15 Questions with Answers and Explanations on “Food Production” for Biology Students:
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Q.1. Explain in brief the role of animal husbandry in human welfare.
Ans. The agricultural practice of breeding and raising live stock is animal husbandry. It has benefited the human in developing the better breeds of animals.
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It has improved the quantity and quality of the animal products. The economical condition of people involved in agriculture has improved and their lives have become better.
Q.2. If your family owned a dairy farm, what measures would you undertakes to improve the quality and quantity of milk production?
Ans. Measures to be undertaken to improve the quantity of milk yield are—
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(a) Selection of good breeds having high yielding potential (HYV) should be choosen.
(b) The breeds should be diseases resistant.
(c) They should be taken care by giving proper house/shed.
(d) They should be hygienically kept, disease free and regular checkup done by a veterinary doctor.
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(e) They should be given good quality fodder.
(f) The handlers should be clean and follow hygiene while milking.
Q.3. What is meant by the term ‘breed’? What are the objectives of animal breeding?
Ans. A group of animals related by descent and similar in most characteristics is called as breed.
Then main objectives of animal breeding are:
1. Produce live stock of that give high yield.
2. Produce live stock of desired qualities of produce.
3. Produce/increase the hard size in a short time.
Q.4. Name the methods employed in animal breeding. According to you which of the methods is best? Why?
Ans. Broadly there are two methods employed in animal breeding
Scientific methods are better in animal breeding.
Specifically MOET method is better because of its:
(a) Successful production of hybrids.
(b) The egg donor is used again and again and surrogate mothers are used for development of embryos.
(c) Successfully increases herd size in a short time.
Q. 5. What is apiculture? How is it important is our lives? (NCERT)
Ans. Beekeeping is called apiculture. It is the maintenance of lives of honeybees for honey production.
It is important because:
(a) It is the source of honey production.
(b) It is the source of beeswax used in various industries.
(c) It helps pollinating flowers that is necessary for fruit production, e.g. mustard seeds.
Q. 6. Discuss the role of fishery in enhancement of food production.
Ans. Fisheries play an important role in food production. A large number of population is dependent on fish for food.
The fishes are of two types—fresh water and marine water. The pisciculture leads to increase in production of fishes and other marine/aquatic animals due to which food production has increased. It is known as Blue Revolution.
Q. 7. Mention any four points important for successful beekeeping.
Ans. I. Selection of suitable location for keeping bee lives.
2. Management of beehives during different seasons.
3. Knowledge of nature and habits of bees.
4. Handling and collection of products.
Q. 8. Explain what is meant by biofortification?
Ans. Breeding of plants/crops with higher levels of nutrients especially—vitamins, minerals and proteins called biofortification.
Plants with enriched nutrients are bred and cultivated to produce rich diet. This is requirement to fulfil the ‘hidden hunger’ of people who cannot afford to buy enough of fruits and vegetables fish milk and meat.
This will ‘cure’ their deficiency diseases and such population can lead a disease-free life, thereby increases their life span.
Q. 9. Which part of the plant is best suited for making virus-free plants and why?
Ans. Meristem. Because this part is free of virus. After removing it from the plant it can be cultured in vitro.
Q. 10. What is the major advantage of producing plants by micro-propagation?
Ans. Advantages are:
1. Each plant produced is genetically alive to their parent/original plant, i.e. They are same clones.
2. Large number of plants are produced in short duration.
Q. 11. Find out what the various components of the medium used for propagation of an explant in vitro are.
Ans. Components of medium are:
(1) Sucrose,
(2) Inorganic salts,
(3) Vitamins,
(4) Amino acids,
(5) Growth regulators.
Q. 12. What is inbreeding? Why it is done? Give one disadvantage of this type of breeding method.
Ans. When the breeding between animals of the same breed is done then it’s called inbreeding. It is done for evolving a pureline of any animal. It leads to inbreeding depression among the breeds.
Q. 13. What is interspecific hybridization? Give one example.
Ans. The process of mating/crossing animals of two different related species is called interspecific mating. Mule.
Q. 14. How can one do plant breeding for developing resistance to insect pests? Give a few examples to insect resistance characteristics. Also mention the source of pest resistance genes.
Ans. Breeding methods for insect pest resistance involve the same steps as that are needed for other agronomic traits. Insect resistance characteristics are:
1. Hairy leaves e.g. cotton plant has hairy leaves for jassids resistance, in wheat for cereal leaf beetle.
2. Soothed leaf and nectar less cotton varieties do not attract boll worms.
3. Solid stems in wheat are not attacked by stem sawfly.
4. High content of aspartic acid, low nitrogen and sugar content in maize leads to resistance of maize stem bores.
Sources of resistance genes are – cultivated crops, ger plasm of crop/wild varieties.
Q. 15. Briefly write about only two:
(a) Out breeding,
(b) Cross breeding,
(c) Controlled breeding.
Ans.
(a) Out breeding:
It is the process of breeding of the unrelated animals. The animals that are bred are of the same breed but they do not have common ancestors for 4-6 generations.
Also animals of different breeds or different species is used for breeding.
(b) Cross breeding:
It is the process of crossing of superior males of one breed with superior females of another breed.
By this type of breeding desirable qualities of two different breeds are obtained in the hybrid. The hybrids can be commercially exploited for production.
It can also be used for inbreeding. By this method many animal breeds have been produced.
(c) Controlled breeding:
It is the process of artificial insemination. The semen is collected from a male and injected into the reproductive tract of a selected female.
The semen may be used immediately at same place or even be frozen transported to distant locations. In this way, the breeding is controlled by the breeder self.