Aquaculture, Viticulture, Sericulture, Floriculture, Horticulture and Arboriculture

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Aquaculture, Viticulture, Sericulture, Floriculture, Horticulture, Arboriculture in UP and its impact on development of UP.

Topics in detail

The line names six allied activities and asks for their impact on the state's development. For each, know what it is, where it is practised in UP, what supports it, and what it adds to incomes, jobs and nutrition.

Aquaculture (fisheries)

• Inland fisheries: rivers, reservoirs, ponds, tanks and wetlands
• Culture of Indian major carps (rohu, catla, mrigal), exotic carps, pangasius and freshwater prawn
• Fish seed production and hatcheries
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and the state's own fisheries schemes
• Fisheries cooperatives and the Fisheries Development Corporation
• Uses of saline and waterlogged land for aquaculture
• Impact: protein for nutrition, income for landless and fishing communities

Viticulture

• Meaning: the cultivation of grapes
• Grape needs a dry, warm climate in the fruiting season; the limited spread of grape farming in UP
• Scope and research for grape varieties in the drier parts of the state

Sericulture

• Types of silk: mulberry, tasar, eri and muga
• Mulberry sericulture in the Terai and other districts; tasar in the forests of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli
• Stages: host plant cultivation, silkworm rearing, cocoon production, reeling
• Link with Varanasi's silk weaving and its demand for raw silk
• Central Silk Board and the state's sericulture department
• Impact: income for small farmers, women and tribal families

Floriculture

• Flowers grown in UP: marigold, rose, tuberose, gladiolus, jasmine
• Roses for the perfume industry of Kannauj and for rose water
• Flowers for temples and festivals; the flower markets of cities
• Protected cultivation in polyhouses
• Impact: high returns per acre, jobs, export potential

Horticulture

• Fruits: mango (Malihabad near Lucknow, Saharanpur, Amroha and the western districts), guava (Prayagraj, Kaushambi), aonla (Pratapgarh), banana, litchi, ber
• GI-tagged produce: Malihabadi Dussehri mango, Allahabad Surkha guava
• Vegetables: potato, onion, tomato, peas, cucurbits; UP as the largest producer of potato
• Spices, medicinal and aromatic plants (mentha)
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture and the state horticulture department
• Post-harvest management: cold storage, processing, packhouses, exports

Arboriculture

• Meaning: the cultivation and care of individual trees (pruning, health, planting)
• Avenue trees, urban trees, trees in parks and on farm boundaries
• Fruit and timber trees on farms; poplar and eucalyptus
• Role in urban greening, shade, cooling and carbon capture

Impact on development of UP

• Diversification of farm incomes away from cereals
• Employment, especially for women and landless families
• Nutrition: fruits, vegetables and fish
• Raw material for industries: silk weaving, perfume, food processing, plywood
• Exports and foreign exchange
• Environmental gains from tree crops and wetlands

Overlaps

Issues in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and animal husbandry for India are in General Studies III; farm forestry on UP Forest Policy, Agro-forestry and Social Forestry.