Improvement in Food Resources: CBSE Class 9 Science Important Questions and Answers

In this post, we’ve compiled all the essential questions and answers from Chapter 12: Improvement in Food Resources of Class 9 Science, covering both NCERT In-text questions and Exercise questions. This comprehensive resource is designed to help students effectively revise the entire chapter, ensuring they understand the key concepts and topics. With clearly explained answers, this guide will make it easier for students to learn, retain, and recall important information, making it an ideal tool for quick revision before exams. Whether you're preparing for your school tests or competitive exams, this post provides a one-stop solution to mastering the chapter.

Improvement in Food Resources: Complete NCERT Important Questions & Answers for Class 9

Q. No. 1. What do we get from cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables?

Ans. Cereals → Carbohydrates (energy-giving food)

Pulses → Proteins (body-building food)

Fruits and vegetables → Vitamins and minerals (protective nutrients that keep us healthy).

Q. No. 2. What is genetic manipulation? How is it useful in agricultural practices?

Ans. Genetic manipulation is a technique in which a specific gene responsible for a desirable characteristic is introduced in the DNA of a plant to produce improved characteristics.
This process results in genetically modified crops.

Genetic manipulation helps agriculture in the following ways:

• Produces high-yielding crop varieties
• Develops disease-, pest-, and insect-resistant crops (e.g., Bt cotton)
• Makes crops tolerant to abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, and heat

Q. No. 3. How do biotic and abiotic factors affect crop production?

Ans.

• Biotic factors such as pests, insects, weeds, nematodes, and disease-causing microorganisms damage crops, reduce growth, and lower yield.
• Abiotic factors such as drought, flood, salinity, waterlogging, heat, cold, and frost create stress conditions for plants, affecting their growth, reproduction, and survival.

Both biotic and abiotic factors reduce crop productivity if crops are not resistant to them.

Q. No. 4. What are the desirable agronomic characteristics for crop improvement?

Ans. Desirable agronomic characteristics are plant features that help increase yield and productivity:

• Tallness and profuse branching in fodder crops to produce more biomass
• Dwarfness in cereal crops so that less nutrients are used and plants do not lodge (fall over)

These characteristics help in obtaining higher and better yields.

Q. No. 5. What are macro-nutrients and why are they called macronutrients?

Ans. Macro-nutrients are nutrients that plants need in large quantities for their growth and development.
They are called macronutrients because they are required in greater amounts compared to other nutrients.

Examples:
Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulphur.

Q. No. 6. How do plants get nutrients?

Ans. Plants get nutrients from air, water, and soil:

• Air provides carbon and oxygen
• Water provides hydrogen and oxygen
• Soil provides the remaining nutrients, including macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients

These nutrients are absorbed by plant roots (from soil and water) and leaves (from air).

Q. No. 7. Compare the use of manure and fertilizers in maintaining soil fertility.

Ans.

Manure	Fertilizers
Made from decomposed plant and animal waste	Chemically manufactured nutrients
Adds organic matter (humus) to the soil	Does not add humus to the soil
Improves soil structure and texture	Does not improve soil structure
Increases water-holding capacity and aeration	Does not improve water retention
Promotes growth of beneficial soil microorganisms	Excess use kills soil microorganisms
Releases nutrients slowly and steadily	Provides nutrients quickly
Maintains soil fertility for the long term	Reduces soil fertility if used continuously
Environment-friendly and non-polluting	Overuse causes soil and water pollution

Q. No. 8. What are the advantages of inter-cropping and crop rotation?

Ans. Advantages of Inter-cropping: Inter-cropping means growing two or more crops together in a definite row pattern.

• Helps maintain soil fertility
• Ensures better use of nutrients, water, and sunlight
• Reduces spread of pests and diseases
• Minimizes the risk of total crop failure
• Gives higher overall yield and better returns

Advantages of Crop Rotation: Crop rotation means growing different crops one after another in a planned sequence.

• Maintains and improves soil fertility
• Prevents nutrient depletion of soil
• Controls pests and diseases
• Allows two or more crops in a year
• Results in better and more stable crop yield

Q. No. 9. Which of the following conditions will give the most benefits? Why?

(a) Farmers use high-quality seeds, do not adopt irrigation or use fertilizers.

(b) Farmers use ordinary seeds, adopt irrigation and use fertilizer.

(c) Farmers use quality seeds, adopt irrigation, use fertilizer and use crop protection measures.

Ans. Option (c). Because:

This condition gives the maximum benefit because it uses all essential inputs together:

• High-quality seeds → better germination, higher yield potential
• Irrigation → ensures timely and sufficient water supply
• Fertilizers → provide essential nutrients for healthy growth
• Crop protection measures → prevent loss from weeds, pests, and diseases

When all these practices are combined, crops grow healthy, losses are minimized, and maximum yield is obtained.

Q. No. 10. Why should preventive measures and biological control methods be preferred for protecting crops?

Ans. Preventive measures and biological control methods are preferred because:

• They are environment-friendly
• They do not pollute soil, water, or air
• They do not harm useful organisms
• They reduce excessive use of chemical pesticides
• They are safer for human health and help maintain ecological balance

Therefore, they provide long-term and sustainable crop protection.

Q. No. 11. What factors may be responsible for losses of grains during storage?

Ans. Losses of grains during storage are caused by:

Biotic factors (living causes):

• Insects
• Rodents
• Fungi
• Mites
• Bacteria

Abiotic factors (non-living causes):

• Excess moisture
• Unsuitable temperature

These factors lead to loss in quality, weight, and market value of stored grains.

Q. No. 12. What are the benefits of cattle farming?

Ans. Benefits of Cattle Farming:

• Milk Production – Provides milk and dairy products.
• Draught Labour – Helps in plowing, irrigation, and transport.
• Manure – Used as fertilizer, fuel, and for composting.
• Employment & Livelihood – Provides income and jobs for farmers.

Q. No. 13. Which method is commonly used for improving cattle breeds and why?

Ans. The commonly used method for improving cattle breeds is cross-breeding. This is because:

It combines the best features of two breeds:

• Exotic/foreign breeds (e.g., Jersey, Brown Swiss) → long lactation period
• Local/indigenous breeds (e.g., Sahiwal, Red Sindhi) → disease resistance

Goal → To produce calf that has both high milk production and strong resistance to diseases.

Q. No. 14. Discuss the implications of the following statement:

“It is interesting to note that poultry is India’s most efficient converter of low fibre food stuff (which is unfit for human consumption) into highly nutritious animal protein food.”

Ans. The statement means that poultry farming is very efficient and beneficial for India. Its implications are:

• Provides a steady supply of nutritious food to a growing population.
• Efficient use of waste food
• High-quality nutrition for humans
• Low-cost protein source
• Reduces food wastage
• Supports farmers’ income
• Improves food security

Q. No. 15. What management practices are common in dairy and poultry farming?

Ans. Both dairy and poultry farming require similar basic management practices:

• Proper care and management – Regular health check-ups and humane treatment.
• Proper housing and shelter – Clean, well-ventilated shelters to protect from heat, cold, and rain.
• Balanced nutrition – Proper feed with all required nutrients for growth and production.
• Cleanliness and hygiene – Regular cleaning to prevent diseases.
• Disease prevention – Vaccination and control of parasites and infections.

Q. No. 16. What are the differences between broilers and layers and in their management?

Ans.

Broilers	Layers
Raised for meat production	Raised for egg production
Require protein-rich diet with adequate fat	Require diet rich in minerals (calcium) and vitamins
Need fast growth in short time	Need long-term health for egg laying
Vitamins A and K required in higher amounts	Require calcium for strong eggshells
Managed for weight gain and meat quality	Managed for egg production and egg quality

Q. No. 17. How are fish obtained?

Ans. Fish can be obtained in two ways:

• Capture Fishing
  • Fish are caught from natural water bodies like rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans.
  • Examples: catching tuna, rohu, or prawns from the sea or river.
• Culture Fishery (Fish Farming / Aquaculture)
  • Fish are bred and raised by humans in controlled conditions like ponds, tanks, or cages.
  • Examples: mariculture in seawater (mullets, pearl spot) or inland pond culture (Catla, Rohu, Grass Carp).

Q. No. 18. What are the advantages of composite fish culture?

Ans. Composite fish culture is growing 5–6 fish species together in a pond. Its advantages are:

• Efficient use of food
  • Different fish feed in different zones of the pond: surface, middle, bottom, or on weeds.
  • This prevents food wastage.
• Higher fish yield
  • More fish can be grown in the same pond because all food sources are utilized.
• Reduced competition
  • Fish species are selected so they do not compete for food.
• Diverse fish production
  • Produces several species for different purposes (food, commercial sale, etc.).

Q. No. 19. How do you differentiate between capture fishing, mariculture and aquaculture?

Ans.

Feature	Capture Fishing	Mariculture	Aquaculture
Definition	Catching fish from natural waters	Farming fish in seawater	Farming fish in freshwater or brackish water
Water Type	Rivers, lakes, seas	Seawater	Ponds, tanks, estuaries
Human Role	Low	High	High
Examples	Tuna, Rohu	Pearl spot, mullets	Catla, Rohu, Grass Carp

Q. No. 20. What are the desirable characters of bee varieties suitable for honey production?

Ans. Bees used for commercial honey production should:

1. Collect large amounts of nectar → high honey yield
2. Stay in one hive for long periods → easy management
3. Sting less → safe for beekeepers
4. Breed well → maintain healthy colonies

Example: Italian bee (Apis mellifera) is commonly used because it has all these characters.

Q. No. 21. What is pasturage and how is it related to honey production?

Ans. Pasturage = the flowers available to the bees for nectar and pollen collection.

Relation to honey production:

• More flowers (good pasturage) → more nectar → higher honey yield
• Type of flowers → determines taste and quality of honey

Q. No. 22. For increasing production, what is common in poultry, fisheries and bee-keeping?

Ans. Common ways to increase production in poultry, fisheries, and bee-keeping

• Use high-yield breeds/varieties
• Provide proper management and care
• Ensure adequate nutrition or food supply
• Apply scientific techniques like selective breeding or induced breeding

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You can also watch the Line by Line explanation of this chapter here: