milk yield is very low.
 The meat is tough.
Dairy Breeds  They are high milk yielders.
 Their males are poor draughts.
Dual Purpose  They are good milk yielders.
Breeds  The males are good for draught purposes.
 The breeds of Haryana, Dangi and Tharparkar serve dual
purpose.

Cattle and Buffaloes

Indigenous Breeds of Cows
There are 30 different breeds of cows in India. They are classified into three categories.

 Red Sindhi  The coat has dark and light red shades.
 Medium in size.
 Sahiwal  Large and heavy built.
 Superior to other dairy cows.
 Gir  Native breed of Gir forest in Gujarat.
 Medium in size.
 Good milk yielder.

Exotic Breeds of Cow

 Indigenous Breed  Red Sindhi, Sahiwal, Gir
 Exotic Breed  Jersey, Holstein-Friesian, Brown Swiss
 Cross Breed  They are developed by mating bull of exotic breeds with cows
of indigenous breeds.
 Examples: Karan-fries, Frieswal
 The milk yield from cross breeds has improved 2–3 times.

Breeds of Buffaloes

Murrah  An original breed of Punjab and Haryana.

 Huge body with short and curved horns.
 Average annual milk yield is 1800–2500 litre.
 The fat content of the milk is up to 7%.
Mehsana  Cross breed of Murrah and Surati.
 Black or grey in colour.
 It is common in Gujarat, especially in Vadodara and Mehsana
districts.
 Its average milk yield is 1200–2500 litre.
Surti  This breed is common in Kaira and Vadodara of Gujarat.
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 Black or brown in colour.

 Prominent eyes and sickle-shaped horns.
 The average milk yield is 1600–1800 litre.
 The fat content of milk is 8–10%.

In animal husbandry, milk production is increased by increasing the

lactation period of milch animals.

Methods of Breeding Animals

Natural Method Artificial Method

 It is the cross-breeding of the  The semen obtained from the desired
indigenous cow with an exotic bull. male bull of high milk-yielding breed is
 It helps to increase the lactation period injected into the reproductive tract of the
in breeds. female.
 It is used to improve the qualities of
cows, buffaloes, pigs, goat, sheep and
horse.

Shelter and Feeding

Shelter
 It must be well-lit and well-ventilated.
 Cattle sheds must be properly covered to protect cattle from rain, heat and
cold.
 The floor should be sloping so that cleaning and keeping the place dry is easy.
 The shelter must be spacious so that each animal is comfortable and
overcrowding is avoided.
 There should be arrangement for fresh, clean drinking water.
 A proper arrangement for the disposal of the animal’s urine and excreta must
be made.
 Shelters should be located away from residential areas and waste disposal
sites.

Feeding
The animal food which contains essential components needed for the growth, development
and general maintenance of the body is called feed.
a) Roughage  Roughage is a coarse, fibrous substance with low nutrient contents.
 Animals get their roughage from substances in their feed such as
hay, green fodder, silage, berseem, Lucerne and cowpea.
b) Concentrates  They are rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins.

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 Concentrates are provided by

 Grains and seeds of bajra, maize, rice, jowar and barley which are
rich in carbohydrates.
 Oil cakes formed from cotton, mustard and groundnut.
 Rice bran, gram chaff, wheat bran and molasses.

Diseases in Cattle
Type of Disease Name of Disease Symptoms
Viral Disease Foot and mouth  Blisters on feet and mouth
disease  Excessive salivation
 Reduced appetite
 Soreness of mouth
 Fever
Cow pox  High fever
 Appearance of small nodules over the
body
Bacterial Disease Anthrax  High fever
 Swelling on the body, especially neck
Rinderpest  High fever
(cattle plague)  Excessive salivation
 Redness of eyes
 Loss of appetite
Salmonellosis  Diarrheoa with blood clot
Mad cow disease is a degenerative disease which affects the central nervous system.

Symptoms of sick cattle

 They stop feeding.
 Milk yield is reduced.
 Become inactive and dull.
 Drooping of ears and lips.
 Passes loose dung and coloured urine.

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Other Livestock Animals

Goats  They are mainly used for meat and milk.

 Cashmere goat yields fine wool called
pashmina.
 Goats eat a variety of natural vegetation.
 Goats raised for meat must be given gram
chaff, oil cakes and vitamin–mineral mixtures.
 Proper sanitation and vaccination must be done
to avoid diseases.
 Important breeds of goats are Gaddi, Kashmiri
Pashmina and Marwari.

Sheep  Sheep provide wool, skin, milk and meat.

 They do not require any proper shelter.
 In winter, sheep are kept in houses and fed
foliage, dry fodder and grains.
 Proper sanitation and vaccination must be done
to avoid diseases.
 Important breeds are Nali and Deccani.

 They are the most economical meat producer.

Pigs
 Its meat, called pork, is used in the production
of ham, bacon and sausages.
 Body hair is used in making painting brushes.
 Its fat is used in the soap industry.
 Proper sanitation and vaccination must be done
to avoid diseases.
 Tapeworm infection spreads through
improperly cooked food.
 Pigs feed on waste and garbage; therefore,
their digestive system is a breeding site for
tapeworms.
 The indigenous breeds are Desi and Ghori.
 The exotic breeds are Berkshire and Yorkshire.

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Poultry

 Poultry is the raising of chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese for meat and eggs.
 The egg-laying chickens are called eggers or layers.
 Rhode Island leghorns and white leghorns are good layers.
 The chickens reared for obtaining meat are called broilers.
 Ross and Peterson chickens give great meat.

The following breeds are found in Indian Poultry:

 Indigenous Breeds  Aseel is the most popular indigenous

breed.
 It provides a high yield of meat.

 Exotic Breeds  White leghorn, Rhode Island Red.

White Leghorn  Produces oval white eggs.
 This chicken is small in size so it requires
less feed area and less maintenance.
 Its farming is economical.

Red Rhode Island  It was developed in Rhode Island, USA.

 It is a good layer and good broiler.

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 Cross Breeds  Some cross breeds are HH-260, IBL-80

and B-77.

New varieties of fowls are developed for the following desirable traits:

Number and quality of chicks

Developing dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production

Tolerance to high temperature

Small-sized egg-laying bird to utilise diets formed by using agriculture by-products

Low-maintenance requirements

Poultry Care

 Chickens are raised in wire cages.

 Birds should not be kept open or overcrowded.
 Feeding trays and egg trays are kept in front of the cage.
 The place should be well-ventilated.
 Clean drinking water must be provided.
 Dropping fall on the ground, so it must be cleaned at intervals.
 Bird dropping from poultry farms is an excellent source of nitrogen for plants.
 Egg production is related to day-length; artificial lighting is done to increase the day
length in winter.

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 The feed of poultry birds contains maize, soy, rice bran, cereals and groundnut cakes.
 For broilers, a thick layer of sawdust is provided in the sheds to absorb droppings.
 The feed and water are kept at regular intervals for easy access to all birds.
 After raising one batch, sawdust is cleared, the area is sterilised and again fresh
sawdust is spread to raise another batch.

Poultry Diseases

Viral diseases Fowl pox, Ranikhet

Bacterial Fowl cholera, salmonellosis, diarrhoea of chick, coryza
Diseases
Fungal Diseases Aspergillosis

Timely vaccinations prevent chickens from these diseases.

Pisciculture (Fish Production)

There are two ways of obtaining fish:

Capture Fishing
Culture Fishery
(Capturing fish from
(Fish farming)
natural water bodies)

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An ideal pisciculture farm contains three types of tanks:

Nursery Tank  Fish eggs are allowed to develop into fry.

(Hatcheries)  Fry is the tiny young ones which hatch out of the eggs.
 Fry are delicate and need protection from predators.
Rearing Tank  Here, fry develops into fingerlings.
 Fingerlings are small fish of about a length of a finger.
 Fingerlings are then released to big tanks for further growth.
Stocking Tank  It is a large tank.
 It is about 10 feet deep.
 Here, fish are grown to maturity and are finally harvested.

Other Requirements for an Ideal Fish Farm

 Lime is used to maintain alkaline conditions of water.
 For an ideal fish farm, regular cleaning and disinfecting are a must.
 Fish feed on groundnut oil cake, mustard oil cake, rice bran and rice polish. Grass carps eat green
leaves too.

Marine Fishery

 India has a coastline of 7500 km and deep seas.

 Fish are caught by using fishing nets and other gear.
 Echosounders and satellites are used to locate a large population of fish under the
sea.

Popular marine fish varieties are

Pomphret

Bombay duck

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Mackerel

Snapper

Mullet

Bhetki

Shellfish

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Pearl spot

Oyster

Fish reared in pisciculture are

 Fresh water fish: Catla, Mrigal, Tilapia, Singhi
 Marine water fish: Pomfret, Bombay duck, mackerel, snapper

Inland Fisheries

 Fish reservoirs such as canals, ponds, rivers, estuaries and lagoons are used for
fisheries.
 The fish yield is not so high.
 Fishing is also done in paddy fields.
 Another way of doing inland fisheries is by composite fish culture system.
 In this system, local and imported species of fish, usually 5–6 in number, are used in a
single pond.
 This is done to avoid any competition for food and space.

Rohu
Surface feeders

Catla
Feed in the middle zone of
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the pond

Mrigal
Bottom feeders

Tilapia
Bottom feeder

Purpose of Fish Production

 Fish is an important source of human food. It is highly proteinaceous.

 Shark liver oil and cod liver oil are rich in vitamins A and D.

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Beekeeping

 Beekeeping or apiculture is the artificial rearing of honey bees or the maintenance of colonies of
honey bees by humans to obtain honey and other commercially important products.

 The place where bees are kept is called a bee yard or apiary.

Apis
cerana
indica
(Indian
bee)

Apis Apis
mellifera Varietie dorsata
s of bee
(Italian used (Rock
bee) bee)

Apis florae
(Little bee)

Italian bees
 High honey collection capacity.
 Stay in given bee hive for long periods.

In nature, honey bees live in colonies in a beehive made of wax which they produce.
There are three types of individuals found in a honey bee colony:

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Queen
(Lays
eggs)

Colony of
Honey Bee

Workers
Drones
(Sterile
(Males)
bees)

In beekeeping, one or more boxes are mounted on a stump which is about 5 feet
high.

Each setup has a narrow opening which allows only worker bees to enter or exit
the setup.

There are frames inside the box on which workers construct hives.

When the cells in a hive are filled with honey, the frames are remvoed and honey
is extracted by centrifugation.

The frame with intact hive is then put back to collect more honey.

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Honey
 Honey is partially digested flower nectar stored in hexagonal cells of a bee hive.
 Honey consists of minerals, enzymes, water and sugar.
 It has medicinal value. It helps in increasing haemoglobin levels.
 The value of honey depends on the pasturage, flowers available to bees.

Beeswax
 It is secreted by the worker bees to build hives.
 It has importance in the cosmetic industry.
 It is used in the manufacture of polish, candles and ointments.

American foul breed and European foul breed are bacterial diseases caused in larvae and adults.
Chalkboard, a fungal disease, affects larvae.

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