StrategiesForEnhancementInFood

Production

AnimalHusbandry
Introduction

Thepracticeofbreedingandraisinglivestockiscalledanimalhusbandry.

Itincludesbreedingoflivestock(cows,buffaloes,pigs,etc.),poultryfarming,
andfisheries.

FarmManagement

DairyFarmManagement

Milkyieldisdependentuponthequalityofbreedselected.Quality
encompassesyieldingpotentialanddiseaseresistance.

CareofcattleProperaccommodation,adequatewater,feedingina
scientificmanner(qualityoffodder),hygiene,visitsbyaveterinary
doctor

Alltheseprocessesnowadayshavebecomemechanisedandproper
recordkeepingisfollowed.

DairyFarmManagement

Poultryincludesmeatfrombirdssuchaschicken,ducks,andturkey.

Themainemphasisinpoultryfarmingisselectionofadiseasefree
andhealthybreed.

Safefarmconditions,properfeed,water,andhygienearealso
necessary.

AnimalBreeding

BreedAgroupofanimalsrelatedbydescentandsimilarinmostcharacters
suchasgeneralappearance,features,size,etc.

Aimsofbreeding:

Toincreaseyieldofanimals

Toimprovedesirablequalitiesinproduce

Breedingisoftwotypesinbreedingandoutbreeding.

Inbreeding

Matingofmorecloselyrelatedindividualsofsamebreedforfour
generations

Superiorfemalesandsuperiormalesareidentifiedandmated.

SuperiorfemalesProducemoremilkperlactation

SuperiormalesGiverisetoasuperiorprogeny

Inbreedingincreaseshomozygosity.Itevolvesapureline.

Itaccumulatessuperiorgenes,butalsothreatenstoaccumulate
harmfulrecessivegenes

Continuousinbreedingmayreducefertilityandproductivity.This
problemiscalledinbreedingdepression.

Outbreedingprovidesasolutiontoinbreedingdepression.

OutbreedingItincludesoutcrossing,crossbreeding,andinterspecific
hybridisation.

Outcrossing
Itisthematingbetweenanimalsofsamebreed,but
nothavingcommonancestorsfor45generations.Itisusuallyused
foranimals,whichhavebelowaverageproductivityandgrowthrate.

Crossbreeding
Itisthematingbetweensuperiormaleofone
breedwithsuperiorfemaleofanotherbreed.Superiorqualitiesofboth
thebreedscombineandthisisknownashybridvigour.Theprogeny
soformediscalledhybrid.Ahybridmaybeusedasitisormaybe
furthersubjectedtoinbreeding.
Example:
Hisardale
sheepisahybridofBikaneriewesandMarino
rams.

InterspecificHybridization
Malesandfemalesofdifferent,but
relatedspeciesaremated.Progenyhasdesirablefeaturesofboththe
species.
ExampleMuleisaninterspecifichybridofdonkeyandhorse.

ControlledBreedingTechniques

ArtificialInsemination
Semeniscollectedfromthemaleandinjectedintothereproductivetractof
thefemale.
Semencanbefrozenforlateruseorusedimmediately.

MultipleOvulationEmbryoTransfer(MOET)Technology

CowisadministeredwithFSHlikehormone,whichinducesfollicular
maturityandsuperovulation.

Insuperovulation,insteadofoneegg/cycle,68eggsareproduced
percycle.

Thecowiseithernaturallymatedwithasuperiorbullorartificially
inseminated.

Fertilizedeggisrecoveredat832cellstagesnonsurgicallyand
transferredtoasurrogatemother.

Usingthistechnique,highmilkyieldingbreedsoffemalesandlean
meatyieldingbullshavebeenbredsuccessfully.

Apiculture

Apicultureisthepracticeofbeekeeping.Itincludesmaintenanceofbeehives
forproductionofhoney.

Usesofapiculture:

Honeyhasahighnutritivevalueandmedicinalvalue.

Honeybeesalsoproducebeeswaxthatisusedinpreparationof
polishesandcosmetics.

Mostcommonlyrearedspeciesofhoneybeeis
Apisindica.

Beekeepingisnotlabourintensive.Itisrelativelyeasy,butrequiressome
specializedknowledgeabout

natureandhabitsofbees

selectionofsuitablelocationforkeepingbeehives

catchingandhivingofswarms

beehivemanagementduringdifferentseasons

handlingandcollectionofhoneyandbeeswax

Fisheries

Includecatching,processing,andsellingoffishes,shellfishes,andother
aquaticanimals(prawn,crab,lobster,etc.)

Ediblefreshwaterfishes
Catla
and
Rohu

EdibleMarinefishes
Hilsa,
pomfrets,andsardines

Aquacultureandpisciculturearethetechnologiestocommerciallyrearfishes.
ThefisheriesindustryisflourishinginourcountryandBlueRevolutionison
thevergeofbeingimplemented.

PlantBreeding
WhatisPlantBreeding?

Itisthepurposefulmanipulationofplantspeciesinordertocreatedesired
planttypeswhicharebettersuitedforcultivation,givebetteryields,andare
diseaseresistant.

Classicalplantbreeding
:Itincludescrossingofsuperiorpurelinesand
selectionofplantswithdesiredcharacteristics.

Modernplantbreeding
:Itincludestheuseofmolecularbiologyand
genetics.

Desirableplanttraitswishedtobeincorporatedbyplantbreeding

Increasedcropyield

Improvedquality

Tolerancetoenvironmentalstresses

Pathogenresistance

Tolerancetoinsectsandpests

StepsInvolvedinBreedingaNewGeneticVarietyofaCrop

Collectionofgeneticvariability

Geneticvariabilityisavailedfromthewildrelativesofthecrop.

Hence,allthewildvarietiesandrelativesofthecroparecollectedand
preserved.

Thenaturalgenesavailableinapopulationareutilisedbythismethod.

Entirecollectionofplants/seeds(wildtypes/relatives)ofthegiven
crop,whichhasallthediverseallelesforallgenes,iscalled
germplasmcollection.

Evaluationandselectionofparents

Fromtheavailablegeneticvariability,thegermplasmisanalysedand
evaluatedtoidentifytheplantswithdesirabletraits.

Crophybridisationamongselectedparents

Twoselectedparentsarecrossed(hybridised).Thisfacilitatesthe
combinationofdesiredtraitsfromtwodifferentplants.

Pollengrainsfromoneplantaredustedoverthestigmaoftheother
plant.

Selectionofsuperiorrecombinants

Amongthehybridprogeny,thoseplantsareselectedwhichhavethe
desiredcharactercombination.

Carefulscientificevaluationofprogenyisrequiredforselection.

Thisstepyieldstheplantthatissuperiortoboththeparents.

Testing,releaseandcommercialisation

Selectedyieldsareevaluatedfortraitslikequality,diseaseresistance,
insectresistance,etc.

Thesecropsaregrowninresearchfieldsandtheirperformanceis
recordedunderidealconditions.

Thiscropisthengrownbyfarmersatseverallocations,foratleast
threegrowingseasons.

Thecropisevaluatedbycomparingwiththebestavailablelocalcrop
cultivar(whichactsasareference).

IndianHybridCrops
WheatandRice

In1960s,wheatandriceproductionincreasedtremendously.

NormanE.Borlangdevelopedsemidwarfvarietiesofwheat.

Sonalika
and
Kalyansona
aretwoofthehybridwheatvarietiesgrownin
India.

SemidwarfwheatvarietiesweretakenfromIR86(InternationalRice
ResearchInstitute)andTaichungnativeI(fromTaiwan).

Jaya
and
Ratna
arethebetteryielding,semidwarfricevarietiesthatwere
laterintroduced.

Sugarcane

Saccharumbarberi
isanativeofNorthIndiaand
S.officinarum
belongsto
SouthIndia.

S.officinarum
hasthickerstemsandhighersugarcontent,butitdoesnot
growwellinNorthIndia.

Thesetwovarietieswerecrossedtogetthedesirablequalitiesofboth
(Highersugarcontent,thickerstemsandtheabilitytogrowinNorthIndia).

Millets

Hybridmaize,
jowar
and
bajra
havebeensuccessfullydevelopedinIndia.
Thesevarietiesarehighyieldingandresistanttowaterstress.

ApplicationsofPlantBreeding

Ifresistancetoaparticulardiseaseisalreadypresentinaplant,itreduces
thedependenceoftheplantonfungicidesandbacteriocides.

Beforebreeding,onemustknowthecausativeagentofadisease,andits

modeoftransmission.

Somecommondiseases:

Fungalbrownrustofwheat,redrotofsugarcaneandlateblightof
potato

Bacterialblackrotofcrucifers

Viraltobaccomosaic

Diseaseresistancecanbeprovidedbyconventionalbreeding,mutational
breedingorgeneticengineering.

Conventionalbreeding
:Itincludesthebasicstepsofscreening,
germplasm,hybridisation,selection,testingandrelease.

Examplewheatvariety,
Himgiri
(resistanttoleaf/striperustandhill
bunt)and
Brassicav
ariety,
Pusaswarnim
(resistanttowhiterust)are
bredbyconventionalbreeding.

Onelimitationofthismethodisthatthegenesfordiseaseresistance
arelimitedinnumber.

Mutationalbreeding
:Inthismethod,geneticvariationsarecreated,which
thenresultinthecreationoftraitsnotfoundintheparentaltype.

Mutationsareinducedwiththehelpofmutagens(likechemicals)or
irradiation.

Theplantsinwhichthedesiredcharacter(inthiscase,thedesired
resistance)hascomethroughmutationareselected.

Geneticengineering
:

Certainwildvarietieshavediseaseresistantcharacteristics,butthey
arelowyielding.

Diseaseresistantgenesfromsuchvarietiesareintroducedin
highyieldingvarietiesthroughrecombinantDNAtechnology.

Exampleresistancetotheyellowmosaicvirusin
bhindi
was

transferredfromawildspeciestoproduceanewdiseaseresistant
varietyof
bhindi
,
ParbhaniKranti.

PestResistantCrops

Certainmorphologicalcharacters(likehairyleaves,solidstemsofwheat)
naturallyprovideresistancefrominsectsandpests.

Similarly,biochemicalcharactersprovideresistancefrominsectsandpests.
Forexample,thehighasparticacidandlownitrogenandsugarcontentin
maizeleadtoresistanceagainstmaizestemborers.

Suchvarietiesarebredwithnonresistantvarietiestoproducepestresistant
hybrids.

Example
PusaGaurav
varietyof
Brassica
isresistanttoaphids.

ImprovementinFoodQuality

Alargenumberofpeopleallovertheworldsufferfrommicronutrient,protein
andvitamindeficiencies(hiddenhunger)sincetheycannotaffordtobuyfood
richinthesenutrients.

Suchdeficienciesleadtodiseases,mentalretardationandreducedlifespan.

Analternativetothisproblemistobreedcropsthatarerichinnutrients.

Thisapproachiscalledbiofortificationofcrops.Objectivesofbiofortification
aretoimprove

Proteincontentandquality

Oilcontentandquality

Vitamincontent

Micronutrientandmineralcontent

Examples

Maizehybridsdevelopedintheyear2000havetwicetheamountof
lysineandtryptophancomparedtoothermaizehybrids.

Atlas66(awheatvarietyhavinghigherproteincontent)

SingleCellProtein&TissueCulture

SingleCellProtein(SCP)

Singlecellproteinmeansthatmicrobesareusedasasourceofprotein.

Microorganisms,despitebeingverysmall,arecapableofproducingtonnesof
proteinsduetotheirhigherratesofbiomassproduction.

Justlikemushroomculture,itisexpectedthatmicrobeswillsoonbe
acceptedasasourceoffood.

Presently,
Spirulina
,analgaiswidelyacceptedasasourceofSCP.Itis
economicalandecofriendlyaswell.

Itcanbegrownoneconomicalsubstrateslikewastewaterfrompotato
processingplant,straw,molassesorevensewage.

TissueCulture

Tissuecultureistheprocessofdevelopingacompleteplantfromapartofa

plant.Theplantpartiscalledanexplant.

Explantscanbegrowninsterileconditionsinspecialnutrientmediato
regeneratecompleteplants.

Nutrientmediacontainacarbonsource(suchassucrose),organicsalts,
vitamins,aminoacidsandphytohormones.

Hence,propagationisachievedforalargenumberofplantsinashort
duration.Thisprocessiscalledmicropropagation.

Somaclones
Alltheplantsobtainedbytissueculturearecalled
somaclonessincetheyaregeneticallyidenticaltoeachotheraswellasthe
parentplant.

Somatichybridisation
Itreferstothehybridisationofthesomaticparts
oftwoplants.Protoplastsareisolatedandfusedtogetahybridprotoplast,
whichgrowsfurthertoformanewplant.Thisnewplantiscalledasomatic
hybrid.
E.g.,protoplastsofpotatoandtomatohavebeenactuallyfusedtoforma
Pomato,butthisplantisnotcommerciallyviable.

Applicationsoftissueculture

Manyimportantplantslikeapple,bananaandtomatohavebeen
grownonlaboratoryscalebyusingthismethod.

Thismethodcanbeusedtorecoverahealthyplantfromadiseased
plant.Exampleaplantinflictedwithvirusmaynothavevirusinits
apicalandaxillarymeristems.Hence,thesepartscanbeculturedto
obtainahealthyplant.