Improvement in Food Resources

Animal Husbandry

Animal Husbandry

• Cattle Farming

  A cattle farming is the practice of rearing cattle by providing facilities for raising livestock. Livestock includes the domestication of cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs etc. A cattle farming is carried out to raise cows and buffaloes as important livestock. The two major species of Indian cattle are Bosindicus, or cows, and Bosbubalis, or buffaloes.

  On basis of their utility, cattle are classified into two types namely milch animals and drought animals.

  1. Milch animals or dairy animals produce milk. Males of this type are not useful for working on the farm.
  2. Draught animals are used for carrying out agricultural work like tilling, irrigation and carting. Cows belonging to this category are poor milk-yielding varieties.

• Poultry Farming

  Poultry farming is the practice of raising fowl for egg production and chicken meat. Fowls are used for producing eggs and broilers are used for producing meat.

  Cross –breeding is common in poultry to develop new varieties with the desirable traits. e.g Indian breed Aseel is cross-bred with the foreign breed Leghorn.

  Cross-breeding is used to develop offspring with desirable traits. The desirable traits include:

  1. number and quality of chicks;
  2. dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production;
  3. summer adaptation capacity/ tolerance to high temperature;
  4. low maintenance requirements;
  5. reduction in the size of the egg-laying bird with the ability to utilise more fibrous cheaper diets formulated using agricultural by-products.

  Management practices for poultry farming are elucidated.

  1. Maintaining optimum temperature
  2. Providing hygienic housing conditions
  3. Providing a protein-rich diet with high levels of vitamin A and K, and
  4. Preventing and controlling pests and diseases.

• Marine Fisheries

  Fish farming is also called as aquaculture. This is culturing of fish for commercial purposes. Fish is a cheap source of animal protein.

  Fish production is of two types :

  Finned fish production/True fish production : Production and management of cartilaginous and bony fishes such as pomphret, tuna, cod, catla, prawns, rohu etc. Unfinned fish production : Production of shell-fish such as prawns, mollusks.

  Depending on the mode of obtaining fishes, fishing are of two types :

  1. Capture fishing : Naturally living fishes in various water bodies are captured.
  2. Culture fishing : Fishes of desired variety are cultivated in confined areas with utmost care to get maximum yield. This is also called aquaculture. Aquaculture can be done in oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds etc. When it is done in oceans, it is called mariculture.

   

  Marine fishing : Marine fishing includes fish production in ponds, rivers, reservoirs.

  1. Popular marine fishes include pomphret, tuna, sardines, Bombay duck. Some costly fishes found in the sea like nullets, prawns, seaweed, oysters.
  2. Using satellites, regions of the high fish population in the sea can be found. Echo-sounders are also used.

• Inland Fisheries

  Inland fishing: It includes fish production in freshwater (for example ponds, rivers, lakes, reservoirs) and brackish water (for example estuaries).

  Composite Fish Culture

  1. 5 to 6 varieties in a single fish pond.
  2. They are selected so that they do not compete for food. They should have different food requirement.

  Example :

  1. Catla: Feeds in the upper part of water.
  2. Rohu: Feeds in middle part of water.
  3. Mrigals, common carps: Feeds at the bottom.

  Advantage: More yield.

  Problems: Many fishes lay eggs during monsoons only, due to which a number of fishes will not grow fast. So hormonal stimulation is used. Using this fishes can be made to reproduce any time.

Bee Keeping