Biofortification , Examples of Biofortification & Government Schemes

BIOFORTIFICATION

Fortification is the process of addition of  micro-nutrients (vitamins & minerals ) which may or may not be naturally present in the food crop. The nutritional quality of food is enhanced  either by adding the nutrients during processing of food products (conventional fortification) or adding it during the cultivation of the crop by agronomic practices ,conventional plant breeding , or modern biotechnology (scientific method) . When the nutrients are enhanced by practices during cultivation of crops , it is termed as Biofortification .


EXAMPLES  OF  BIOFORTIFICATION

• Golden Rice ( genetically modified crop rich in Beta Carotene)
• High Iron& Zinc pearl millet variety Dhanashakti
• High Iron & Zinc sorghum developed by ICRISAT
• Rice (DRR Dhan 45) pure line variety rich in zinc
• Wheat (WB 02) pure line variety rich in zinc & iron
• Maize (Pusa Vivek QPM9) hybrid variety rich in lysine , tryptophan & provitamin A
• Lentil ( Pusa Ageti Masoor ) pure line variety rich in iron
• Madhuvan carrot is recently developed by selective cultivation by a Gujarat farmer. It is rich in beta carotene & iron content. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  BIOFORTIFICATION

• fights malnutrition
• solution for hidden hunger
• nutritional security
• dependency on extra supplements is eliminated
• helps to accomplish SDG2 (zero hunger) & SDG3 ( good health & well being )
• Cost effective solution for poor

GOVERNMENT  INITIATIVES  FOR  BIOFORTIFICATION  IN  INDIA

India has around 15.2% population undernourished . To tackle this situation biofortification of crops is a cost effective solution. India mainly focuses on biofortification of six crops i.e. rice , wheat , maize , pearl millet ,sorghum & small millet. Some of the government initiatives supporting biofortification are :

1. National Nutritional Security ( NNS ) : Kuposhan Mukt Bharat  launched in 2017.
2. Organisation of Agri-Nutri Smart Village (agri- nutri education, institutional convergence , agri- nutri capacity building & nutri farming system 
3. Inclusion of biofortified crops in govt. sponsored schemes :

• rural transformation project of NITI Aayog
• National Food Security Mission
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
• Integrated Child Development Scheme 

SOURCES: www.iari.res.in  ,www.who.int , www.icrisat.org , icar.org.in  

WHY SHOULD WE CHOOSE AGRICULTURE AS OPTIONAL SUBJECT IN UPSC ?

• EASY  TO  LEARN  & UNDERSTAND : If you compare with other subjects available for optional , agriculture is easy to learn and understand . It is one subject where you are not required to remember a number of dates & years.  People with agriculture degree definitely find an edge by opting it as an optional but it is equally relevant for those who are not holding this degree.The reason is, it does not go deep into jargons as the keywords used here ex.'mycorrhiza' is itself a question that can be elaborated in simple language to fetch marks. While  other subjects like political science , economy etc. do not fetch marks to an aspirant without going deep into jargons. In other subjects there are other sophisticated keywords associated with the keyword a question asks to elaborate .So definitely agriculture is an easy optional to opt for UPSC.
  

• GENERAL  QUESTIONS  ARE  ASKED : Questions asked in agriculture optional are mostly general & straightforward that we go through in our day to day life. The way to answer such questions in an attractive form is by adding related point from current affairs which one usually reads while preparing for civil services.

• REPETITION  OF QUESTIONS : Specially in agriculture optional , questions are repeated every year & this makes this optional more predictive for an aspirant. If you will solve all the previous ten years questions , more than half of your preparation for this optional is over .

• DON'T  NEED  TO  REFER  PLETHORA OF BOOKS: If you have done your bachelors in agriculture, then your college notes supplemented with agriculture current affairs are enough for this optional . But in case you are some other degree holder, then also you don't need to buy a plethora of books. You can easily access notes from the website eagri.org
  

• LESS OPTED OPTION : This optional subject is not so popular among UPSC aspirants which makes it less competitive than other traditional optional subjects like history , geography , polity etc. This helps the aspirant to fetch more marks with less efforts.
  
  

• ELIGIBILITY FOR INDIAN FOREST SERVICES(IFoS) : If you have done your bachelors in agriculture , you are eligible for IFoS exam .  

CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE & INDIAN SCENARIO

WHAT  IS  CLIMATE  SMART  AGRICULTURE ?

Our planet's climate is continuously changing and total world's population is expected to reach  9.7 billion by 2050 .Agriculture and farming activities heavily depends on climate . Biggest concern is  food insecurity and vulnerability of farming community.

 Farming community needs to build their resilience & ability to adapt the changing climate in order to feed the growing population without further depleting the natural resources like soil and water. For that we need climate smart agriculture.

Climate smart agriculture is an approach to identify production systems that can best respond to the impacts of climate change  & to adjust these systems to suit local environmental conditions now & in future. So clearly it doesn't follow one size fits all policy .
                                                                                     

 HOW  TO  PRACTICE  CLIMATE  SMART  AGRICULTURE ?   

•  Identification of vulnerable farming communities & the main environmental distresses in those areas : This would help to categorize , evolve & allot the best suited production system to that particular area.

• Improve policies : Collaboration of people working in different fields like agriculture, food security land use etc. to work together on supportive policies & plans taking an account of entire landscape.

•  Support & Empower local institutions : Capacity building & motivating local population to adopt practices and plan the best way to do climate smart agriculture. 

• Combine financing options in a new way : Bring together the financing sources that target  agriculture and climate change.

OBJECTIVES  OF  CLIMATE  SMART  AGRICULTURE

1. Increase farm income & sustainable productivity
2. Building resilience to climate change
3. Reduce green house emission

CHEMICAL WEATHERING

  PROCESS  OF  CHEMICAL  WEATHERING

Weathering is a geological destructive process which leads to formation of simple compounds from solid rocks of earth crust. When these rocks are broken by chemical reactions occurring due to their exposure to water , oxygen, acids , carbon etc., it is termed as chemical weathering. Chemical weathering is minimum in desert , arctic & alpine conditions.

Types of chemical weathering:

1.SIMPLE  SOLUTION :  H2O + CO2 → H2CO3 ( carbonic acid) formed during rain ,thunder & lightening . Carbonic acid has solublising  properties and so it solublises certain rock minerals & helps in weathering.

2.HYDROLYSIS: water reacts with the minerals found in the rock and break them. Ex. KAlSi3O8 (orthoclase) + HOH  →HAlSi3O8 ( acid silicate clay) + KOH

3.CARBONATION : carbonic acid present in rain water reacts with calcite (CaCO3) present in crevices of rocks and forms bicarbonate ( Ca (HCO3) ) which leaches down to lower layers  and precipitate CaCO3 & liberate CO2 gas. Calcium carbonate so formed accumulate further and leads to karst  topography.

4. OXIDATION :mainly affects Fe2+ iron . Iron mineral like FeS2 ( iron pyrite) oxidises to form hydrated ferric oxide and sulphuric acid. ex. 2FeS2 +7H2O + 15O → Fe (OH)3 + 4H2SO4.

5. HYDRATION : volume increases due to hydration . ex. 2Fe2O3 +3H2O → 2Fe2O3 . 3H2O

 

SOIL SCIENCE PREVIOUS YEARS Q&A

Q.1 Name the important minerals found in different rocks. Describe chemical weathering of soil. (12 marks , 150 words ,  year-2012)

Ans.       IGNEOUS  ROCKS  

                   ROCKS                                                                IMPORTANT  MINERALS  

          

                   1.Granite                                                                quartz , orthoclase  

                   2. Syenite                                                               quartz , orthoclase

                   3. Gabbro  (plutonic)                                             labradorite augite , olivine

                   4. Basalt  (volcanic)                                               labradorite augite , olivine  

              SEDIMENTARY  ROCKS  

            

                   ROCKS                                                                   IMPORTANT  MINERALS

                   1. Sandstone                                                          mainly Quartz with some content of                                                                                                          CaCO3, Fe2O3 & Clay

                   2. Shale                                                                   Clay mineral , Quartz & some organic                                                                                                        matter

                   3. Limestone                                                           mainly calcite ,Dolomite with Fe2O3 ,                                                                                                      clay & organic matter

           METAMORPHIC  ROCKS

                   ROCKS                                                                         IMPORTANT  MINERALS

                   1. Gneiss                                                                     granite ( mineral composition like                                                                                                             that of granite)

                   2. Quartzite                                                                 sandstone (quartz, CaCO3 , Fe2O3                                                                                                           &  clay)   

                   3. Slate                                                                         Shale (clay , quartz & organic                                                                                                                     matter)   

                   4. Marble                                                                     Limestone (calcite, dolomite, clay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 & organic matter)

* chemical weathering of soil is described in next blog https://agricultureforupsc.blogspot.com/2020/05/chemical-weathering.html