Chapter Summary
Enhancement of Food Production focuses on raising yields and quality through animal husbandry (dairy, poultry, fisheries, apiculture), breeding methods (inbreeding, outbreeding, crossbreeding, interspecific hybridization), reproductive technologies (AI, MOET), plant breeding for disease resistance and nutrition (biofortification), mutation breeding, tissue culture (micropropagation, somaclones, protoplast fusion), single‑cell protein, and integrated pest/nutrient management using biofertilizers and biocontrol agents.
Animal Husbandry
Plant Breeding
MOET & AI
Tissue Culture
Biofortification
SCP & IPM
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50 Questions & Answers
1) What is animal husbandry?
Science of breeding, feeding, and caring for livestock to enhance production of milk, meat, eggs, wool, etc.
2) Outline key practices in dairy farm management.
Choice of high‑yield breeds, balanced ration, clean housing, disease control, regular milking schedule, record keeping, and reproductive management.
3) What is artificial insemination (AI)?
Introduction of semen into female reproductive tract using instruments; improves genetic gain and disease control.
4) What is MOET and why is it used?
Multiple Ovulation & Embryo Transfer: superovulate elite cow, inseminate, flush embryos (day 7–8) and transfer to surrogates—rapid multiplication of superior genetics.
5) Define inbreeding and outbreeding in animals.
Inbreeding: mating of related individuals within same breed; Outbreeding: mating of unrelated individuals (outcrossing, crossbreeding, interspecific hybridization).
6) What is inbreeding depression?
Reduction in vigour and fertility due to increased homozygosity from close inbreeding; overcome by outcrossing.
7) What is heterosis (hybrid vigour)?
Improved performance of hybrids over parents for traits like growth and fertility, common in crossbreeding.
8) Give aims of poultry farm management.
High egg/meat yield, disease prevention (vaccination, biosecurity), balanced feed, proper housing, culling of poor layers.
9) What is aquaculture and mariculture?
Aquaculture: farming of aquatic organisms; Mariculture: cultivation in marine environments (e.g., oysters, seaweeds).
10) What is composite fish culture?
Polyculture of compatible species occupying different feeding niches (surface, column, bottom) for higher yield.
11) What is apiculture? Name a high‑yielding species.
Beekeeping for honey and wax; Apis mellifera (Italian bee) is high‑yielding.
12) What are fishery resources?
Capture fisheries (wild catch) and culture fisheries (farm); include finfish, shellfish (prawns), and other aquatic products.
13) What are the steps of plant breeding?
Collection of variability, evaluation & selection of parents, hybridization, selection and testing of recombinants, release and commercialization.
14) What is germplasm collection?
Total genetic variability available for a crop and its wild relatives stored as seeds, tissues or in field gene banks.
15) Define selection and its types.
Choosing individuals with desirable traits; mass selection, pure‑line selection, recurrent selection.
16) What is hybridization?
Crossing genetically dissimilar parents to combine desirable traits in offspring; may be intervarietal, interspecific or intergeneric.
17) What is backcrossing?
Hybrid crossed with one of the parents repeatedly to transfer a specific trait (e.g., disease resistance) into an elite variety.
18) What is heterosis breeding?
Exploiting hybrid vigour by developing and commercializing F1 hybrids, especially in cross‑pollinated crops.
19) What is ideotype?
A model plant type with ideal trait combinations for maximum yield in a target environment.
20) What is mutation breeding?
Inducing heritable changes using physical (e.g., gamma rays) or chemical mutagens (e.g., EMS) to create new traits.
21) Steps to breed for disease resistance.
Identify sources of resistance, hybridize with susceptible elite variety, select resistant recombinants, test and release.
22) Examples of disease‑resistant varieties (NCERT‑style).
Wheat (leaf rust), Brassica (white rust), Cauliflower (black rot), Cowpea (bacterial blight), Chilli (leaf curl), etc.
23) What is biofortification? Give examples.
Breeding for enhanced nutrition: protein‑rich maize, iron‑rich rice, vitamin A‑rich sweet potato, high‑zinc wheat.
24) What is quality protein maize (QPM)?
Maize bred for higher lysine and tryptophan using opaque‑2 gene and modifiers.
25) What is marker‑assisted selection (MAS)?
Use of DNA markers linked to traits to select plants at seedling stage, accelerating breeding.
26) What is ideotype breeding vs conventional breeding?
Ideotype sets target trait architecture first; conventional relies on selection from variability and hybridization cycles.
27) Define tissue culture.
In vitro cultivation of plant cells/tissues on nutrient media under sterile conditions.
28) What is micropropagation?
Rapid clonal multiplication via tissue culture (shoot tips, nodal explants), producing disease‑free uniform plants.
29) What are somaclones?
Variants regenerated from tissue culture showing useful traits like disease tolerance or salt tolerance.
30) What is callus and explant?
Explant: plant tissue taken for culture; Callus: undifferentiated mass formed on media.
31) What is totipotency?
Ability of a single plant cell to regenerate into a whole plant under suitable conditions.
32) What is protoplast fusion?
Fusion of cell‑wall‑less protoplasts from different species/varieties to form somatic hybrids or cybrids.
33) What is embryo rescue?
In vitro culture of immature hybrid embryos to prevent abortion and obtain interspecific hybrids.
34) What is cryopreservation?
Long‑term storage of germplasm in liquid nitrogen (−196°C) to conserve genetic resources.
35) What are bioreactors used for in plant tissue culture?
Scaling up micropropagation or producing secondary metabolites under controlled conditions.
36) Name common plant growth regulators used.
Auxins (IAA, NAA), cytokinins (BA, kinetin), gibberellins; their ratio controls organogenesis.
37) What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
Eco‑friendly pest control combining cultural, mechanical, biological agents (parasitoids, predators, pathogens) and need‑based pesticides.
38) Give examples of biocontrol agents.
Trichoderma (fungal antagonist), Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), ladybird beetles (aphids), parasitoid wasps (Trichogramma).
39) What are biofertilizers?
Living organisms that enhance nutrient availability: Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, cyanobacteria (Anabaena), mycorrhiza.
40) What is vermicomposting?
Conversion of organic waste into nutrient‑rich compost using earthworms.
41) What is Single‑Cell Protein (SCP)?
Protein‑rich biomass produced from microbes (e.g., Spirulina, yeast) used as food/feed supplement.
42) Advantages of Spirulina as SCP.
High protein and vitamins, rapid growth on wastewater/low inputs, eco‑friendly.
43) How does mycorrhiza help plants?
Enhances phosphorus uptake, water absorption, disease resistance and drought tolerance.
44) What is green manure?
Growing and ploughing in leguminous crops (e.g., Sesbania) to enrich soil organic matter and nitrogen.
45) What is the Green Revolution?
Large yield increases in the 1960s–70s due to HYV seeds (wheat, rice), fertilizers, irrigation, and agronomic practices.
46) Why is breeding for biotic stress resistance important?
Reduces crop losses from pests/diseases, lowers pesticide use, increases stability of yield.
47) Name quality traits targeted in breeding.
Grain protein content, oil quality, baking quality, aroma (rice), shelf life, sugar content.
48) What is selection index?
Combined measure to select individuals based on multiple weighted traits simultaneously.
49) Why maintain records in farms and breeding programs?
Tracks pedigree, production, health, and aids genetic evaluation and management decisions.
50) List sustainable practices for enhancing food production.
Crop rotation, mixed/inter‑cropping, conservation tillage, water harvesting, IPM, INM (integrated nutrient management), use of biofertilizers and resistant varieties.