Food Resources - 1 (Class IX)

 Reason: Broilers are raised for the production of meat. Poultry farming is undertaken to raise domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat. Therefore, improved poultry breeds are developed and farmed to produce layers (hens that lay eggs) for eggs and broilers for meat. Care is taken to avoid mortality and to maintain feathering and carcass quality.

Reason: In poultry shelters, there should be proper cleaning, sanitation and spraying of disinfectants at regular intervals. Thus, accumulation of excreta is not the requirement of poultry shelter as it may increase the risk of occurrence of many viral, bacterial and fungal diseases among the fowl. Adequate lighting and proper ventilation are also required in poultry shelters so that the chickens have proper light to see by and to find feed and water. Light periods are accompanied by dark periods each day to allow them to take proper rest. 

Reason: Marine fisheries include deep seas and coastline. In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India, it includes 7500 km coastline and the deep seas beyond it. Popular marine fish varieties include pomphret, tuna and sardine, while freshwater fishes inhabit rivers and lakes. For example, catla is a freshwater fish.
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Weeds compete for food and take up nutrients from soil. Thus, they reduce the yield of the main crop. Therefore, they should be removed as soon as possible.

This is the correct option. Mixed cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously in the same piece of land. Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops on a piece of land in a preplanned succession. Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice involving growing two or more crops in definite row patterns in proximity.

 Chlorine is a micronutrient required by a plant. The rest are macronutrients.

 Untimely sowing of crops is not efficient in weed control.

Broilers are raised for the production of meat. Protein-rich feed with adequate fat is the appropriate ration for broilers. This supplies proper energy and proteins to the body.

 Reason: The place where bees are reared for commercial honey production is called apiary. It is a bee farm where beehives of honey bees are kept and bees are reared for obtaining honey from them.
Hive is an enclosed structure in which honey bees live and raise their young ones. Natural beehives are simply nests, while man-made hives are found in apiaries.<o:p>
Aviary (avia - bird, ary - place to live) is a large enclosure where birds are confined. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly. <o:p>Orchard is a large garden where trees are grown for food production. Here, fruit- or nut-producing trees are grown on commercial scale.

 Reason: Trait is a characteristic of an organism. The Italian bees have the following traits:

·           They have high honey collection capacity.

·           They sting less as compared to other bee species.

·           They stay in a beehive for long periods of time.

·           They breed very well as compared to other bee species.

Cropping is also known as trimming and is just done to keep plants short and bushy, resulting in many smaller buds.
Hybridization is the process of combining different varieties or species of organism to create a hybrid.<o:p>
Tissue culture is a technique of growing explant (cell, tissue or organ) under in vitro (outside the living cell in a petriplate) conditions.<o:p>
Insemination is the introduction of sperm into the female uterus of a mammal. It takes place in animals.<o:p>
Therefore, the process of crossing between genetically dissimilar plant varieties is known as hybridization.<o:p>

 As more branching increases the bulk of the crop, it ensures good vegetative growth.
Options 1 and 2 cannot be the answer as dwarfness is not preferred for fodder crops. Dwarf (small) varieties do not have long roots and therefore, receive fewer nutrients as compared to varieties with long roots which can fetch nutrients from long distances. Option 4 cannot be the answer as little branching will not increase the bulk of the crop.

 Mixed cropping - It simply means growing of two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land. For example, growing leguminous crop with non-leguminous crop. So, if non-leguminous crop cannot take nitrogen from the soil, the other leguminous crop supplies it as it can take nitrogen available in the soil. For example, wheat (non-leguminous crop) + gram (leguminous crop) or wheat (non-leguminous crop) + mustard (leguminous crop).
Intercropping - Growing of two or more crops simultaneously in a fixed pattern is known as intercropping. A few rows of one crop and then few rows of other crop.<o:p>
Single cropping - It is a technique of growing a single crop over a wide area. Also known as monoculture. <o:p>
Crop rotation - It is a practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid build up of pathogen or pests that often occurs when one type of species is continuously cropped. <o:p>Therefore, simultaneously growing of wheat (a cereal) + gram (leguminous crop) on the same piece of land in no fixed pattern is known as mixed cropping.

Options (2), (3) and (4) are benefits of intercropping as in this technique, we grow two crops. Out of the two, one is resistant to the pest and diseases and the crop is laid in a fixed pattern. It stops pests and diseases from spreading. Therefore, (2) is a benefit of intercropping system. Also, returns from both the crops will be better as both of these have different nutrient requirements and do not have to compete for survival. Therefore, (3) is also an advantage. Restriction in spread of disease will also reduce the risk of damaging both the crops.
Minimum utilization of the nutrients supplied is not an advantage as it would lead to accumulation of mineral ions in the soil. Intercropping ensures maximum utilization of nutrients because both the crops have different nutrient requirements. If the nutrients do not get completely utilized, they get accumulated in the soil and result in pollution of water resources, destruction of microorganisms and friendly insects, crop susceptibility to disease attack and acidification or alkalization of the soil.

Farmer 'C' uses high quality seeds, adopts irrigation, uses fertilizers and uses crop protection measures. So, he will get the most benefits.
Option 1 is not considered as the farmer did not supply irrigation or fertilizers (for growth of plants).<o:p>
In option 2, seed quality is not good, so it is not considered.
In option 4, no crop protection measure was taken, so this farmer will not get the most benefits.