Our Environment

UNIT 1

OUR ENVIRONMENT

Learning Objectives

After the completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

* Know about different types of farms.

* List out the economic importance of dairy farms and poultry farms.

* Know about Apiculture and the uses of honey.

* Understand the different types of manures and their uses.

* Know about vermiculture and vermicompost.

Introduction

Environment is everything that is around us. There are two types of environment. They are physical environment and biological environment. Physical environment includes all non-living things like land, water and air. Biological environment includes the living things such as plants and animals. Natural environment has lot of economic values. Plants and animals in our environment are useful to us in a number of ways. Animals like cow, buffalo and goat give us milk. Some animals are used for transportation. These animals are raised in farms. In this lesson we will learn about dairy farms, poultry farms, apiculture, manures and vermicompost.

I. Farms

Farming is the activity of growing crops and raising livestock. It is a part of agriculture. Agriculture is the cultivation of land and breeding of animals and plants to provide food, fiber, woods and medicinal plants to sustain and enhance life. But, farming is more profitable than agriculture. So it is done on a commercial scale. An area of land with fields and buildings that is devoted primarily to growing crops or raising domestic animals or both as a business is called farm. Large scale farms grow one or two major crops or animals. Middle sized and small sized farms grow different types of crops and animals.

1. Dairy Farm

Dairy farming is a type of agriculture that focuses on extraction of milk and preparation of various milk products like cheese, butter, curd etc. High milk producing cows along with bulls and oxen are raised in commercial dairy farms. Other animals found in these farms include goats, sheep and camels.

Do you know?

‘District Livestock Farm in Hosur, Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, is the biggest cattle farm in Asia. Total area of this farm is 1641 acres.

Activity 1

Visit an animal farm in your area and prepare a list of animals domesticated there. Also find out the products you can get from there.

* Cattle breeds

In India there are 26 cattle breeds. They are domesticated for milk, agricultural work, transportation and many other needs. Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Kangayam and Ongole are some of the cattle breeds found in India. Cattle breeds found in different states of India are given in the table.

Cattle Breed : States

Gir - Gujarat, Rajasthan

Sahiwal - Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh

Red Sindhi - Andhra Pradesh

Malvi - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

Nagari - Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan

Kangayam - Tamil Nadu

Ongole - Andhra Pradesh

Do you know?

India has the largest number of livestock in the world, holding 281 million. In 2008, our country housed the second largest number of cattle in the world with 175 million. (One million = Ten lakh)

Activity 2

Some of the cattle breeds found in Tamil Nadu are given below.

With the help of your teacher find out the districts where they are found.

Apart from these animals, buffaloes are also domesticated in India. There are 7 buffalo breeds in India. Buffaloes produce more amount of milk than cows. Also, buffalo milk has more nutrients than cow’s milk. Murrah, Jaffrabadi, Bhadawari and Surti are the buffalo breeds that are found in India. India is the biggest buffalo milk producer in the world. Some of the buffalo breeds found in our country are given in the table.

Do you know?

White Revolution in India was launched in 1970s to make India self dependent in milk production. Dr. Verghese Kurien is called the Father of White Revolution.

Buffalo Breeds : States

Murrah     :     Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh

Bhadavari   :       Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh

Jaffrabadi    :      Gujarat

Surti             :        Rajasthan, Gujarat

Mehsana      :    Gujarat

Nagpuri       :  Central and South India

Nili Ravi      :   Punjab, Haryana

* Feeding

Cattle need nutritious feed in order to be healthy and to produce high milk yield. The cattle feed includes roughage and concentrates. The roughage contains high amount of fiber and it includes fodder, hay, straw and silage. Concentrates include broken grams, cereals, millets, rice polish, cotton seeds and oil cakes. Apart from these feed, cattle need an adequate amount of fresh water.

* Diseases

Foot and mouth disease and anthrax are some of the common diseases found among cattle. Maintaining proper sanitation is necessary to stop the spread of these diseases. Timely vaccination can prevent most of the diseases. Veterinary medicine deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury for domestic and non-domestic animals.

Activity 3

Visit a veterinary hospital in your area and find out the common diseases found among the cattle in your area. Try to know how such diseases can be prevented.

* Uses

Cattle are useful to us in a number of ways. Some of them are listed below.

→ We get milk from cows. Cow’s milk contains essential minerals needed for us.

→ Bullocks are used to plough land, harvest and thrash crops.

→ Cattle are employed in transportation.

→ Cattle dung is used as manure. It is also used as fuel and for generation of biogas.

→ Panchagavya is an ayurvedic medicine used in agriculture to control pest and fungi. It is a mixer of dung and urine of cows, fresh milk, curd, jaggary and ghee.

→ Leather goods are manufactured from cattle hides.

2. Poultry Farms

In poultry farms avian species are reared and bred for the purpose of egg, meat or both. Fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys and some verities of pigeon are the most commonly reared species. Chicken occupy 90% of the total poultry. Poultry birds grown for meat are called broilers. Layers are the female fowls grown for egg production. The poultry industry is important in providing a balanced diet for human population. Proper management of poultry includes methods of hatching, rearing, housing, sanitation, prevention of diseases and a sound marketing system. In Tamil Nadu famous poultry farms are found in places like Namakal, Palladam and Chennai.

* Breeds

There are more than hundred breeds of fouls. Fowls are classified on the basis of their utility to man. They are: meat type (broiler), egg type (egg layer) and dual type. Assel, Chittagong, Ghagus, Busra, Brahma and Cochin are some of the breeds found in our country. Local and indigenous birds are reared in rural places. Traditionally these birds have a poor meat production capacity compared to commercial broiler and layers. But meat and egg from this type of poultry is better than other commercial poultry.

Do you know?

India ranks fifth in poultry production in the world. White legon is the most egg yielding breed in the world.

* Feeding

Poultry birds need proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins for egg and meat production. Bajra, barley, maize, wheat, rice bran, jowar, oil cake, fish meal, bread and green residues of vegetables are the feed given to the poultry birds.

* Poultry products

Poultry birds benefit us in many ways. Egg, meat and manure are the three main benefits we get from them.

→ Poultry birds are good source of nutritive food.

→ Eggs laid by them are rich source of protien. These are easily digestable. They contain minerals like calcium, potassium and iron, vitamins and moderate amount of fat.

→ Their feathers are used for making pillows and quilts.

→ Dropping of the poultry birds is used as manure. It is highly valuable for crops.

Do you know?

Egg contains minerals like calcium, phosphorus and sodium and vitamins like B1, B2 and D. Nutritious content of egg is: Water 66%, Protein 21%, Fat 9% and Minerals 3.5%.

* Poultry Diseases

If poultry animals are not cared or fed properly, they suffer from a number of diseases.

→ Poultry birds affected by virus suffer from fever and diarrhea.

→ Foul cholera is caused in them by bacteria.

→ Over exposure to wet and cold conditions causes cramps in poultry birds.

→ Poultry birds are affected by internal parasites like round worm and tap worm. They are also affected by external parasites like flees, lice, ticks etc.

Activity 4

Fill in the blanks using the words given below.

(Oilseeds, Egg, Honey, Food grains, Fish)

Green Revolution: Foodgrains

Blue Revolution: Fish

Silver Revolution: Egg

Gold Revolution: Honey

Yellow Revolution: Oilseeds

* Poultry management

Poultry birds need a clean environment. The following measures should be taken in order to avoid disases.

→ Poultry houses should be clean and disinfected.

→ It should have windows for ventilation.

→ Light is essential for high egg production.

→ Poultry birds need clean and fresh water.

→ Timely vaccination is necessary to prevent diseases.

II. Apiculture

Rearing of honey bee for honey is known as apiculture. It is also called bee keeping. In this technique honey bees are reared in a specially designed wooden box. Honey bees have been very closely associated with humans since ancient times. Various products like honey and wax are obtained from honey bees. Earlier honey is extracted from the hives in the forests. Nowadays they are domesticated by farmers to produce honey. Bee keeping is a profitable rural based industry. Honey bees are social insects. The nest of honey bee is known as the bee hive. They live in colonies and show division of labour

1. Types of Honey Bee

Three types of honey bee are found in a colony. They are Queen bee, the Drones and the Worker bees.

* Queen Bee

The queen is the largest member of the bee colony. There is only one queen and it is the fertile female of the colony. They are formed from fertile eggs. The queen is responsible for laying eggs in a colony. It lays about two thousand eggs per day. The life span of the queen bee is 3-4 years.

* Drones

Drones are the fertile males. They develop from unfertilized eggs. They are larger than the workers and smaller than the queens. Their main function is to fertilize the eggs produced by the queen. They also help in maintenance of hive temperature. The number of drones in a colony amounts to hundreds and sometimes to thousands. The normal life-span of a drone is 57 days.

* Worker Bees

These are sterile female bees and the smallest members of the colony. These bees are very active. Their function is to collect honey, look after the young ones, clean the comb, defend the hive and maintain the temperature of the bee hive. Life span of worker bee is six weeks.

Do you know?

* One queen bee has to fly 90000 miles three times around the globe to make one pound of honey.

* Honey bee can fly up to six miles and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

2. Useful products from Honey Bees

Honey and bee wax are obtained from honey bees. Other products which are obtained from bees are bee venom, propolis and royal jelly.

* Honey

Honey is a sweet, viscous, edible natural food product. It contains proteins, free amino acids, vitamins and minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorus and manganese. The following are the uses of honey bees.

* Honey has an antiseptic and antibacterial property. It is an antibiotic.

* It helps in building up haemoglobin content in the blood.

* It is used in Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicines.

* It prevents cough, cold, fever and relieves sore throat.

* It enhances digestion and appetite.

* It provides essential aminoacids required for the growth of the body.

Do you know?

Honey is the exciting source of natural sweet. It is also called as ‘Liquid Gold’.

* Bee wax

Bee wax is secreted by the wax glands of worker bee to construct the combs of bee hive. Some of the uses of bee wax are given below.

* It is widely used in cosmetic industry.

* The wax is used in the preparation of shoe polish and manufacture of cold creams, lipsticks, candles and lubricants.

* It is also used in the preparation of ointments and in pharmaceutical industry.

III. Manure

Manure is an organic matter used as fertiliser. It is mostly derived from animal and plant residues. It increases the fertility of the soil by adding nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It is a natural form of fertiliser and it is cheaper.

1. Types of manure

Animal manure, green manure and compost manure are the different types of manures.

* Animal manure

Common form of animal manure is the farmyard manure. It contains the feces and urine of different livestock like horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkey and rabbits. It contains nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It increases the capacity of soil to hold more water and nutrients.

* Green manure

This is a manure obtained by decomposition of green leaves, twigs of trees, shrubs and herbs. Leguminous plants like clover are used for this purpose. These plants are ploughed in the soil. They fix nitrogen in the root of the plants. They also help in suppression of weeds and prevention of soil erosion.

* Compost

Compost is obtained by decomposition of organic matter like crop residues, animal wastes and food wastes by various microorganisms like bacteria and fungi under controlled conditions. These microorganisms break down organic matter into simpler substances.

Activity 5

With the help of your teacher set up a compost pit within your school compound. Put all the organic wastes like food waste and cover it with soil. Wait for three weeks and then you can use this as manure for the plants in your school.

IV. Vermiculture

Vermiculture or Vermicomposting is a method of transforming organic wastes such as waste papers, leaves, pieces of woods etc., into a nutrient rich fertilizer using earth worms. It is a healthy and clean way to eliminate wastes going into our landfills. It keeps the environment clean. Earthworms eat the organic wastes and excrete it in the form of castings. This is known as vermicompost. It is used as fertilizer for the soil and it improves the properties of the soil.

1. Materials used for Vermicomposting

Organic matters which are biologically degradable are used in vermicomposting.

Some of them are given below.

→ Crop residues like rice straw, rice husk, tea wastes and tobacco wastes.

→ Fruit and vegetable wastes.

→ Animal wastes like cattle dung, poultry droppings and droppings of goat and sheep.

2. Advantages of Vermicompost

→ Vermicompost provides the essential nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus for the plant growth.

→ It improves the water holding capacity of the soil and prevents soil erosion.

→ It enhances plant growth, suppresses diseases in plants, increases porosity and improves water retention and aeration.

→ It reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

Do you know?

Common earth worms are not used for vermicomposting. Specialized breeds that multiple while livingin colonies are used for this. The most common are Red wigglers, European night crawlers, and African night crawlers.