Plant Cultivation

General Characteristics of Agriculture

World Agriculture

Lecture 14

Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber, fuel and other goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals.

Agriculture traditionally includes:

plant cultivation (растениеводство),

animal husbandry (raising) (животноводство),

forestry (лесное хозяйство),

fishery (рыболовство, рыбный промысел),

hunting (охота).

42% of the world's laborers are employed in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation. However, agricultural production accounts for less than 5% of the Gross World Product (an aggregate of all Gross Domestic Products). China has the world's largest number of farmers, with over 800 million in 2006, but this number is rapidly declining.

Modern agriculture extends well beyond the traditional production of food for humans and animal feeds. Other agricultural production goods include cut flowers, nursery plants (саженцы), timber, fertilizers, animal hides, leather, industrial chemicals (starch, sugar, ethanol, alcohols and plastics), fibers (cotton, wool, hemp, and flax) and fuels (methane from biomass, biodiesel).

The twentieth century saw massive changes in agricultural practice, particularly in agricultural chemistry. These changes include plant breeding, hybridization, gene manipulation, better management of soil nutrients and improved weed control.

According to the National Academy of Engineering in the United States, agricultural mechanization is one of the 20 greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century. Early in the century, it took one American farmer to produce food for 2.5 people. Today, due to advances in agricultural technology, a single farmer can feed over 130 people. This comes at a cost, however. A large energy input is required to maintain such high levels of output.

Top agricultural products both by crop types and individual crops are below.

Top agricultural products, by crop types:

Cereals

Vegetables

Roots and Tubers

Milk

Fruit

Meat

Oilcrops

Fish

Eggs

Pulses

Top agricultural products, by individual crops:

Sugar Cane

Maize

Wheat

Rice

Potatoes

Sugar Beet

Soybean

Barley

Tomato

Specific crops are cultivated in distinct growing regions throughout the world.

Wheat is the primary cereal of temperate regions. Annual wheat production remains at over 600 mln tons. USA, Canada, Russia, the Ukraine are the leading wheat producing countries.

Rice is the primary cereal of tropical regions. World production totals 400 mln tons. Production is geographically concentrated in Western and Eastern Asia with more than 90 percent of the world output. China and India supply over half of the world's rice. Brazil is the most important non-Asian producer, followed by the United States. Italy ranks first in Europe.

Maize is a staple food of the peoples in North America, South America, and Africa. World maize (corn) production is estimated at 700 mln tons.

14.3. Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry refers to breeding and raising of animals for meat or to harvest animal products (like milk, eggs or wool) on a continual basis.

Animal husbandry includes:

cattle-breeding (скотоводство),

pig-breeding (свиноводство),

sheep-breeding (овцеводство),

poultry keeping/farming (птицеводство),

horse-breeding (коневодство).

There are two main indicators to assess the animal husbandry of a country:

1. Livestock (поголовье),

2. Output (объем производства/выпуска).

The world’s cattle herd equals 1.5 billion. The number of sheep is 1.75 billion. The United States has 98 million head of cattle while China has 130 million head. But there is even a bigger difference in the number of sheep and goats: 9 million in the United States, 290 million in China.

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