Food production

• The branch of science that deals with the growing plants and rearing animals on a large scale for food and ther useful purpose is called agriculture
• Plants that are grown or cultivated on a large scale are called crops
• Crops that are grown primarily to meet the basic food requirements are called food crops
• Cereals- rice, wheat, maize
• Pulses - gram, pea ,bean
• Vegetables- cabbage, carrot, lettuce
• Fruits - mango , orange , apple
• Crops that are grown mainly to sell the products obtained from them are called cash crops
• Oil seeds-sunflower, groundnut ,coconut ,mustard
• Fibre crops - cotton, jute , hemp , linen
• Sugar crops - sugarcane, sugar root
• Spices - cardamom, cinnamon, ginger , black pepper
• Medicinal plants - Tulsi , neem , ginger
• Timber plants - sal , teak
• Plantation crops - tea , coffee
• Rice is the most important food crops of india
• Rice covers about one - third of total cultivated area of the country
• Wheat is the second most important food crops of India
• Pulses are leguminous crops
• Pulses are an important source of protein
• Cotton is the most important fibre crops
• India is the third largest producer of cotton in the world
• Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the cultivation of fruits , vegetables, medical plants and ornamental plants
• The branch of horticulture that deals with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants is known as floriculture
• Horticultural plants can be cultivated through asexual methods such as vegetative propagation. Different method of vegetative propagation is used such cutting , layering, grafting
• Orchard are last areas of land where fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants are grown
• Orchards provide a suitable atmosphere and correct soil conditions for the growth of the plants , the plants are manured, watered and cared for
• Organic farming is the growing and nurturing of crops without using chemicals such as fertilizer, pesticides or weedicides
• Genetically modified seed are not used in organic farming
• Organic farming uses green manure farmyard manuse and compost manure to grow healthy crops
• Eco friendly ways such as crop rotation is used in organic farming
• Bio pesticides such as neem are used to control pest
• Vermi compost is also used in organic farming it is the product of the composting process using various species of worms
• Animals have been domesticated for transport and food
• The branch of agriculture that deals with the care , rearing and breeding of domestic animals is known as animal husbandry
• Animals domesticated for home companionship are called pets
• Domesticated animals that are used to produce food , useful products such as fibres or to help in agriculture fields are called livestock
• Livestock can be classified into milk yielding animals , draught animal, meat providing animals and poultry
• Milk obtained from buffalooes is the most used source of milk in india
• The breeds obtained by mating bulls of exotic breeds with high yielding cows of ingenuous breeds are called cross breeds