what are the 3 options to increase food production ? discuss each giving the salient features , merits and demerits ?

Dear student,
Please find below the solution to the asked query
The main options used to increase food production are:

1. Animal husbandry
2. Plant breeding (Improvements in crop production)
3. Single cell protein (SCP)

1. Animal husbandry: Animal husbandry is the science of managing animal livestock like cattle, poultry and fish.
The steps involved in animal husbandry are:

1. Feeding
2. Breeding
3. Maintaining hygiene
4. Controlling diseases
5. Storage, transport and marketing of animal products.

Merits:

1. Animal husbandry provides food to the people.
2. It helps in raising living standard of farmers.
3. It helps to develop new breeds of animals.

Demerits:

1. The overgrazing of animals can cause soil erosion.
2. The livestock results in huge methane emission that can cause change in climate.
3. The animal husbandry is labour-intensive with less production of protein as compared to energy consumed.

2. Plant breeding:
Plant breeding is a technique that involves the crossing of two plants to produce the progeny with particular traits in their genes and passed on to the future generation.
Following are the steps to create genetic variety through plant breeding programme:
1) Selection and collection of variation.
2) Creation of genetic variety.
3)Evaluation
4)Release of new variety
5) Multiplication of seeds.  

Following are the practises followed by farmers to increase the production of crop yield.

1. Use of high yielding variety of seeds
2. Use of modern tools and machines for preparing soil
3. Use of high quality fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides 
4. Use of modern irrigation systems
5. Undertaking different cropping patterns and seasonal cultivation of crops to assure a maximum yield.
6. Protecting growing crops and minimising loss of harvested plants.
7. Applying hybridisation and genetic engineering techniques to improve crop variety.

 Merits:

1. It increases the crop production.
2. It provides superior variety of crop plants
3. It increases the quality and quantity of crop yield

Demerits:

1. It increases the use of fertilisers and pesticides that affect our environment.

3. Single cell protein

Single cell protein (SCP) are the proteins extracted from the microorganisms like yeast, algae, bacteria etc.

Merits:

1. Single cell protein can be produced by growing microorganisms on wastes like waste water, animal manure, molasses, sewage etc. Thus, it reduces pollution
2. Single cell protein are have high nutritional value.
3. Single cell protein can be produced in large quantity within less time.
4. The production of single cell protein is independent of season and climate.

Demerits:

1. Many types of microorganisms produce toxins that are harmful to humans.

Hope this information will clear your doubts about the options to increase food production.
If you have any more doubts just ask here on the forum and our experts will try to help you out as soon as possible.
 
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