Class IX :: Chapter 15 - IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD RESOURCES
Chapter-wise Multiple Choice Questions with Instant Feedback
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- Food Resources: Plants & animals; need improvement due to population growth & limited land.
- Crop Seasons: Kharif (June–Oct: paddy, maize); Rabi (Nov–Apr: wheat, gram).
- Crop Variety Improvement: Higher yield, better quality, resistance to stresses, shorter maturity, wider adaptability.
- Hybridisation: Crossing genetically dissimilar plants (intervarietal/interspecific).
- Plant Nutrients: 16 essential: 13 from soil (6 macro: N,P,K,Ca,Mg,S; 7 micro).
- Manure: Organic matter improves soil structure & fertility (compost, vermicompost, green manure).
- Fertilizers: Chemical, provide NPK quickly; overuse harms soil & water.
- Irrigation: Wells, canals, river-lift, tanks; rainwater harvesting conserves water.
- Cropping Patterns: Mixed cropping (risk reduction), intercropping (row pattern), crop rotation (soil health).
- Crop Protection: Weeds, insect pests, diseases controlled by mechanical, cultural, biological & chemical methods.
- Storage Losses: Due to biotic (insects, fungi) & abiotic (moisture, temperature) factors; prevented by cleaning, drying, fumigation.
- Animal Husbandry: Scientific management of livestock for milk, meat, wool, labour.
- Cattle Farming: Milch breeds (milk), draught breeds (labour); cross-breeding combines high yield & disease resistance.
- Poultry Farming: Layers (eggs), broilers (meat); require balanced feed, hygiene, vaccination.
- Fish Production: Capture fishing (natural resources); Culture fishing (aquaculture/mariculture).
- Composite Fish Culture: 5–6 species with different feeding zones in one pond (Catla-surface, Rohu-middle, Mrigal-bottom).
- Bee-Keeping (Apiculture): Honey & wax production; Italian bee (Apis mellifera) preferred; depends on pasturage.
- Organic Farming: Uses organic manure, biofertilizers, biopesticides; maintains ecological balance.
- Sustainable Agriculture: Increases production without degrading environment or disturbing ecological balance.
Basic Level Questions
Chapter Summary
"Improvement in Food Resources," addresses one of humanity's most pressing challenges: how to produce enough food for a growing population using limited land, without destroying our environment. It moves from the basic sources of our food—crops and animals—to the sophisticated scientific principles and management practices that can boost their productivity sustainably. This chapter bridges biology with real-world application, showing how science directly impacts our dinner plates and the health of our planet.
This is a high-scoring, application-heavy chapter crucial for Class 9 board exams and foundational for competitive tests like NTSE. It requires you to master a vast array of comparisons (manure/fertilizer, mixed/inter-cropping, layers/broilers), processes (hybridisation, fish culture), and management practices for different resources. Questions often ask you to "justify," "differentiate," "explain with examples," and "suggest methods." Diagrams of cropping patterns or fish pond zones are common. Excelling here means not just memorizing terms, but understanding interconnections and applying concepts to solve agricultural problems.
We transform the extensive content of this chapter into clear, exam-focused understanding. Our structured MCQ bank progresses from testing basic definitions (What is green manure?) to complex application (Why is composite fish culture more productive?). By practicing these questions, you reinforce critical distinctions, learn to identify correct examples, and apply management principles to hypothetical farm scenarios. This active recall and application training builds the analytical skill needed to tackle board exam questions that ask you to "recommend a sustainable practice" or "compare two methods." We turn the complexity of agricultural science into confident, correct answers, ensuring you are fully prepared to harvest top marks.