6.

14 TECHNOLOGY USED IN FOOD

PRODUCTION

Team members : - Arvinder Kaur - Astalaxme - Manjushri Nair - Maanushri Nair

THE NEED FOR IMPROVING THE

QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF FOOD
The need to improve the quality of food and increase food production is due to the increasing human population and hence, an increase in the demand for food. The population of Malaysia is expected to reach 70 million in 10 years' time and appropriate action based on the national food production policy must be taken so that adequate food is available for everyone. Diversification in food production in one of the alternatives to ensure that sufficient amounts of food are made available to everyone. The most efficient way of improving the quality of food and increase food production is by the use of technology.

METHODS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF FOOD AND INCREASING FOOD PRODUCTION

There are various ways in which technology can be used to improve the quality of food and increase production. Examples where technology can be used are: i. Direct seeding ii. Hydroponics iii. Breeding iv. Tissue culture v. Genetic engineering vi. Soil management vii. Biological control

DIRECT SEEDING

SEEDING

MACHINE

Technology can be used in seeding such as in the planting of paddy. A special drilling machine is used to sow the seeds directly into the soil. In this way, the seeding can be done faster and efficiently and production costs are lowered. In addition, higher production is achieved.

HYDROPONICS

HYDROPONICS
Hydroponics is the planting and growing of plants in a cultured solution instead of in the soil. The cultured solution contains all the necessary macronutrients and micronutrients. Normally, the hydroponics is carried out in green houses where the light intensity, concentration of carbon dioxide and the temperature can be controlled to provide optimum conditions for the growth of the plants.

SELECTIVE BREEDING

SELECTIVE

BREEDING

Selective breeding is a process whereby parents of plants or animals of desirable characteristics and traits are chosen to produce offspring. In the case of plants, better yields of high nutritional values, greater resistance to diseases and a short maturity time are chosen. This means that only high quality and quantity products are being produced.

TISSUE CULTURE

TISSUE CULTURE
Tissue culture is the growing of tissues of a living organism in a cultured solution of suitable nutrients and hormones. This is carried out outside the body of the plants. Many plants, such as oil palm, papayas, bananas, etc., have been produced or cloned in large quantities via tissue cultures. The clones have the same traits and characteristics as the parents, including better yields of high nutritional values, great resistance to diseases, a short maturity time, etc. In this way, high quality products are produced.

GENETIC ENGINEERING

GENETIC

ENGINEERING

Genetic engineering is the manipulation of the DNA involving the deletion or insertion of the gene (segment of DNA) to produce a new organism with desirable traits. The organism produced via genetic engineering is called a genetically modified organism (GMO). The GMO has been used extensively in agriculture to improve crop productions in terms of the yields, nutritional contents as well as resistance to pathogens and pests.

SOIL MANAGEMENT

SOIL MANAGEMENT
The soil is the medium for the growth of plants. The management of the soil in terms of its chemical, physical and biological properties is important to ensure that the soil texture, the contents of the organic matter, water contents and microorganisms are always available for every cycle of the crop production. This ensures that the soil quality is sustainable for each crop cycle. Some practices of good soil management are crop rotations, use of a controlled amount of fertilisers, contour planting to prevent erosion and the use of plant legumes as a ground cover to increase soil fertility and prevent soil erosion.

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Biological control is the natural control of pests using natural predators. Such a method is environmentally friendly as no poisonous or toxic chemical pesticides are involved. Examples of natural biological control methods are the use of ladybirds which prey on mealybugs which suck the juices from leaves, flowers and fruits. The rats which destroy paddy plants can be controlled by introducing snakes and owls which are natural predators of rats.

THE END