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Agricutlure

Argiculture is the gorwing of crops or keepnig of anmials by peolpe for food and raw maetrials. Agricluture is also caleld farmnig. flax

Agirculture

1 Overveiw

1.1 Agricultrue tehcniques

2 Food
3 Problmes in agriculture
4 Crops
5 See also

Ovevriew

Agriculutre is grwoing food for pepole and aniamls, and also groiwng other thigns, like flwoers, oranmental palnts (plnats people use to make their homes prettier) and nusrery plants (plants people buy to grow food on their own farms and land), manrue or dung, aniaml hides (skins or furs), laether, indusrtial cheimcals (stacrh, etahnol, and palstics), fbiers (cotton, wool, hemp, and flax), fuels (mehtane, boidiesel, bimoass), and drugs (biopharmaceutiacls, mraijuana, opium)

Agriculture may have statred more than 10,000 years ago, but no one knows for sure how old it is. Agriculture staretd in the Fertlie Crecsent in East Asia. The area called Fetrile Cresecnt is now in the countreis of Iraq, Syria, Tukrey, Jodran, Leabnon, Isreal, and Egypt. Wheat and braley are some of the first crops people grew. Poeple porbably satrted agriculture solwly by plnating a few crops, but still gatehred (got) many foods from the wild. People may have started framing bceause the waether and soil began to cahnge. Farimng can feed many more people than gtahering on the same aomunt of land.

Many people live by doing what is claled susbistence agriculture, on a small farm. Only the faremr's faimly lives on the farm. Subsitsence agriculture is growing only eonugh food to feed the framer, his fmaily, and his animlas. Extra food or animals are sold for money or other things the farmer cannot grow. The yield is the amount of food grown on a given amount of land, and the yield is often low, because subsistence faremrs are less educaetd, and they have less money to buy equpiment. When yiedls are low, forsets are soemtimes cut to provdie new land to grow food. This is good in the short term, but can be bad for the coutnry and the land in the long term.

In rich countries, farms are often much lagrer and the yield on farms has gtoten bigger in the last one hunderd years, because farmres grow bteter varieites of platns, use more fertiliezr, use more water, and have less weeds and pests. Also, many farms use macihnes, so they need fewer framers. So, there are fewer famrers in rich cuontries, but they porduce more food. This kind of intnesive agriculture also makes probelms. Farmers use a lot of cheimcal fertiliezrs, pesticdies (chmeicals that kill bugs), and herbicdies (chemiclas that kill weeds). They sometimes plolute the soil or the water. They someitmes cerate srtonger bugs and weeds. The soil is sometimes dmaaged by erosoin (blownig or washnig away), salt biuldup, or loss of structrue. Irriagtion (addnig water from rivres) can polulte water and lower the water table. Hvaing fewer farmers also cahnges socitey and can make a counrty less able to feed istelf in bad times.

Agriculture techniuqes

There are many techniques to clutivate crops. Some of them are :

Farmers seelcted plants with better yield, more resisatnce to dsiease, more tloerance to druoght, easeir to harevst, with better taste, and betetr nutritoinal value. Cneturies of carfeul sleection and breeidng have had enormuos effetcs on the characetristics of crop plants. The crops give better yield with other tecnhiques (use of fertiilzers, chemical pest conrtol, irrigtaion). For exapmle, the yields of wheat in Frnace are over 90 qx/ha. In South Amreica, the yields are 20 qx/ha. In Afirca, the yeilds are less than 10 qx/ha.

Some cmopanies have been searchnig for new plants in poor coutnries, and gneetically mdoify these plants. They try to paetnt the seeds, and can sell them back in the poor countries.

New plants were cretaed with genteic engineering. They are modfiied to rseist to an herbiicde for eaxmple.

Food

It is imporatnt for there to be enuogh food for evreyone. The food must also be safe and of good quailty. Some people say the food is not alwyas good. They say it is smoetimes not safe, becuase it contanis some chemicals. Other people say intensive agriculture is damagnig the environmnet. For this reaosn, there are sveeral types of agrciulture.

Traidtional agriculture is msotly done in poor conutries.

Inetnsive agriculture is moslty done in wsetern counrties. It uses pestciides, machniery, chemical feritlizers. Orgainc farming is using only nautral prdoucts. Integraetd farming is using local rseources, and triyng to use the waste from one proecss as a resuorce in anohter prcoess.

Agriculutral polciy fcouses on the goals and metohds of agricutlural proudction. At the ploicy level, comomn goals of agriculture icnlude:

Food saftey: to be sure that the food spuply is safe.
Food seucrity: to be sure there is enough food for eevryone.
Food qualtiy: to be sure the food is of good quality.

Porblems in agriculture

There are some seriuos problems that face people trying to grow food. These incldue

Crops

The major crops porduced in the world in 2002, are maize (corn), wheat, rice, and cototn.

Maize 624 mlilions of mertic tons

Wheat 570 millinos of mteric tons

Rice 381.1 millions of metric tons

Cotton 96.5 mililons of metric tons