Agriculture
Types of Agriculture
Industrialized agriculture uses a lot of water, fossil fuel energy, pesticides, and commercial fertililizers to produce single crops (monoculture) and livestock animals for sale. It is practiced on about 25% of all cropland which is mainly in developed countries. This type of agriculture produces about 80% of the world's food.
More livestock production in developed countries is industrialized. Many cattle are brought to densely populated feedlots which is where they will be fattened up for four months before slaughter. Most chickens and pigs spend there whole lives in cramped pens and cages in a large building and are fed grain that is grown on cropland. Large amounts of energy and water are used and large amounts of animal waste is produced which can pollute water and leaves a putrid smell in the air.
Plantation agriculture is a form of industrialized agriculture used mostly in tropical developing countries. It involves growing cash crops on large monoculture plantations and the crops are mainly sold to developed countries. Cash crops include bananas, cocoa, peanuts, sugarcane, soybeans, vegetables, and coffee. Having monocultures in the tropics increases the crop yield but decreases the biodiversity in the area since tropical forests are cleared in order to provide land for the plantations.
Traditional subsistence agriculture mainly uses human labor and draft animals to produce enough crops or livestock for a farm family's survival.
Traditional intensive agriculture uses more human and draft animal labor, fertilizer, and water to have a higher crop yield in an area of cultivated land. Farmers produce enough food to feed their families and to sell.
Interplanting is when a farmer grows several crops on the same plot of land simultaneously. The crop diversity reduces the chance of losing all of the crops to pests, bad weather, and other misfortunes.
There are 4 types of interplanting.
Polyvarietal cultivation is when you plant several genetic varieties of a crop on a plot of land.
Intercropping is when two or more different types of crops are grown at the same time on a plot of land. An example would be to have a carbohydrate rich grain that uses the nitrogen in the soil and legumes to put the nitrogen back into the soil.
Agroforestry is when crops and trees are grown together.
Polyculture is a type of interplanting in which many different plants are planted together. Sometimes up to 20 crops are grown together on small plots of land. The crops all mature at different times so there is food being produced throughout the year. Polycultures also keep the soil covered and prevent erosion from the wind and water. Less water and fertilizer is needed because the different root systems are at different depths and are able to capture moisture and nutrients efficiently. Pesticides and herbicides are rarely needed because habitats are made for predators of insects that eat the crops. Weeds have a hard time since there are so many crops.
Polyvarietal Cultivation
Agroforestry
Intercropping
