About Farming
Farming is the worldwide practice of cultivating crops and herding livestock. Techniques for growing food and raising animals allows farmers to produce massive amounts of food and grain capable of feeding billions of people. Although the raw number of farmers in the United States is on the decline, their importance is as great as ever.
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History
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The birth of civilization occurred once people figured out how to domesticate the land and animals around them. By adopting a farmer's lifestyle, tribes abandoned the nomadic ways of hunter-gatherers. The first towns and cities were built around consistent food supplies. Over time, farmers began to perfect their farming methods. The agricultural revolution helped to make farming produce more food on less land. Twentieth-century technologies like synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, farming mechanization and the use of rock phosphates allow for the largest crop yields in farming history.
Features
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The subsistence farmer is on the bottom of the farming food chain. This type of farmer uses a small portion of land to produce small amounts of product, usually enough for his family. Intensive farms are large farms that produce food for large populations. Rice paddy farms in Asia and industrial farms in America are two types of intensive farms. Most large industrial farms invest in technologies that produce high crop yields.
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Types
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Farming produces most of our dietary staples such as wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, milk, rice, vegetables, fruits and other grains. Many farms produce much needed fibers like cotton, hemp, silk, wool and flax. The current global energy crisis has sparked biofuel farms that produce ethanol, biodiesel, biomass and methane.
Potential
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The competition amongst industrial farms and the high, never-ending demand for food has sparked a new agricultural revolution. Farmers are now using agricultural chemistry and improved mechanizations in farming. Chemical fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, hydroponics, plant breeding, hybridization and gene manipulation are a few of the many new techniques used in the agricultural world.
Warning
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Industrial farming does not occur without a cost. These large farms are causing widespread soil erosion, deforestation and air pollution. Pesticides have polluted drinking water around the world, leading to illnesses in countless millions of people. While many countries have strict regulations in regards to farmers, these rules are usually close to impossible to monitor and enforce. Additionally, illicit drugs farms are the origins for substances such as cocaine, opium and marijuana.
Significance
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It is estimated that in 1900, a single farmer could produce enough food for three people. In 2000, a single farmer was producing food for up to 150 people. The most abundant crops in the farming industry are cereal grains, sugar, vegetables and corn. About 35 percent of the world's working population work in agriculture--making farming the second largest employer in the world.
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Resources
- Photo Credit http://flickr.com/photos/moran/229478667/
