AGRICULTURE

DIVERSITY AND TYPES

Different cultivation methods:
Definition:
Cultivation methods are the procedures
used by farmers to grow agrarian products

Different criteria:
Crop varieties:

Monoculture:
• Fields are used to grow just one crop

Polyculture:

• Fields are used to grow various crops

 Water supply for plants:

Dryland:
• Crops only receive rainwater

Irrigated:
• Crops are provided with additional water from rivers, wells and
springs
• It requires to invest more money on infrastructure

• It is limited to crops with a high market value

 Soil use:

Continual cultivation of the land:

• Does not involve leaving the land

fallow

Crop rotation:
• Alternating the crops grown in fields

Degree of land use:

Intensive agriculture:

• Land is used to its full potential

Extensive agriculture:

• Land is not used to its full potential

 Types of crops:
Herbaceous crops:
Like cereals and some leafy greens
They have a stalk
The majority are annual and need to
be replanted after each harvest

Treelike crops:
They are perennial crops
Shrubs:
Such as the grapevine
Trees:
Such as olive and fruit trees
 Types of agriculture:
Traditional agriculture:

Most on the produce is intended to

supply the farmer and their families

It is known as subsistence farming

Modern agriculture:
Definition:

The growing of crops for sale

in national or international
markets

It is also known as commercial

agriculture
 Types of modern agriculture:

Industrial agriculture:

The most widespread since 1940s

Its aims is the mass-production of agricultural products
They use:
• Chemical products, inorganic fertilisers and machinery

• Biotechnical advances, such as genetically modifies seeds

 Organic farming:

It has been spread since the 1990s

It aims is to grow healthy products without harming the environment

They use:
• Organic fertiliser

• Location of local crops

It is also known as bio-

extensive farming
 TRADITIONAL AGRARIAN SYSTEMS
Characteristics:
It uses outdated technology

It requires a great deal of work and a large labour of force

Location:

Regions with low level

of development

Africa, South East Asia

and Latin America
 Types of traditional agriculture:
Migratory or slash and burn agriculture:
Location:
Countries with an equatorial
and humid tropical climates in
Africa, Central and South
America and Asia

Agrarian landscape:

Irregular shaped fields created in

woodland by cutting back the trees,
and burning them with the
underground
 Cultivation methods: Polyculture farming

Cereals Millet Cassava

Sweet potatoes Yams

Consequences: Maize
Soil is exhausted in two or three years Sorghum

The farmers repeats the process on other site

 Dry sedentary agriculture:

Location:

Tropical areas of the

African savannah, South
America and Asia

Agrarian landscape:

Vegetable plots close to the

houses

Fields surrounding the hamlet

 Cultivation methods:

Vegetable plots:

• They fertilised with refuse and animal

fertilisers

• Continuous cultivation of the land

Vegetables Maize Beans

Fields use the three crop rotation system:

• Main crop, maize or millet

• Complementary crop, groundnuts or tubers

• Fallow land fertilised with livestock manure

Millet Maize Peanut Tubers

Consequences:

The soil is not exhausted and enables the population to establish a

permanent settlement
 Irrigation monsoon agriculture:
Location:

Tropical monsoon climate of South

and South East Asia

China, Vietnam, Cambodia and the

Philippines
Agrarian landscape:

Paddy fields located in alluvial

plains and river deltas

Small fields separated by

ditches so the fields can be
flooded
 Cultivation methods:

The growing methods are highly labour

intensive
• The rise is planted in a fertilised nursery

• The other fields are ploughed, fertilised

and flooded
• When the plants have growth, they are
transferred to the paddy field

• When the crop begins to ripen, the

water is removed, and the rice is
harvested, threshed and collected

Consequences:

The system produces two or three

harvests annually
 ADVANCED AGRARIAN SYSTEMS
Industrial agriculture:
Characteristics:
It uses technological advancements, mechanisation and scientific
advancements to achieve high yields with the minimum labour force
It is used for mass-agrarian production
It is specialised in the crops best suited to the local environment or
that can be sold most profitable
 Location:
Certain areas of new countries

Some tropical coasts

Europe
 Types of industrial agriculture:
Agriculture in new countries:

Location:

Countries from America and Oceania that were colonised by

Europeans during the modern and contemporary periods

Agrarian landscape:

Large, regular-sized fields that belong to a highly skilled farmer or large

multinational companies
 Cultivation methods:

They grow specialised

crops suited to the
local climate:

• There are some

crop belts in the
USA, specialised
in wheat, maize,
tobacco and
cotton

Consequences:

Mass production to supply an international market

 Plantation agriculture:
Location:

In coastal areas with a humid tropical climate in Central and South

America
South East Asia Gulf of Guinea in Africa
 Agrarian landscape:

Enormous fields from multinational

companies from developed countries

Just one single crop is grown

Cultivation methods:

They cultivate high demand

products in wealthy countries:

• Food:
• Industrial products:

Rubber Cotton Palm oil

Advanced techniques:

• Selected seeds • Fertilisers

• Pesticides sprayer by aeroplanes

Extensive paid labour force for some tasks

Consequences:

Cheap mass production intended for the international market

 Organic agriculture:
Characteristics:
They use environmental friendly techniques:
• They don´t use artificial chemical products but organic fertilisers

• Crop rotation to
avoid soil
depletion and
to control pests
in a natural
way
It requires more work
and provide a lower,
less economic yield
It is more varied and
of higher quality
 Evolution:
There is a growing number of green consumers in North America and
Europe, who are prepared to pay more for this type of products

In 2012, organic agriculture was practised on 37.4 million hectares of

land, but it is growing across all continents

The most typical crops are cereals,

coffee, olive oil and cocoa