5th Standard Science Term-III
OUR ENVIRONMENT
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 a 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 raised in these farms include goats, sheep and camels.
🔘 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 |
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's 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.
Buffalo Breeds | States |
Murrah | Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh |
Bhadawari | Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh |
| Jaffrabadi | Gujarat |
Surti | Rajasthan, Gujarat |
Mehsana | Gujarat |
Nagpuri | Central and South India |
Nili Ravi | Punjab, Haryana |
Continue...
🔘 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 bran, 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 among domestic and non-domestic animals.
🔘 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 during 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, jaggery and ghee.
➔ Leather goods are manufactured from cattle hides.
2. Poultry Farm
In poultry farms, avian species are reared and bred for the purpose of egg, meat or both. Fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys and some varieties 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 Namakkal, Palladam and Chennai.
🔘 Breeds
There are more than hundred breeds of fowls. Fowls are classified on the basis of their utility to us. They are : meat type (broiler), egg type (egg layer) and dual type. Aseel, 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 broilers and layers. But, meat and egg from this type of poultry are better than other commercial poultry.
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🔘 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 protein. 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.
🔘 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 flies, lice, ticks etc.
🔘 Poultry management
Poultry birds need a clean environment. The following measures should be taken in order to avoid diseases.
➔ 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.
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