Animal Husbandry

The rearing of animals for specific purposes is called domestication, and such animals are called domestic animals. Domestication of animals started during the &aposhunting and gathering phase&apos of human civilization. Man domesticates a variety of animals for food transport agricultural operation, wool, fur, study, research and pleasure. Cow, buffaloes, goats, sheep and pigs for meat and honey bee for honey. Cattles, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, elephants and reindeer are used for transport. The domesticated animals play an important role in the economy of rural India. The first animals to be domesticated may have been the dog and goat. The various breeds of domestic animals we use today have evolved from wild ancestors through selective breeding. Pets, livestock, poultry, Fishery, Sericulture, apiculture and Lac culture are briefly discussed in this chapter. The branch of agriculture specializing in the breeding raising care and utilization of domestic animals is known as animal husbandry. 

Dogs and Cats

Dogs and cats are the closest pets of man. They are carnivores turned omnivores. They occurs wild in various parts of the world.

(1) Dogs : Dog was among the earliest animals domesticated by man. A large number of breeds have been produced by intensive inbreeding and artificial selection of a single ancestral dog species. These vary in form colour, size and fur. It has proved to be a faithful companion and guard of its master. The domestic dog, canis familiars, is found in almost all countries. It is useful in many ways.

(i) It can be trained to protect flocks (sheep or goat) and herds (cattle).

(ii) It is helpful in tracking and running down the game such as hare and fox.

(iii) It is a very useful animal for hunting.

(iv) Some breeds, which have sharp sense of smell and sight, are employed to trace the਌riminals drug peddlers and prowleres.

(v) It can lead the blind persons.

(vi) Eskimos use dogs to pull sledges (wheel less vehicles used over snow or ice).

(vii) Dog raising is a profitable business. Pedigree dogs fetch high return.

(viii) Dog is a symbol of loyalty.

(2) Cats : Cat (Felis domesticus) is a small, furry mammal. It has many breeds. It is domesticated to eradicated rats and mice. It is also a nice pet.

Livestock

Meaning of livestock : The word livestock refers to the domestic animals kept or dealt in for use or profit. It includes cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, mules, donkeys and camels. The most important of these are cattle and buffaloes.

Cattle (Bos indicus),਋uffaloes (Bos bubalus) : The word cattle includes cow (adult female), bull (uncastrated adult male), bullock or OX (castrated adult male) and steer (young castrated male).

Importance of cattle and Buffaloes : Cattle and buffalo are most important forms of domesticated animals. They are next to land in use for farmers. They are widely used for :

(1) Agricultural Operations : Cattle are used in agricultural operations such as ploughing, harrowing and levelling land in harvesting and thrashing ripe crops and in working wells, etc.

(2) Milk : Cows and buffaloes provide milk, an important human food with all the essential materials.

(3) Transport : Cattle are employed in cart driving to transport men and materials. However, they are being fast replaced by machines.

(4) Manure and fuel : The dung provided by them acts as a valuable manure for maintaining the fertility of the soil. It is also used for preparation of biogas or gobar gas. Dung cakes provide cheap fuel to the poor, but the fields get deprived of an important manure.

(5) Leather : Hides obtained from these animals are used for the preparation of leather goods.

(6) Glue and gelatin : Their bones, horns and hoofs yield glue and gelatin.

(7) Meat : Beef and buffalo meat are eaten by certain people

(8) Hair : Hair are used for making brushes.

(9) Hybridisation : Indian bulls are used for

Breeds of cattle : There are 26 breeds of cattle and 7 breeds of buffaloes in India. They differ in colour, general body build, form of horns, forehead and geographical distribution. The best cattle breeds occur in the drier regions of the country. The most important breeds of milk cows in the United States of America are Holstein-Friesian, Jersey, Quernsey, Ayrshire and Brown Swiss. Depending upon the utility, the cattle are classified into the following groups

(1) Milch breeds that give good milk-producing cows,

(2) Draught breeds which give good working bullocks,

(3) General utility (dual-purpose) breeds the females of these breeds are good milk-producers and the bullocks are good draught animals.

Feeding of cattle : The cattle feed consists of two components (1) Roughage (2) Concentrates.

(1) Roughage : Roughage includes fodder, silage, hay and straw. They have a large amount of fibre contents and low nutritive value.

(2) Consentrates : The concentrates used in the cattle feed is a mixture of substance which are rich in nutrient contents. Cotton seeds, oil seeds, oil cakes, cereal grains like bajra, gram, rice polish, etc. are some important substances included in the concentrates in the cattle feed. In the winter season, cattle are given green feeder, mainly berseem and lucerns. In other seasons, cattle are given maize, bajra, jowar and dry fodder.

Cattle should be given sufficient water daily. Suckling calves also need water.

Breeding of Cattle : Cattle breeders select and mate best type of cattle for a particular purpose. The breeding of cattle is done by two methods i.e. natural and artificial.

(1) Natural breeding : It is further of two types i.e. random and controlled 

(i) Random breeding : Here some pedigree bulls are kept along with the grazing cows. Bulls not selected for breeding are castrated and changed to bullocks. 

(ii) Controlled breeding : In this type of breeding native cows are crossed with superior quality of imported bulls in natural breeding. Foreign dairy breeds like Jersey (England), Holstein Freisian (Holland), Brown Swiss (Switzerland), Ayrshire (Scotland) have been imported to give better results.

(2) Artificial breeding : The introduction of semen (sperm) in the body (vagina) of females by artificial means is called artificial insemination. This method is comparatively better and economical. Several cows can be inseminated by semen of a single bull.

(3) Superovulation and Embryo transplantation : This is a recent technique that has been introduced in India to produce super milch cows.

Breedingਊnd Calving Season : In India the breeding season commences from September and continues upto February, and the calving season from July to November. During this breeding period, the bulls have been found to be very active sexually and the quality and quantity of semen are very high, particularly during winter (November to February). The buffaloes show the maximum of ovarian activity and the largest percentage of them conceive during this period.

Length of Gestation : The length of gestation of buffaloes varies, influenced by breed and environment, between 276 and 340 days, but on an average, it lasts for 307 days or 10 months, in contrast to the cow with an average gestation of 284 days or 9 months.

(i) Duration of lactation, Dry period and interval between calving : In milch buffaloes, the average period of lactation is 281 days, a dry period of 139 days and an interval between calving of 420 days is normal. This means that, on the average, a buffalo/cow produces a calf at 14 months intervals.

(ii) Important livestock diseases : Just like human beings, livestocks like cow, buffalo, etc. Suffer from various diseases. The diseases in livestock are mainly caused by the attack of micro-organisms like virus, bacteria or fungi, or by an attack of worm parasites. Some important livestock diseases are as follows.

(1) Viral diseases : Foot and mouth diseases, pox.

(2) Bacterial diseases : Rinderpest, tuberculosis, anthrax.

(3) Fungal diseases : Ringworm.

Sheep and Goats

There are many breeds of sheep (ovis aries) and goats (Capra hircus) in our country. Today sheep are raised in all parts of the world. Sheep provide us with wool, skin and mutton and goats provide us with milk, meat, skin and hair. The fine soft wool called pashmina is the underfur of Kashmir and Tibet goats. A sheep lives for about 13 years.

Feeding of sheep and goats : Sheep feed on green tender grass or weeds or other herbage. Goats feed on a variety of trees by browsing on the buds and foraging on a variety of plants. Oil cakes and mineral mixture are also fed to keep sheep in good condition.

Breeding of sheep and Goats : To improve the quality of a sheep, cross-breeding experiments are usually done. For this purpose, a good quality wool yielding or mutton producing sheep is chosen and cross breed with exotic breeds like Dorset, Horn and Merino. About 19% of world goat population occurs in India. These differ in body build, colour, horn size, ear size, hair texture, etc. The wild goat, Capra hircus, of Baluchistan and shind is the ancestral stock of all the breeds of domestic goat.

Shearing of wool : The shearing of wool is essential to promote the health of sheep. The removal of hairs (wool) from the sheep is done very carefully in the mild weather. The recommended periods for shearing of wool are winter (February- March) and rainy (August-September) seasons when rich grazing ground is available. The sheep are washed properly before the removal of hairs.

The manufacture of wool from sheep hairs is a complicated process consisting of cleaning, drying, bleaching, dyeing, spining and twisting.

Common diseases of sheep and goats

(1) Sheeps : These include haemorrhagic septicaemia, anthrax, sheep-pox and black-quarter. The common signs of illness are high temperature, cessation of rumination, hard breathing, coughing, sneezing, diarrhoea and drooping gait. The sheep also suffer from external and internal parasites.

Timely inoculation prevents the diseases.

(2) Goats : The goats are less prone to serious diseases. They suffer from some contagious diseases such as anthrax, goat pox, pleuropneumonia and foot and mouth disease. The general signs of illness are as in the cows. Parasitic infection is common in goats.

Pig

Pig, also called hog or swine, is an omnivorous, nonruminant, gregarious mammal of genus Sus. All breeds of pigs have descended from the European wild boar sus scrofa or a crossbreed of this and the Asiatic species, S. indicus. The care and management of pigs is called piggery.

Pigs are the most prolific breeders and quick growers among the domestic animals. A group of 10 sows (Female hog) and one boar may produce over 160 piglets in a year. Pigs are most useful domestic animals, especially of lower classes of society. They are most economical source of meat and animal fat. Pig meat, in general, is known as pork and the meat obtained from different parts of the body have been given different names, for example bacon obtained from the back and sides and ham from the back of the thigh.

Feeding of pigs : Indigenous pigs survive through scavenging on kitchen wastes and farm by products and human faeces. Pig keepers raise them on grass, straw roots and grains. As they can feed on human faeces, they serve as secondary host for tape worms.

Breeds and breeding of pigs : Pig breeding has now started on commercial scale. The improved exotic types, number of which is insignificant is maintained mostly at all the seven Regional Pig Breeding stations of the country. Some breeds of the pigs are given in table.

All India Co-ordinated research project : The ICAR initiated an All India Co-ordinated research projects on pigs during the fourth five year plan. The project started functioning early in 1971. The main objective of the projects is to develop suitable breeds using imported stock. The centres where this project is in operation are :

(1) Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnager

(2) Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara,

(3) Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Tirupathi

(4) Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur.

Diseases of Pigs : These include swine fever, foot and mouth, swine-pox, swine-plague, anthrax, tuberculosis, infectious dysentery and piglet influenza. General signs of illness are as in sheep and goats.

Horses

Distinguishing Features : The horses (Equus cabalus) are solid- hoofed, non-ruminant quadrupeds with long, pendant mane and tail bearing long hair all over. They are intelligent animals. They learn fast are faithful pets and can adapt to all sorts of climatic conditions. It was the first beast of burden. Polo is game played on horse back.

Feeding : Horses are fed on oats, barley, gram and hay. Common salt is also added to their diet. Green grass may also be given if available.

Breeding : If compared to other animals, horses have a low reproductive rate. Controlled natural mating in horses has been in practice in India for a long time. A high professional skill is required for rearing, training and medical care of race horses.

Donkeys

Distinguishing Features : Donkeys (Equus asinus) are smaller than horses but have larger head, longer pinnae and narrower hoofs. Their mane is erect and tail has a tuft of hair at the tip.

Feeding : The donkeys mainly feed on straw and fodder. They are often let free to graze on the roadside.

Breeding : There are two breeds of donkeys in our country : small, dark grey and large, light grey to almost white. The grey donkey occurs in most parts of the country. The white donkey, also called wild ass, occurs in Rann of Kutch. Donkeys have descended from the wild ass Equus asinus of Abyssinia.

Mule

Mule is the hybrid between male ass (jack) and female horse (mare). It has the stamina of ass and size of horse, but is sterile. Similarly, the cross between male horse (stallion) and female ass is called hinny.

Mules are known for their toughness. Since they are sexually sterile, they have to be produce every time a new.

Feeding : They are fed mainly on green fodder, crushed grams and barley. They are also given salt.

Breeding : Indian army has imported male donkeys from Europe for breeding mules. Army uses two type of mules : (a) General service type and (b) Mountain artillery type. The latter are firm footed and can carry heavy loads on steep terrain.

Common Disease of Equines : The horses, donkeys and mules suffer from many diseases. They include pink eye or influenza, strangles, tetanus, colic etc.

Camels

The camel is a large, horn less, ruminant mammal of genus Camelus. It is popularly called “the ship of the desert” because of its great travelling power in a desert. It is a valuable beast of burden in hot desert and semidesert regions as it can live on minimum food and water when travelling with load.

Types of camels : There are two types of camels :

(1) Arabian camels (Camelus dromidarius) : With a single hump, short hair and found in north Africa to India. It does not occur in wild form.

(2) Turkish or bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) : With two humps, long hair and found in Gobi desert of central Asia. It occurs in wild form also.

Feeding : Camels are fed on dry fodder (barley, straw) supplemented with chopped green fodder made of pulses, mustard and green pees. They browse on trees, shrubs and bushes. The size of the hump is a good indicator of its health.

Breeding : There are four kinds of camels in India. These are Jaisalmeri, Sindhi and Bikaneri found in Rajasthan and Kutchi found in Gujrat. They have a well-defined breeding season. Camels breed in winter (November to March).

Diseases : Camels suffer diseases such as anthrax, pneumonia, camel-pox and surra. 

Elephant

Elephantsਊre chiefly found in forests with tall trees where bamboo’s grow in profusion. They have very poor sight but sense of hearing and smell is highly developed.

Feeding : Daily food intake is considerable, but only partially digested and utilization is low. Natural food includes bamboo shoots, leaves and various fruits. Working elephant are fed straw, hay and crushed grain as a supplement.

Breeding : Puberty occurs at between 8 and 12 years. The gestation period is 21 – 22 months. The calving interval is 4 years. Elephants may live for up to 90-100 years. Elephants are of two types : African elephants and Indian elephants.

Yak

Yak (Poephagus grunniens) is found in Tibet, Ladakh, Lahaul, Spiti, Garhwal and Sikkim. It gives meat, hide and wool. Yak is also used for tilling land. The transport of people and goods in these regions would be impossible without this animal.

Sericulture

Sericulture is the breeding and management of silk worms for the production of silk. It has been practiced in India since second era or century B.C. The silk which is produced by silk worm is of a valuable natural protein fibre. Silk worms are the larvae of silk moths. The rearing of silk worm for the production of silk is known as sericulture.

History of silk : Historical account of use of silk and rearing of silk worm eggs, larvae and cocoons are available from china. It was Lotzu the empress kwang-Ti who for the first time discovered the silk thread and its source the silk worm cocoon. The technique of sericulture was kept as a secret by the chines people. In about 550 B.C. The sericulture technique was diffused to European countries. The available mythological literature deals with facts rearing the use of silk in ancient India. By about 1000 A.D. the sericulture was in practice in China, Europe and India, China was the leading country in this field.

At present the sericulture is practiced in China, Japan, Korea, India, Brazil, Russia, France and Italy. Some of the south east asian countries. China is topmost country producing some 48% cocoons and 40.9% of raw silk. Next biggest silk producing country is Japan, India is placed in third position as for as the production of silk in term in quantity is concerned.

Silk in India : As far as silk as a fabric is concerned it is a matchless fabric second to none. Therefore, silk garments have been a favourite choice since ancient times. Use of silk clothes finds its mention from pre-historic period. There are description of use of silk clothes from vedic period. In Ramayana and Mahabharat period the silk clothes adored the bodies of royal princess, prince, kings and queens. Itਊttire of the rich people. The silk clothes were used to the superiority of social and economic status. It was given in gifts by rich people and royal families.

In the medieval period the silk was a recognised commodity of commerce. The silk clothes and raw silk were imported from China and Japan. Later on it was also imported from Europe. By the Moghul period India had a rich heritage of silk clothes. The silk was imported as raw silk. It was spun into silk thread and silk clothes were woven in handlooms silk clothes became almost a craze among royal families and rich persons. A number of such looms were in operation in Banaras, and different parts of Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir became centres for the production of cocoons and rearing of silk worm. Sporadic silk textile centres were also present in South India. It was in 1905-1906 that a scientific investigation in the field of sericulture was undertaken in India by the Indian Institute of Agricultural Research at Pusa, New Delhi. It was Lefroy who conducted research on the silk worm and potentialities of silk production in India. A series of exhibitions were organised to popularize silk and attract the attention of scientists and industrialists as well towards sericulture in India.

By 1910 India started regular production of raw silk. The rearing of Bombyx mori and Autheraea species was undertaken. Silk textile industry was finally established in Kashmir, U.P. and Karnataka. Silk garments were exported by this time. Silk clothes from Bengal, Banaras and karnataka were famous even in the European markets.

Silk in Modern Age : Sericulture as well as silk industry is firmly established in India. India at present is the third biggest country in the field of silk production and only next after China and Japan.

The reasons for the poor growth of sericulture in India were:

(1) High cost of production.

(2) Low yield.

(3) Poor quality of raw silk.

But the recent efforts by the Government of India and various state governments such as research in sericulture and training in sericulture technique, development of silk worms marketing facilities and cultivation of plants, e.g. Morus indica or shahtoot Norus alba or &aposToot&apos castor sal etc. Central Sericulture Station, Berhampore, Central Research and Training Centre, Mysore and Ranchi have been established. Various states have undertaken a programs of research, training and plantation of host plants under their rural development programs. As a result of these efforts new varieties of mulberry plants have been developed and are being cultivated. These varieties are called as M ₂ and M₅ varieties. They gave 100% increased yield of mulberry leaves upon which the silk worm feeds.

Different varieties of silk worm, Bombyx mori and Autherea have been developed which can be cultivated in various states. Existing races of silk worm are being improved Bivoltine species are being developed. Low production and higher yield have been achieved as a result of these efforts. India is producing 4200 metric tons of silk per annum (1980). This figure is even higher at present. India is exporting some 25% to 30% of its total silk production in the form of silk garments and fabrics. Karnataka is the biggest silk producing state followed by Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh is also emerging on the scene of silk production. India is producing China silk, Tasar silk or Cosa silk, Muga silk and Eri silk today.

Systemic position

Phylum -            ਊrthropoda

Class     -             Insecta

Order   -             Lepidoptera

Family  -            ਋ombicidae and satarnidae

Family – Bombicidae

(1) Bombyx mori : It is known as China silk worm or mulberry silk worm. It is native of China. It has been fully domesticated for the production of silk. It produced quality of silk which is white silk or yellow silk.

(2) Other species of Bombyx are B. texior, B. fortunatax and B. meridionles. They are well Known in our country.

Family – Saturnidae : Antheraea paphio - It belong to the family saturnidae. It is widely distributed in india in the states of Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West bengal. It feed on and fig plants. Its favourite host plant is Arjun (Terminalia arjuna), sol (shorea robusta). It has been recently domesticated for sericulture. It produced Tassar silk (kosa silk.)

Habit and habitat : The silk worm distributed in temperate regions are diapause type i.e. they remain inactive for some time in winter. The silk worms inhabiting some tropical regions.

Adult Moth : The moth measures about 25 mm in length and wing span measures about 40-50 mm in width. Female moths are larger than male moths. In general univoltine races are of larger size that multivoltine.

It has whitish colour with gray marks on wings in some races. The body is divisible into head, thorax and abdomen. Head contains a pair of eyes and a pair of pectinated antennae specially larger in males. Thorax contains three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings covered with scales. Female moths are without mouth. The abdomen is plump. Digestive system is poorly developed. The excretory system consists of three pairs of malpighian tubules present at the end of mid gut. The reproductive system is very well developed in females and males.

Life History

(1) Copulation : The copulation lasts for about three hours. During copulation the male sits over the female and holds her with the help of chitinous hooks. Both the moths acquire back to back&apos position. The female has a scent gland at the terminal end of the abdomen, which secretes volatile secretion called pheromones to attract the male.

(2) Egg : Copulation is immediately followed by egg laying. The eggs are small, oval and creamy white in colour. They become darker as they become older. Each moth lays about 300 to 500 eggs. The eggs are glued to the under-surface of the leaves of the host plant.

(3) Larva : After hatching a larva comes out of egg. It is called as caterpillar larva. It is 1.2 mm to 3 mm in length depending upon the race. It has grey or creamy-white colour.

The body of larva is divided into head, thorax and abdomen. The head consists of three fused segments. Mouth parts are biting and chewing type or strongly mandibulate. A pair of antennae and six pairs of are also present on head. Mandibulate mouth parts are used to cut and chew the leaves. The thorax consists of three segments. Each segment contains a pair of legs with recurved hooks. They are used for locomotion and manipulation of food during feeding. The abdomen consists of ten segments. The last and tenth segment is poorly developed. Five pairs of pseudo legs are present on 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th , 6^thਊnd 9^th򠪽ominal segments. These are used for locomotion.

$\bullet$ Silk gland : Among other visceral organs larva contains well-developed paired glands called silk glands. When fully developed, these glands becomes five time larger than the length of the larva and there weight becomes 2/5^th of the total body weight. Its secretion probably lubricates the silk. The silk is secreted in liquid form, which solidifies on coming in contact with air.

The larva is voracious eater. It feeds on mulberry leaves. It may ingest about 30,000 times more than its body weight during its complete larval period and increases about 10,000 times more than the body weight of its body from the time of hatching. As the larva grows, it sheds it cuticle. This is called as moulting. The form of larva between two successive moults is called as instar. The larva has five instars:

I^st instar - from hatching to I^st moult

II^nd instar - between I^st moult and II^nd moult

III^rd instar - between II^nd moult and III^rd moult

IV^th instar - between III^rd moult and fifth moult

V^th instar - between fifth moult and pupation

A fully-grown larva of V^th instar attains the length of 7.5 cm. It stops feeding and starts spinning the cocoon. It secretes silk thread from its spinneret and forms covering in which it encloses itself completely. It takes about 3-4 days to spin the cocoon.

(4) Pupa : The cocoon consists of silk thread. The enclosed immobile larva in the cocoon is called as Pupa. The pupal stage is non- feeding and non-mobile. It remain & inactive.

(5) Cocoon : The cocoon is white or yellow in colour. It is made up of about 1000-1200 meters long silk thread. The thread is wound around the cocoon is concentric circles. The weight of one cocoon is about 1.8 to 2.2 gms. The pupal period lasts for about 10 to 12 days. Alkaline fluid which makes the threads of cocoon to be soft. Soft threads are cut open by the imago. A young moth comes out of cocoon.

(6) Fertilization : After the moths emerge out from cocoons one female from one lot is kept with the male from another lot. They form pair and copulate. After copulation is over separated and kept with female of another lot. Thus one male can be used to fertilize at the most two females of different lots.

(7) Egg laying : After fertilization the female starts laying eggs. Egg laying is completed in about 24 hours. The laid eggs are called seeds. The eggs are transferred in sterilized and tray stored at 4ଌ.

Factors influencing the life cycle : The life cycle is influenced by the external environmental factors, such as, temperature, humidity and light. These factors control the growth of the larvae and also the quality of silk produced. The growth and moulting is controlled by hormones called juvenile hormone and ecdysone.

Composition of silk : The silk is a secretory product of silk glands of the larva. Silk is composed of proteins. It consists of an inner part made up of fibroin protein (C₃₀ H₄₆ N₁₀ O₁₂) and is covered with an outer envelope made up of sericin protein (C₃₀ H₄₀ N₁₀ O₁₂). The silk thread contains 75-80% fibroin and 20-25% of sericin,

Sericulture industry : Sericulture industry involves three steps,

(1) Mulberry cultivation : Mulberry is the only food of silkworms. Mulberry plants come up in any soil and in any climate. It is propagated by cuttings. The land is ploughed well 6 or 7 times in April-May and manured at the rate of 2 to 25 tons per hectare. Small pits are scooped out 2 or 3 cuttings are lanted in pit. Each cutting should be 20 to 23 cm in length with nodes. When the plants grow too high they are cut back and this is known as pruning.

Pruning : Pruning will help in the production of a new flush of leaves. The plants can yield for 12 years. Every year 6 to 8 crops of leaves can obtained and the average yield per hectare is 25 to 30 metric tons of green leaves.

(2) Silk worm rearing – Silk worm rearing needs the following:

(i) Rearing house

(ii) Rearing trays and stands

(iii) Chandrikes as support to build the cocoon.

The hybrid eggs are obtained from the sericulture department. The larvae are hatched from the eggs. The newly hatched larvae are brushed into rearing trays and tender, chopped are provided to them. At the end of the final instar, fully grown mature larvae are transferred from the rearing trays to chandrikes and allowed to build cocoons. Cocoons are then collected and marketed.

Grainage Management : This is done to provide good quality of seed to rearers and also to maintain the original quality. With this air grainage management is done by taking of caterpillar stage. They are protected from diseases and are provided good nutrition. An initial selection is made by observing pupal mortality rate. If the mortality rate is high, then such cocoons are rejected and are not kept for seed production. If the mortality rate is sufficiently low, their only such cocoons are selected and kept for seed production. The selected cocoons are kept for mass emergence. Before doing so the cocoons are examined and sexed. Males are kept separately and females are kept in separate lots.

(3) Hatching : The process by which larvae come out of the egg is known as hatching. After hatching larvae start eating mulberry leaves. The success of sericulture depends on the supply of good quality of mulberry leaves therefore the hatching must coincide with good mulberry season. Now a days controlled hatching is done by placing the eggs in low temperature. The eggs are turned and moved with the help of a feather. Now -a-days the eggs are kept in mulberry leaves in sterilised trays. If hatching is to be delayed or controlled, the eggs are kept in separate trays and refrigerated for a suitable time.

The caterpillars which hatch out are kept in separate groups according to their age.

(4) Supply of seeds to rearers : Under this step they are supplied with seeds. The seeds are of two qualities, i.e., eggs and 2^nd instar larvae. Beginner rearers are supplied with 2^nd instar larvae, which experienced rearers can purchase egg. This is important operation. For this purpose government has established many silk worm seed centres from where the rearers get their seeds at fair price.

(5) Rearing of Caterpillars : The caterpillars are reared at room temperature in shady places at about 60 to 70% humidity. The mulberry leaves supplied to Ist and 2^nd instar larvae are well chopped, fresh and kept in wet clothes so as to keep them fresh. The caterpillars eat voraciously and grow in size and moult. The form of larvae between two successive moults is known as instars. Larvae have five instars. The last or 5^th instar larvae stop feeding and undergo pupation.

(i) Spinning of Cocoons : Full grown 5^th instar larvae secrete a pasty material from its silk gland. It moves its head to and fro, secreting a silk thread.

A good quality of cocoon is judged by the quantity of raw silk, filament length, strength and splitting power. The cocoons are marketed and sold.

(ii) Post Cocoon Processing : It included following stages:

(a) Stifling : The process of killing the cocoons is termed as stifling. Eight to ten day-old cocoons are selected and dipped in hot water to kill the pupae in the cocoons.

(b) Reeling : The silk threads from the killed cocoons are removed and wound round a large wheel and then transferred to spools. This operation is called as reeling and the silk is called as reeled silk.

(c) Spinning : Damaged cocoons or the damaged outer layer of silk is separated and spun into threads. This is known as spun silk.

The raw silk is boiled, stretched, purified and washed again and again to shining lustre. Reeled silk or spun silk is marketed and sold.

Problems of Sericulture : The sericulture industry is facing a number of problems.

(1) Need for Research : There is a great need to better methods of rearing the silk worms. This is necessary to improve the yield of raw silk and reduce the cost of production.

(2) In order to improve the quality and yield of raw silk improved varieties of silk worm are developed by hybridization and breeding. There is a need for the improvement of genetic quality of the silk worm.

For research and training in sericulture the Government has opened Research and Service Station in many states. A Central Silk Board has been established at Bangalore the ministry of commerce.

Disease of silkworm

(1) Pebrine : It is the most important disease of silkworms. It is caused by a sporozoan called Nosema bombycis. The full grown caterpillar is attacked.

(2) Muscardine : It is a fungal disease caused by Beauveria bassiana and transmitted by spores carried by winds. All stages of caterpillar are attacked.

(3) Flacherie : It is a bacterial disease caused by Bacillus bombysepticus. Digestion in the affected caterpillar gets disturbed Regular feeding of the larvae and maintaining hygenic conditions will prevent the disease.

(4) Grasserie : The causative agent of this disease is the nuclear polyheadrosis virus. The affected larvae become swollen and like a bag of granules, the body fluid becomes thick and cloudy and the larvae die.

Economic Potentialities of Cultivating Silk in Madhya Pradesh : Madhya Pradesh is the largest state with respect to land area and has rich subtropical vegetation. Thus Madhya Pradesh holds vast economic potentialities of cultivating silk Sericulture is an important rural cottage industry. The tribal and other rural population in south east and east M.P. is favourably disposed for the cultivation of silk. Once M.P. was not a significant state in the list of silk producing states of India but due to the efforts of Madhya Pradesh Government in the direction of promoting sericulture today it, is the second largest state after Karnataka in the field of production of raw silk.

Efforts made by Government of M.P. to Promote Sericulture in state : A directorate of silk has been organised under the Panchayat and Rural Development Department to make concentrated efforts. These activities have been divided in two categories :

(1) Kosa silk Area : It extends in the eastern and south eastern parts of the state. This area is predominated by tribal  population and is spread in the districts of Balaghat and Mandla.

(2) Mulberry silk Area : It is spread in the western and middle parts of the state including the districts of Indore, Dhar, Dewas, Khandwa, Ujjain, Shajapur, Raigarh, Mandsaur, Guna and Sehore. For the promotion of the production of Kosa silk (now Mulberry silk) following efforts are being made.

(i) Kosa Seed Centre : Twelve Kosa seed centres have been established to provide scientific and technical information to the Kosa silk worm rearers. These centres also provide disinfected improved kosa seeds and caterpillars to the rearers.

(ii) Kosa Guidance and Training Centre : Madhya Pradesh Government has established 67 centres which meet the basic needs of supplying disinfected improved seeds of Kosa silk and impart training and guidance to the rearers.

(iii) Nursery : To meet the needs of the host plant and supply of leaves to the rearers the government has established nurseries of Terminalia tomentosa and Terminalia arjuna. Plantation of host plants has been undertaken in 296 hectares of land and 1285 hectares of land is proposed to be covered under this scheme.

(iv) The construction of two grainage, one cold storage, one cocoon market and one reeling factory is being undertaken.

(v) Kosa Regional Research centre has been established to help the rearers to increase the yield and improve the quality of silk.

(3) Mulberry silk Plans : To promote the mulberry silk production in M.P. certain efforts have been made in the direction by the Madhya Pradesh Government. These are

(i) Establishment of Nursery : To increase the production of host plant Mulberry silk worm, the Morus indica, nurseries have been established.

(ii) Mulberry silk seed centres have been established.

(iii) Integrated rural development projects have prepared for the production of Mulberry silk.

(iv) Establishment of regional research centre and reeling factory.

(v) Demonstration and publicity plans.

Madhya Pradesh Government has allocated 476.22 lac of rupees for the development plans of silk For the year 1985-86 a target of 80,000 kg. of Kosa silk and 8356 kg. of Mulberry silk.

Apiculture

Apiculture is the science of rearing honeybees for obtaining honey, wax and venom. It is a profitable money-making hobby. It forms a cottage industry, when carried out on a large scale.

Three species of honey bees are commonly found in india vig. Apis indica (The small indian bee), Apis florea (The little indian bee) and Apis dorsata (the giant bee) other important species include Apis mellifera (the common European bee) and apis adamsoni (the African bee) In india the commonly domesticated species are Apis milifera and Apis Indica.

Honeybee-Apis : Like termites, honeybees are social insects known for producing honey and beeswax, and for living in very highly organized colonies. These feed upon nectar and pollen of flowers, possess “sucking and chewing” mouth parts, and undergo complete metamorphosis.

Social Organisation of Honey Bee A highly organised division of labour is found in the colony of honey bees. A good and well developed colony of bees had 40 to 50 thousand individuals consisting of 3 castes viz. queen, drone and worker.

(1) The Queen : It is a well developed fertile female provided with immensely developed ovaries. Commonly one queen is found to be present in each hive and feeds on Royal Jelly. The queen is 15 to 20 mm in length and can be easily distinguished by her long tapering abdomen, short legs and wings. Structurally she is unable to produce wax or honey or gather pollen nector. By the combination of ovipositor-cum sting, a structure is developed which aids in egg laying. It is said that the queen gets mated only in her life but in a single chance of mating, drone releases two crore sperms which are sufficient for the fertilization of the eggs at the time of laying by the female throughout her life span.

One queen lays about 1,500 – 2,000 eggs in day. In the whole life span of 2-5 years a queen lays about 15,00,000 eggs. When the queen in a colony looses its eggs lying capacity, another worker of the same colony starts feeding on queen’s diet i.e., Royal Jelly and develops into a new queen and is provided with the facilities of real queen. At the same time old queen may be driven out but sometimes some workers object that as to why the mother of the colony be driven out so ultimately they also come out with the mother. Sometimes when 2 to 3 queens are developed in a colony, only one takes the position of the real queen and the others come out with some workers to establish new colonies. This phenomenon is known as swarming.

(2) The Drone : The drone is the male member of the honey bee colony which fertilizes the queen so called as king of the colony. They are reared from an unfertile egg in large drone cell. Drone are totally dependent on the workers and have been seen begging for honey from the workers. The sole duty of the drone is to fertilize the virgin queen. At the time of mating flight the drone follows the queen, copulates and dies after copulation.

(3) The Workers : Although the workers are the smallest of the three castes but they function as the main spring of the complicated machinery like honey bee colony. Like the queen, they are also produced from the fertile eggs laid by the queen and live in a chamber called as ‘worker cell’. It takes 21 days in the development from the egg to the adult and the total life span of a worker is about 6 weeks. That is why they are provided with some special structures for particular work.

(i)   Long proboscis for sucking the nectar.

(ii)  Strong wings for fanning.

(iii) Pollen baskets for the collection of pollen.

(iv) Powerful sting to defend the colony against any attack.

(v) Wax gland for wax secretion.

Like all other insects the body of the honey bee is distinguish into three regions head, thorax and abdomen.

(1) Head : It is a wide triangular structure with the apex pointed below. It bears dorsolaterally a pair of large compound eyes and three ocelli on the middle of its top. From the bottom of the head project the specialized mouthparts. Mouthparts of honey bee are of chewing and lapping type, which is adapted for taking nectar from flowers and moulding the wax. The sugary fluid is sucked up by the sucking action of pharynx, it passes into the crop and regurgited and stored in the cells of comb as honey. Sugary extract of flower is converted into honey by an enzyme which produced by the glands.

(2) Throrax : The thorax is divided into three segments an anterior prothorax, a middle mesothorax and a posterior metathorax. Each of these segments bears a pair of legs and a pair of wings is borne by the mesothorax as well as metathorax. Legs are densely covered with hairs and are variously adapted.

(i) Prothoracic legs : The segments of the prothoracic are (a) an oblong coxa, (b) a short trochanter, (c) a long femur provided with pollen-carrying hairs, (d) a tibia with pollen-carrying stiff hairs, or pollen brush and a movable plate-like velum, and (e) a segmented tarsus, terminating in a pulvillus and a pair of claws. 

(ii) Mesothoracic leg : The legs of mesothoracic segment have all the segments as foreleg. The tibia bears a pollen brush on its inner surface and a spine like pollen-spur on its distal end.

(iii) Metathoracic leg : Segments of the metathoracic legs are the same as prothoracic and mesothoracic legs. The tibia bears pollen basket on its outer concave surface which is partially covered by rows of long curved bristles arising from its margin. Distally the tibia is composed of rows of spines constituting the pecten. The proximal end of the metatarsus bears a concave lip-like structure, the auricle. The pecten and auricle together form a pollen packer to convey and pack pollen into, the pollen basket.

(3) Abdomen : Abdomen is made up six visible segments and possesses wax gland and stings.  

(i)   Wax glands : On the last four visible segments, wax cells are situated, which are modified cells on the ventral surface. Wax is produced in the form of scales through small apertures.

(ii)  Sting : The sting is the modified ovipositor of the insect and is used for injecting poison. It is composed of two straight grooved stylets or lancets. A pair of filiform poison glands secretes the acidic material that is stored in a sac-like poison sac located at the base of the sting.

Life History : After mating the queen generally lays one egg in one brood cell. The eggs are pinkish coloured, elongated with cylindrical body generally attached to the bottom of the cell. Larvae emerge out from both the fertilized as well as unfertilized eggs. Thus, the larvae from the unfertilized eggs form the drones while the workers are developed from the larvae of the fertilized eggs. Amongst the larvae of the workers one is fed on the royal jelly, a special diet secreted by the young workers in the colony, and becomes the queen of the colony. The royal jelly consists of digested honey and pollen, mixed with a glandular secretion into the mouth of the workers.

(1) Swarming : The behaviour of the honey bee to come out of the hive in large number is called swarming. It takes place during the spring or early summer. It relieves the over crowding and provides a means of colony reproduction, i.e. founding of new colonies.

(2) Supersedure : When the egg laying capacity of the old queen is lost or it suddenly dies, a new young and vigorous queen takes the position of the old queen and is called as supersedure.

(3) Absconding : The migration of the complete colony from one place to another takes place due to some unfavourable condition of life, such as destruction of the comb by termites or wax-moths and scarcity of nectar producing flowers around the hive. The phenomenon is quite different from that of swarming.

(4) Nuptial or marriage flight : The prime swarm is led by the old queen while the second swarm is accompanied by the newly emerged virgin queen. About a week after emergence, the new queen takes her first aerial flight followed by a swarm of drones. The queen flies very high and drones gradually drop out of the race. The last done left in the race, mates with her. Mating occurs in the mid-air, during which the queen receives spermatophores from the drone. The sperms are stored in spermatheca or sperm-resevoir of the queen to fertilize her eggs as long as she lives. The genital parts of the male are forced out with such a great pressure that he dies after mating. Along with the queen, died drone falls one ground and the queen reaches the hive.

Bee-Hive : Honey bee is one of the few domesticated insects. In modern days bee colonies are reared in artificial wooden boxes for maximum production of honey and wax. The artificial box where the bee colony is maintained and managed is called hive. The place where hives are kept and managed is called apiary.

There are different models of hive but the most common model in use is Newton&aposs hive designed by Rev. Fr. Newton. The hive is in the form of a wooden stand. The hive has two chambers. One is the upper and the second one is the lower. The upper chamber is called super or honey chamber. The lower chamber is called brood chamber. The queen is kept in the brood chamber. The two chambers are separated by a wire grid called queen excluder. The holes in the queen excluder are so smaller that they prevent the entry of the queen into the super, but allows other bees to pass through. As a result the eggs are laid only in the brood chamber. The super chamber is meant for storing honey.

Honey mainly consist of monosaccharides

Both the chambers contain about 7 rectangular wooden frames called comb frames arranged vertically. The vertical frames are filled with comb foundation sheet. These sheets are made of wax and contain hexagonal imprints. They are detachable. They are available in the market.

Honey extraction : Honey is stored in combs of super frames. It is extracted from the comb by a simple machine called honey extractor. It has a drum containing a rack inside to hold the super frames. It is made to rotate by a set of two-gear wheels, operated by a handle.

The super frames are removed from the hive. The caps of the comb cells are cut off by a double edged knife. Then the frames are fixed in the rack and the rack is made to rotate by operating the handle. The honey is forced out into the drum from the comb cells. From the drum the honey is collected in vessels through an exit present in the drum.

Location of Apiary : The hives should be set, in places where there are plenty of flowering plants. The place should be neat and clean and free from any obnoxious smell. There should be clean drinking water near by because each bee colony requires two glasses of water per day for their survival

Protection

(1) Honey bees should be protected from garden lizard and snakes.

(2) Black ants steal honey. So water should be placed at the base of the stand.

(3) Wasps kill honey bees. So protection should be provided against wasps.

(4) Wax-moth damages the combs. So the combs must be &apos&apos protected from wax-moths.

Formation of honey : Honey is a viscous sugary fluid formed from the nectar within the stomach of the honey bee. The bees visit flower, suck the nectar, store it in the stomach and return to the hive. In the stomach the nectar is processed. It is regurgitated and swallowed repeatedly for about 240 times. Then the processed nectar is deposited in the comb cells. This processed nectar is called unripe honey or green honey. It contains about 80% water. The unripe honey is converted into ripe honey by evaporation. The ripe honey contains less than 20% water. When the honey becomes ripe, the cells are capped or closed. The honey in the unsealed cell is unripe.

Chemical composition : Honey contains nearly 80 different substances of important to human beings. The important chemical are as follows

Value of Honey : Honey is a valuable food and medicine. Its uses are summarised below:

(1) As it has high content of sugar it is used as a sweetener. Until last century before the discovery of sugar throughout most of human history honey was the only available sweetener.

(2) Honey has a high calorific value. One kilogram of honey has 3350 calories while 1 litre of milk contains only 310 calories.

(3) Many athletes drink honey before games and between events in order to restore the energy used up.

(4) Doctors prescribe honey for old people and children who need to build up their strength quickly.

(5) Honey is used to heal wounds.

(6) It is used to cause free urination.

(7) It is used as a means of easing the belly.

(8) It is a good tonic for ulcer.

(9) It facilitates digestion and improves appetite.

(10) It prevents a running nose. It is a sure remedy for cold and cough.

(11) Honey is used as medicines for children to treat complaints of the liver.

Bee wax : Bee wax is secreted by the abdominal gland of bees. It is used for the construction of comb. It is an yellowish solid insoluble in water. It is used for the preparation of paints, varnishes, candles, models, etc. It is used as a ground substance for the preparation of ointments, creams etc. It has many industrial uses. It is used extensively in engineering industries, railways, textiles, leather industries etc.

Bee venom : Bee venom is secreted by the poison-glands of stings. Bee venom is a curative toxin in humans. It is transparent and it has a bitter burning taste. It is acidic in nature. It contains formic acid, histamine, tryptophan, sulphur, many proteins, volatile oils, enzymes like hyaluronidase and phospholipase and magnesium phosphate. Clinically it has the following uses :

(1) It is an active remedy for rheumatism.

(2) It is used to treat certain eye diseases like keratoconjunctivitis (inflammation of cornea), iris (inflammation of iris), iridocytis (inflammation of iris and ciliary body).

(3) It is used to cure skin diseases like tuberculosis of the skin.

(4) The cholesterol level in blood falls by the treatment of bee venom.

(5) Bee venom controls blood pressure.

Communication and Dance of honey bee : Ernst Spytzner (1788) explained for the first time that honey bees communicate with each other by means of definite movements of their body, now called bee dance. Later on Prof Karl von Frisch (1946 – 1969) studied and decoded the language of the dance of honey bee and he was awarded Nobel Prize for his work. He explained that scout bee performs 2 types of dance :

(1) Round dance : Round dance is performed when a newly discovered food source is close (less than 75 meters) to the hive. There is no indication of direction of the new source in this dance the smell of flower brought back by the scout bees tells the foragers the kind of flowers for which to search.

(2) Tail wagging dance : It is performed for long distance (more than 100 meters) sources of food. It is also called shuffle dance. By this dance the scout bee conveys the direction of new source with reference to the position of the sun. In the tail wagging dance scout bee swiftly and repeatedly moves along a straight line and then makes two semicircles along the side of this line. If during this dance tail wagging is directly vertically upwards it indicates that the source is present towards the sun. If tail wagging is vertically downwards it indicates that the source is present opposite to the sun. If tail wagging is in oblique direction, it indicates that the source is located at an angle to the position of the sun.

Bee keeping industry : Before1953 attention to bee–keeping was paid only by state governments but in the same year, all India Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) started to pay attention to it and it was controlled by Union Government itself. Due to the functioning of the central organisation, bee–keeping industry was spread in South India in some northern states also. Now-a-days bee-keeping industry is nation wide and is a good source of cottage industry.

Lac Culture

Lac is the resinous secretion produced by lac insect as protective covering around its body. It belongs to genera Laccifera or Tachardia. Lacifera lacca is the common Indian lac insect. It lives on the trees of fig family namely kikar, ber (Zizyphus mauritiana), babul (Acacia nilotica), dhak or palas (Butea monisperma), kusum (schleichera oleosa), Katha or khair (Acacia catechu), peepal (Ficus religiosa) and gular (Ficus glomerata).

Lac insect feeds upon the sap of its host plant like any other sap sucking insect. It is found in India and Philipine islands.

Male and female chambers : The adult male and female insects live on the tree twigs enclosed in thick capsules or chambers separately. The male chamber are elongated and cigar- shaped. Each male chamber has a branchial aperture in its anterior part.

The female chamber is smaller and rounded. It has a branchial aperture in its anterior part and a tubercular or anal opening in the posterior part.

Male and female lac insects : The female is more degenerated. It has a bag -like body with a small reduced antenna. The eyes legs and wings are lost during metamorphosis. The male lac insect is red in colour. It has an incipient head with antennae and eyes. The thorax has three pairs of legs and abdomen carries genital sheath, penis and a pair of long caudal setae, one on either side of genital sheath.

The wings may be present or absent. Because of the absence of mouth parts, the insect is incapable of feeding.

Life-cycle : The male lac insect crawls out of its chamber by pushing open the operculum reaches the female chamber and fertilizes the female through the anal or tubercular opening of female shell. The male dies soon after copulation. The female secretes more resin forming a large sized chamber. Thus the secretion by females mainly contributes to lac.

Oviposition takes place into a space inside the female chamber made by the contraction of the body of female. This space is called incubating chamber. Each female lays 200-300 eggs. The eggs hatch into red coloured larvae. These crawl out of the female&aposs incubating chamber. The mass emergence of larvae is called swarming.

Each larva is boat-shaped in appearance and is about 1/2 mm in length. Its head bears paired antennae and the ocelli. The mouth parts are of piercing and Sucking type with maxillae and mandibles together forming the sucking tube or proboscis. Its thorax is three segmented and each thoracic segment carries a pair of walking legs. The abdomen bears a pair of long caudal setae.

Attachment of larvae to new shoots : The larvae on emergence craw1 on the twigs of any one of the host trees mentioned earlier and settle down on the undersurface of new shoots. These prefer young succulent shoots. These force their proboscis through the bark and insert it into the phloem tissue and start feeding. Here these metamorphose into the adult insects and by secreting lac enclose themselves into the chambers.

Secretion of Lac : The secretion forms a shining layer over their bodies in the beginning but hardens and becomes opaque later on. The secretion is produced by the cutaneous glands of the skin and is deposited around three openings the two branchial apertures at the anterior end and anal opening at the posterior end. The secretion is in the form of waxy filaments which have a woolly white appearance. On coming in contact with air, these join to from a continuous covering.

Composition of lac : Lac is a complex substance having large amount of resins, together with sugar, water and other alkaline substances. The percentages of various constituents are as given below

Lac Cultivation : In order to obtain lac, lac insects are cultured and the technique of lac production is known as the lac culture. It involves proper care and regular pruning of the host plants, propagation of insects, and collection and processing of lac, For the purpose of propagation the older branches containing crusts are tied with new branches and this method is called oculation. When new crusts are formed, the old twigs are removed (approximately 20-30 cm long) and this is known as harvesting.

Extraction of Lac : The largest yield of lac and dye are obtained by harvesting the infested twigs while females are still living. The harvesting is done twice a year in June and November. The encrused twigs are pruned and lac scrapped from them. This is known as stick lac. It is grounded and sieved. The resulting granular lac is called seed lac, and the fine particles the dust lack. The seed lac is washed, melted spread out in a thin layer and dried thus forming the shellac of commerce. The dust lac is used for making toys, shellac is used in the preparation of varnishes, paints and polishes in making gramophone records and in filling ornaments like bangles and bracelets. It is used as insulating material.

Damages Caused to Lac Crop

(1) Lac crops is reported to be damaged by squirrels, rats, and monkeys.

(2) Certain insects also attack lac insect.

(3) Parasites : Eight species of chalcidoids live as parasites in the body of lac insects. These deposit their eggs into the body of insects through their anal opening.

(4) Predators : Eublemma amabilis and Holcocerea pulverea are the two lepdoteran predators that damage about 35% of the lac cells. Their females lay eggs on or near the encrustation. The larvae that hatch out bore through the lac deposit and feed on lac insects.

Precautions to be Taken During Lac Culture

(1) Lac intended to be used as brood should be cut at or near the swarming period, never more than one week before.

(2) Lac to be used as brood must be healthy and resistant to the parasite and predator&aposs attack.

(3) Lac used as brood should be removed after a maximum period of 3 weeks from the date of swarming.

(4) All brood lac after use and the lac cut from the tree should be scrapped from the sticks to destroy larvae and pupae of predators of parasites.

(5) Lac should not be stored after cutting. It should be treated as soon as possible.

(6) Fumigation and water immersion immediately after cutting are also helpful in the disinfection of Lac by insects.

Economic importance of Lac : Lac is used in the preparation of sealing wax (shellac), paints, varnish, the manufacture of photographic materials, electrical goods. Lac is also used in the preparation of bracelets, buttons, toys and in filling hollow gold ornaments. Lac is also utilized in confectionery trade and in artificial leather and pottery. Gramophone industry used to consume 30-40% of the annual production in the preparation of records.

Cultivation of Lac in India : India has monopoly in the production of lac. It is about 75% of the world&aposs total output. Approximately 40 lakh ponds of lac is produced. Bihar M.P. and west Bengal are major lac producing states in India. Thailand is major competitor of India as it shares 25% of the total exports. India exports about 1,80,400 kg. of lac The use of lac is being gradually replaced by plastic.

Poultry

Poultry includes the birds like chicken (hen), ducks, geese and turkey. Poultry farming deals with the rearing of them for their eggs and meat. Fowls are widely distributed as domesticated animal since time immemorial, but in the present century, it has become an important small scale industry due to modern need for palatable and nutritive food which it provides in the form of eggs as well as adult animal. An egg laying poultry bird is called hen (layers) and the poultry birds groomed for obtaining meat are called chicken or broilers.

India and the neighbouring countries, like Burma, Sri Lanka are the original home of the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus). It seems that Aseel or Malay fowl were carried to Europe through the Middle East about 2,000 years ago and have given rise to the present-day European breeds.

Poultry farming v/s livestock rearing : Poultry birds are easy to raise, can be acclimatised to a wide range of climatic conditions, have short life span and are prolific breeders and thus poultry farming is advantageous over livestock rearing. Hens have an average yield of 60 eggs per year, but high yielding varieties can produce more than 240 eggs in a year.

Poultry contributes about Rs. 7,500 crores to the gross national product (GNP) of India. India ranks fifth in the world&aposs egg production. Egg is one such food commodity which cannot be adulterated. The average per capita consumption is about 32 eggs and 600 grams of poultry meat a year. At present poultry is estimated to provide employment to about seven lakh families.

Raising of poultry

(1) Fowl house : Fowls can be reared in the hills of India without houses, but in the plains, well- ventilated and illuminated, dry houses are essential. A house of 1.8 x 1.5 x 1.5 m has sufficient accommodation for six fowls. An open shed or verandah must be attached to this house as run to the fowls for exercise. The fowl house may be either of wood or brick and the roof is made up of਌orrugated iron sheets, thatch or wood. The house and shed should be cleaned daily. Fowls of different ages are kept in separate houses. In regions with moderate climate, they are kept in cages (coops).

(2) Feed : The quality and balanced quantity of food material are the back-bones of poultry. The feed given to poultry birds should contain all the essential nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins. The feed usually consists of mashed cereals like bajra, wheat, maize, jowar, ragi, rice bran and oil cakes. The fish meal&apos prepared from the wastes of fish processing industry and meat meal&apos prepared from the wastes of meat processing industry is also used to feed poultry birds.

(3) Breeds of fowls : The whole poultry industry is centred round the fowls so the selection of good breed of birds for particular area is essential. The selection of fowl breed should be based on the object with which fowls are kept. Some important indigenous breeds of domestic fowl (desi hens) include Aseel, karaknath, Basara, Chittagong, Ghagus, Brahma and Cochin. Desi hens are hardy (strong) and possess natural immunity against common diseases, but they are small, slow growing, and lay small- sized and less number of eggs. The average egg production of a desi hen is about 60 eggs per annum, which is very poor. Keeping this fact in mind , a large number of poultry birds have been imported, breed and acclimatised to local conditions. Some of these are excellent egg layers while others are good meat producing birds. Some of the high egg-yielding exotic breeds of hens which have been successfully acclimatised in India include white Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, Black Minorca, Plymouth Rock, Light Sussex and New Hampshire. White Leghorn is one of the most popular egg breeds all over the world. The local varieties of hen (desi hens) have been cross breed with the high-yielding varieties of exotic breeds to obtain new breeds which combine the good characteristics of both the breeds. The new improved breeds (hybrid breeds) of poultry birds grow fast, take less feed, lay more bigger-sized eggs, and are more resistant to diseases. ILS - 82, B - 77 HH - 260 are some important improved, high yielding breeds developed in India by cross breeding. The ILS-82 and B - 77 breeds lay about 200 eggs, whereas HH - 260 breeds lay more than 260 eggs per annum.

(4) Diseases of poultry : The poultry keeper should always be careful against the diseases. Some important diseases of poultry birds are fowl pox, ranikhet (viral), fowl cholera, salmonellosis, diarrhoea, coryza (bacterial) and aspergillosis (fungal) However, the most common disease amongst fowls is Ranikhet disease, caused by a virus. The disease affects the fowls of all ages. Mortality is very high about 98 to 100 per cent. But, with better management, proper housing and nutrition and timely vaccination of the chicks, the disease can be controlled very effectively.

Other poultry birds : Besides domestic fowl, other birds like ducks, turkeys, etc are also raised. Ducks comprise about 6 per cent of the total poultry population in India. They are more abundant in the southern and eastern parts of India. Muscori, pekin, Aylesbury, Campbell, Indian Runner and Syhlet meta are some important breeds ducks. Narfold, British white, Broad Breasted Bronze and Beltsville small white are some important breeds of turkeys in India.

Poultry development in India : Poultry is one of the important components of the farmer&aposs economy as it provides additional income and job opportunities to a large number of rural population in the shortest possible time. Central poultry breeding farms at Bombay, Bhubaneswar, Hessarghatta and Chandigarh engaged in scientific poultry breeding programme developed high egg producing hybrids and fast growing broiler breeds. Central Duck Breeding Farm at Hessarghatta is catering to requirements of high egg producing khaki campbell breeding stock duckling. The poultry industry has grown rapidly in India in the last twenty years from a backyard farming activity to a modern and highly scientific industry. As a result of government&aposs efforts, during the seventh plan period, egg and broiler production registered a compound growth rate of 7.3 percent and 18 per cent respectively. The egg production is estimated to be about 26.1 billion in 1994-95.

Fisheries

Fishes are a valuable and easily accessible source of food, rich in protein, highly nutritious and easily digestible. By the aquatic animals, they are abundantly available from sea, rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes.

Aquaculture is the production of useful aquatic plants and animals such as fishes, prawns, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, molluscs by the proper utilization of small and large bodies of water. Pisciculture is the production and breeding of fishes by man in ponds.

India has abundant marine and inland fish resources. It has a cost line extending to 4667 Km long and a continental shelf of 2,59,00 square Km offering good scope for fish production. The fish production has increased many folds since India got independence. During 1990-91 the annual fish production of our country has been 38.22 lakh tons. The per capita consumption of fish in India is estimated at 1.51 Kg/year. India is at present the 6^th foremost seafood producing nations in the world.

History : From pre-historic period, fishes have used as protein rich diet for human beings. The popularity of fishes has been mentioned in our religious books like Ramayana and Mahabharata also.

In west Bengal, Bihar and orissa, the fish industry is about 1,500 years old. In Bengal every family traditionally has atleast one pond for fishes.

Culture method : The success in fish culture and the high production of table - size fish through carp culture depends largely on the designing and construction of ponds. The basic principles involved in designing and construction of carp culture ponds are of very specialized nature and vary form region to region depending upon several factors like topography, soil types, water supply etc. The requirements with regard to the designing and construction of fish farm are entirely different from those attributed to agriculture and animal husbandry farms.

Types of Ponds Ponds for carp culture may be broadly classified into three types : (1) the nursery ponds, (2) the rearing ponds and (3) the stocking ponds. The ponds which are small and shallow are used for raising fry from spawn (4-5 mm to 25-30 mm) may be termed as Nursery ponds or Nurseries. Ponds used for rearing fry upto fingerling stage (50 mm and above) are known as Rearing ponds. The rearing ponds are slightly larger but not proportionately deep and are used for rearing fry upto fingerling (50 mm & above) stage. While ponds which are used for stocking fry/fingerlings to obtain table-size fish may be called as stocking ponds. The stocking ponds are still larger and deeper (0.2 to 2.0 ha in size and 2 m to 2.5 m in depth).

Species Composition and Species Densities : Rearing of dietetically compatible species is one of the fundamental principles in fish culture. The divergent feeding habits of the Indian major carps and of the exotic Chinese carps are therefore taken advantage of in mixed culture. This divergence of feeding habits develop, as stated earlier, from advance fry stage and yet limited over- lapping in feeding habits is but to be expected. In view of this, trials were made with two, three. Four and six species compositions, within which variation in species densities or ratios were also attempted. Some of the combinations tried were as follows :

Silver carp + Grass carp ::  ਁ:1

Catla + Rohu + mrigal  ::   ਂ:4:4

Silver carp + grass carp + common carp  ::   ਄:3:3

Catla + Rohu + Mrigal + common carp  :: ਃ:4:1:2

Catla + Rohu + mrigal + Grass carp   ::  ਈ:3:1:4

Silver Carp + grass carp + common Carp + Rohu  :: ਂ.4:1.2:2:2.4

Catla + Rohu + Mrigal + Silver Carp + Common Carp :: ਂ.4:4.8:1.0:2.4:2.4

Types of Breeding

(1) Natural Breeding Habits : Major carps are essentially river fishes. They normally do not breed in confined waters Major carps breed in rivers throughout monsoon month&aposs i.e. June to August. Major carps exhibit local migration in monsoon months. After travelling some distance against current in flowing waters, they enter shallow marginal inundated waters, where they breed. These fishes do not exhibit any parental care. Ova are small, numerous and fertilization is external. Females lay eggs and the males sprinkle its milt over the eggs which are fertilized by inter-mixing of water, Milt or seminal fluid milky white non-sticky and non-granular. Milt consists of innumerable microscopic structures called spermatozoa. These spermatozoa have small head. During the period of their existance, they are extremely active inhabiting a constant jerking motion.

There is sexual dimorphism in major carps. Females are generally larger than males Following factors are important which influence spawning of major carps.

Optimum temperature seem to be essential for breeding but major carp have known to breed over a wide range of temperature between 4⁰ C - 40⁰ C. Some have suggested that excessive dissolved oxygen is essential but carps have bred in water where the dissolved oxygen was actually reduced due to mixture of pollutants after the floods. pH from 7.5 to 8.3 are recorded to be suitable for spawning. Turbidity do not seem to be essential for breeding of major carps. Fish spawning induced by lightening and thunder is also doubtful. Cloudyꃚy, however, seemed favourable for breeding of carps. Endocrine and sex stimulating hormone of pituitary gland and series of subsequent physiological changes are important for spawning

(2) Bundh Breeding of Indian Major Carps : Indian major carps i.e. catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirhinus mrigala do not naturally breed in confined waters though they attain sexual maturity in these environments. Their natural breeding takes place in rivers, certain reservoirs and in artificially constructed bundh type tanks where. Favourable conditions stimulate than for spawning Bundhs breeding contribute a lot to induce breeding of major carp fish.

The bundhs are of two types viz., Wet bundh and dry bundh.

(i) Dry Bundh : A dry bundh is a shallow depression enclosed by earthen walls, (locally known as bundh) on three sides and an extensive catchment area on the fourth. Bundhs get flooded during the south-west monsoon, but remain completely dry for a considerable period during the remaining part of the year.

The topography of the land has a great role to play in the location and distribution of the dry bundhs. In bankura district of west Bengal, most of the dry bundhs, are fed with water from storage tanks, constructed in the upland area.

(ii) Wet Bundh : The wet bundh is a perennial pond located on the slope of a vast catchment area of undulating terrain, with proper embankments having an inlet facing towards the upland and an outlet towards the opposite lower ends. During summer, the deeper portion of the pond retains water containing breeders. The remaining portion is dry and is used for agriculture.

(3) Induced breeding : One of the dependable source of quality seed supply is by inducing major carps to breed in ponds by the use of pituitary hormone injections. Pituitary extract for inducing fish to breed is used extensively in many countries. Use of fish pituitary extracts for stimulating spawning of Indian Major carp is met with considerable success in recent years. The cost of seed production by induced breeding is very lowਊs compared to the collection made from natural resources.

$\bullet$ Hormone Injection : Major carps do not breed in ponds due to the fact that the environmental factors which are responsible for spawning in natural habitats are absent in confined waters. Sex stimulating hormones of the pituitary gland play an important role in the maturation of gonads and spawning in fishes.

The pituitary extract can be kept effectively and utilized successfully in inducing spawing of major carps through injection.

The method of injection of pituitary extract are following types.

(1) Intramuscular   (2) Intra paritonial          (3) Intracranial

Economic importance of fishes

(1) Oils : Fish oils are employed in leather industry for chamoising.

Fish body oils are also employed in the manufacture of candles, lubricants, cutting oils etc. Liver oil is a valuable source of vitamin A and Liver oils are of medicinal use.

(2) Fish protein : It is used for edible and industrial purposes.

(3) Fish Meal : It is prepared from the wastes of fish oil or canning industry or from the whole fish of non-oil type. Wastes of cod industry are known as “White fish meal”. The chemical composition of fish meal is.

(i)   Proteins = 55 to 70 %

(ii)  Minerals = 10 to 20 %

(iii) Moisture = 6 to 12 %

(iv) Calcium = 5.36 %

(v) Phospholipids = 3.42 %

(vi) Iodine = Traces

(vii)  Vitamines = A, D and K

Fish meal is also used as major food of domestic animals like pigs, poultry, cattle, etc. It contains easily digestible proteins, calcium and phosphorus.

(4) Fish glue : It is a product mainly of tail regions of fishes such as cod, Haddock, pollack, Hake etc.

(5) Ising glass :It is a high grade collagen produced from the air bladder or swim bladder of certain fish viz., cat fishes and carps. The air bladder or swim bladder is firstly washed to remove the blood and other extra matter and then outer layer is scrapped off. The scrapped bladder is used for the preparation of purse, honey comb, book and ribbon.

(6) Fish fins : The fins of large sized sharks are used for the preparation of soups and further washed into sea water, dusted with wood ashes and lime and finally sun dried to get the cured shining product.

(7) Fish flour : It is highly nutritive food human beings, and prepared commercially by solvent extraction process. It is easily digested by the infants of 3 to 4 months also and is eaten in the form of biscuits, bread cakes, sweets and soup. It has particular odour so it has to be treated chemically to remove the bad smell.

(8)  Fish fertilizer : The wastes obtained during the preparation of fish meal is widely used as manure for coffee, tea and tobacco plantation.

Pearl Culture

History of Pearl Industry : For the first time the idea of pearl industry was evoked in Japan which was carried out in the Bay of Japan located at South coast of Hansoo. But in Japan, pearl culturists feel difficulty due to unfavourable climatic conditions. Kokichi Mikimoto (1858-1954) is referred to be the father of pearl industry. Pearl is a concretion formed by molluscs. It consists of nacre or mother of pearl. It is characterised by iridescence and translucence.

Pearls is produced by the marine molluscs such as pearl oyster and mussel.

Types of pearls : Pearls are of seven types. They are the following –

(1) Lingha pearl : This is the best quality pearl obtained from marine oysters.

(2) Seed pearls : The small pearls are called seed pearls.

(3) Baroque pearls : These are spherical pearls formed inside the body.

(4) Blister pearls : These are pearls attached to the shell. They are half-spherical in shape.

(5) Oriental pearls : These are true pearls with a great lustre, beauty and a smooth surface.

(6) Natural pearls : These are the pearls obtained from pearl oysters of deep oceans.

(7) Cultured pearls : These are the pearls obtained from cultivated species of pearl oysters.

Composition of pearl : Pearl comprises of water, organic matter, calcium carbonate and the residue.

(1) Water                                ਂ – 4 %

(2) Organic matter               ਃ.5 – 5.9 %

(3)ꃊlcium carbonate        ꂐ %

(4) Residue                             ਀.1 – 0.8 %

The pearl is formed of nacre. The nacre is formed of two substances namely a calcium carbonate which is in the form of argonite or calcite and an albuminoid substance called conchiolin/colchitin

Pearl-producing animals : Pearls are produced by bivalve molluscs. There are marine as well as fresh water animals.

Cultivable species : Pearls are intensively produced by cultivating pearl oysters. The most important molluscs cultivated for pearls are Pinctada vulgaris.

Biology of pearl oysters : Pearl oysters are sedentary animals. They are attached to rocks. They have two valves. One valve is cemented to the rocks and the other free. They spawn twice in a year. The eggs are hatched into free swimming larvae. The larvae sink to the bottom of the water and develop into young oysters called spats. They grow to their maximum size in four or five years.

Pearl formation : The pearl oysters produce pearl as an adaptation against outside materials. When a foreign material such as a sand, grain or a parasite happens to enter the body it adheres with the mantle. The mantle epithelium at once grows over the material in the form of a sac and encloses it. This mantle epithelium starts secreting concentric layers of nacre around the foreign material. The completed structure is called pearl.

Culture of pearls : The culture of pearls is a complex but sensitive process. It involves the following steps.

(1) Collection of oysters : Oysters for pearl culture are obtained by three methods. They are as follows :

(i) Pearl oysters are collected from the bottom of the sea.

(ii) Spats (young oysters) are collected by placing cages in spat-falling areas of the sea.

(iii) In the laboratory eggs of pearl oysters are fertilized and young once are obtained.

(2) Preparation of graft tissue : The piece of tissue which is inserted into the oyster is called graft tissue It is cut offਏrom the mantle of another oyster. The graft must be in the form of a square of 2 × 2 mm in size.

(3) Preparation of nucleus : The nucleus is a foreign material which is inserted into the oyster. It is in the form of 2 mm in diameter. It is prepared from the shell of molluscs

(4) Implantation : The oyster is placed on a table. The foot is exposed. A small incision is made on the foot. On this incision the graft tissue is placed. The nucleus is placed on the tissue. Then the oyster is released in cages. The entire operation should be completed in 30 minutes.

(5) Rearing of oysters : The operated oyster are placed in cages and the cages are suspended from rafts in the sea. This type of culturing oysters is called raft culture.

(6) Harvesting : Pearls attain their maximum in three years. After three years, the oysters are removed from cages and the pearl is taken out. Chemically pearl is made up of CaCO₃ and conchiolin.

Quality of pearl : The pearls obtained are of variable shaped and sizes. They may be white, or cream red or pink red in colour. The spherical pearls of rainbow colour are rarely found. The best quality of pearl is known as ‘lingha pearls’ and obtained from marine oysters.