NCERT Solutions Class 12th Biology:

Chapter 9 – Strategies for Enhancement

in Food Production
By Anand Meena - August 6, 2014

NCERT Solutions Class 12th Biology: Chapter 9 –

Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Book Solutions for
class XII
Subject: Biology
Chapter: Chapter 9 – Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production

Class XII Biology Chapter 9 Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production NCERT
Solution is given below.

Question 1: Explain in brief the role of animal husbandry in human welfare.

Answer Animal husbandry deals with the scientific management of livestock. It
includes various aspects such as feeding, breeding, and control diseases to raise the
population of animal livestock. Animal husbandry usually includes animals such as
cattle, pig, sheep, poultry, and fish which are useful for humans in various ways.
These animals are managed for the production of commercially important products
such as milk, meat, wool, egg, honey, silk, etc. The increase in human population has
increased the demand of these products. Hence, it is necessary to improve the
management of livestock scientifically.

Question 2: If your family owned a dairy farm, what measures would you undertake
to improve the quality and quantity of milk production?
Answer Dairy farm management deals with processes which aim at improving the
quality and quantity of milk production. Milk production is primarily dependent on
choosing improved cattle breeds, provision of proper feed for cattle, maintaining
proper shelter facilities, and regular cleaning of cattle. Choosing improved cattle
breeds is an important factor of cattle management. Hybrid cattle breeds are
produced for improved productivity. Therefore, it is essential that hybrid cattle breeds
should have a combination of various desirable genes such as high milk production
and high resistance to diseases. Cattle should also be given healthy and nutritious
food consisting of roughage, fibre concentrates, and high levels of proteins and other
nutrients. Cattle’s should be housed in proper cattle-houses and should be kept in
well ventilated roofs to prevent them from harsh weather conditions such as heat,
cold, and rain. Regular baths and proper brushing should be ensured to control
diseases. Also, time-to-time check ups by a veterinary doctor for symptoms of
various diseases should be undertaken.

Question 3: What is meant by the term ‘breed’? What are the objectives of animal
breeding?
Answer A breed is a special variety of animals within a species. It is similar in most
characters such as general appearance, size, configuration, and features with other
members of the same species. Jersey and Brown Swiss are examples of foreign
breeds of cattle. These two varieties of cattle have the ability to produce abundant
quantities of milk. This milk is very nutritious with high protein content.
Objectives of animal breeding:
(i) To increase the yield of animals.
(ii) To improve the desirable qualities of the animal produce.
(iii) To produce disease-resistant varieties of animals.

Question 4: Name the methods employed in animal breeding. According to you

which one of the methods is best? Why?
Answer Animal breeding is the method of mating closely related individuals. There
are several methods employed in animals breeding, which can be classified into the
following categories:
(A) Natural methods of breeding include inbreeding and out-breeding. Breeding
between animals of the same breed is known as inbreeding, while breeding between
animals of different breeds is known as out-breeding. Out- breeding of animals is of
three types:
(a). Out-crossing: In this type of out-breeding, the mating of animals occurs within
the same breed. Thus, they have no common ancestors up to the last 4-5
generations.
(b). Cross-breeding: In this type of out-breeding, the mating occurs between
different breeds of the same species, thereby producing a hybrid.
(c). Interspecific hybridization: In this type of out-breeding, the mating occurs
between different species.
(B) Artificial methods of breeding include modern techniques of breeding. It involves
controlled breeding experiments, which are of two types:-
(a). Artificial insemination: It is a process of introducing the semen (collected from
the male) into the oviduct or the uterus of the female body by the breeder. This
method of breeding helps the breeder overcome certain problems faced in abnormal
mating.
(b). Multiple ovulation embryo technology (MOET): It is a technique for cattle
improvement in which super-ovulation is induced by a hormone injection. Then,
fertilization is achieved by artificial insemination and early embryos are collected.
Each of these embryos are then transplanted into the surrogate mother for further
development of the embryo. The best method to carry out animal breeding is the
artificial method of breeding, which includes artificial insemination and MOET
technology. These technologies are scientific in nature. They help overcome problems
of normal
mating and have a high success rate of crossing between mature males and females.
Also, it ensures the production of hybrids with the desired qualities. This method is
highly economical as a small amount of semen from the male
can be used to inseminate several cattle.

Question 5: What is apiculture? How is it important in our lives?

Answer Apiculture is the practice of bee-keeping for the production of various
products such as honey, bee’s wax, etc. Honey is a highly nutritious food source and
is used as an indigenous system of medicines. It is useful in the treatment of many
disorders such as cold, flu, and dysentery. Other commercial products obtained from
honey bees include bee’s wax and bee pollen. Bee’s wax is used for making
cosmetics, polishes, and is even used in several medicinal preparations. Therefore, to
meet the increasing demand of honey, people have started practicing bee-keeping on
a large scale. It has become an income generating activity for farmers since it
requires a low investment and is labour intensive.
Question 6: Discuss the role of fishery in enhancement of food production.
Answer Fishery is an industry which deals with catching, processing, and marketing
of fishes and other aquatic animals that have a high economic value. Some
commercially important aquatic animals are prawns crabs, oysters, lobsters, and
octopus. Fisheries play an important role in the Indian economy. This is because a
large part of the Indian population is dependent on fishes as a source of food, which
is both cheap and high in animal protein. A Fishery is an employment generating
industry especially for people staying in the coastal areas. Both fresh water fishes
(such as Catla, Rohu, etc) and marine fishes (such as tuna, mackerel pomfret, etc.)
are of high economic value.

Question 7: Briefly describe various steps involved in plant breeding.

Answer Plant breeding is the process in which two genetically dissimilar varieties are
purposely crossed to produce a new hybrid variety. As a result, characteristics from
both parents can be obtained in the hybrid plant variety. Thus, it involves the
production of a new variety with the desired characteristics such as resistance to
diseases, climatic adaptability, and better productivity. The various steps involved in
plant breeding are as follows:
(a). Collection of genetic variability: Genetic variability from various wild relatives of
the cultivated species are collected to maintain the genetic diversity of a species. The
entire collection of the diverse alleles of a gene in a crop is called the germplasm
collection.
(b). Evaluation of germplasm and selection of parents: The germplasm collected is
then evaluated for the desirable genes. The selected plants with the desired genes
are then used as parents in plant breeding experiments and are multiplied by the
process of hybridization.
(c). Cross-hybridization between selected parents: The next step in plant breeding is
to combine the desirable characters present in two different parents to produce
hybrids. It is a tedious job as one has to ensure that the pollen grains collected from
the male parent reach the stigma of the female parent.
(d). Selection of superior hybrids: The progenies of the hybrids having the desired
characteristics are selected through scientific evaluation. The selected progenies are
then self-pollinated for several generations to ensure homozygosity.
(e). Testing, release, and commercialization of new cultivars: The selected progenies
are evaluated for characters such as yield, resistance to diseases, performance, etc.
by growing them in research fields for at least three growing seasons in different
parts of the country. After thorough testing and evaluation, the selected varieties are
given to the farmers for growing in fields for a large-scale production.

Question 8: Explain what is meant by biofortification.

Answer Biofortification is a process of breeding crops with higher levels of vitamins,
minerals, proteins, and fat content. This method is employed to improve public
health. Breeding of crops with improved nutritional quality is undertaken to improve
the content of proteins, oil, vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients in crops. It is also
undertaken to upgrade the quality of oil and proteins. An example of this is a wheat
variety known as Atlas 66, which has high protein content in comparison to the
existing wheat. In addition, there are several other improved varieties of crop plants
such as rice,carrots, spinach etc. which have more nutritious value and more
nutrients than the existing varieties.

Question 9: Which part of the plant is best suited for making virus-free plants and
why?
Answer Apical and axillary meristems of plants is used for making virus-free plants.
In a diseased plant, only this region is not infected by the virus as compared to the
rest of the plant region. Hence, the scientists remove axillary and apical meristems of
the diseased plant and grow it in vitro to obtain a disease-free and healthy plant.
Virus-free plants of banana, sugarcane, and potato have been obtained using this
method by scientists.

Question 10: What is the major advantage of producing plants by

micropropagation?
Answer Micropropagation is a method of producing new plants in a short duration
using plant tissue culture. Some major advantages of micropropagation are as
follows:
(a) Micropropagation helps in the propagation of a large number of plants in a short
span of time.
(b) The plants produced are identical to the mother plant. (c) It leads to the
production of healthier plantlets, which exhibit better disease-resisting powers.
Question 11: Find out what the various components of the medium used for
propagation of explants in vitro are?
Answer The major components of medium used for propagation of explants in vitro
are carbon sources such as sucrose, inorganic salts, vitamins, amino acids, water,
agar-agar, and certain growth hormones such as auxins and gibberellins.

Question 12: Name any five hybrid varieties of crop plants which have been
developed in India.
Answer The five hybrid varieties of crop plants which have been developed in India
are:

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