In geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to plough) is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The plough ( American spelling plow; both plaʊ is a Tool used in Farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Land in Economics comprises all naturally occurring resources whose supply is inherently fixed (i Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture
Of the earth's 148,000,000 km² (57 million square miles) of land, approximately 31,000,000 km² (12 million square miles) are arable; however, arable land is currently being lost at the rate of over 100,000 km² (38,610 square miles) per year. A major element of arable land loss comes from deforestation (starting in the Middle Ages in Europe as well as Asia). Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland Such deforestation continues to the present day primarily in tropical countries by commercial over-exploitation of tropical forest. At times, deforestation can be so extreme that it leads to desertification, or the total loss of arable land, as has occurred in portions of the central highland plateau of Madagascar following extensive slash-and-burn activity. Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting primarily from human activities and influenced by climatic variations Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or
A smaller, but important loss of arable land arises from the lack of renewal of rich flooding sediment due to flood control works. A large part of the arable land on earth is around the largest rivers on earth; for example, the Nile River, the Mississippi River, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Yellow River, the Amazon River, the Ganges and the Rhine River. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho ( Hatan Gol Queen river) is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the The Amazon River (Rio Amazonas Río Amazonas of South America is the largest river in the world by volume with a total river flow greater than the next top ten largest rivers The Ganges (ˈgænʤiːz also Ganga, Devanāgarī: hi गंगा in most Indian languages) is the major river in the Indian subcontinent The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge
The most productive portion of arable land is that from sediments left by those rivers and the sea in geological times. In modern times, the rivers do not generally flood as much agricultural land, due to the demands of flood control to support intensive agriculture required of a heavily-populated Earth. Flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver
The Nile continues to flood regularly, overspilling its banks. When the flood is over, the waters recede, leaving behind rich silt. Silt is Soil or rock derived Granular material of a Grain size between sand and clay This silt provides excellent fertilizer for crops. Even if the land is over-farmed and all the nutrients are depleted from the soil, the land renews its fertility when new deposits of silt arrive following the next flood. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment Flood-control projects in the region, such as levees, may increase human comfort but cause substantial adverse impact to the quantity and quality of arable land. Dike (constructionEmbankmentA levee, levée, dike (or dyke) embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial
Non-arable land
Land which is unsuitable for arable farming usually has at least one of the following deficiencies: no source of fresh water; too hot (desert); too cold (Arctic); too rocky; too mountainous; too salty; too rainy; too snowy; too polluted; or too nutrient poor. The World Factbook ( ISSN; also known as the CIA World Factbook) is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the Clouds may block the sunlight plants need for photosynthesis (making sunlight into food), reducing productivity. Photosynthesis is a Metabolic pathway that converts Light Energy into Chemical energy. Plants can starve without light. Starvation and nomadism often exists on marginally arable land. Starvation (also called inanition) is a severe reduction in Vitamin, Nutrient, and Energy intake and is the most extreme form of Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Non-arable land is sometimes called wasteland, badlands, worthless or no man's land.
However, non-arable land can be converted into arable land. New arable land makes more food, and can reduce starvation. Starvation (also called inanition) is a severe reduction in Vitamin, Nutrient, and Energy intake and is the most extreme form of This outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid support or interaction for survival it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy. Making non-arable land arable often involves digging new irrigation canals and new wells, aqueducts, desalination plants, planting trees for shade in the desert, hydroponics, fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, reverse osmosis water processors, PET film insulation or other insulation against heat and cold, digging ditches and hills for protection against the wind, and greenhouses with internal light and heat for protection against the cold outside and to provide light in cloudy areas. Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove excess salt and other Minerals from Water Hydroponics (from the Greek words hydro (water and ponos (labour is a method of growing Plants using mineral Nutrient solutions without A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. Reverse osmosis (RO is a separation process that uses pressure to force a Solution through a membrane that retains the Solute on one side and allows the Biaxially-oriented Polyethylene terephthalate (boPET Polyester film is used for its high Tensile strength, Chemical and dimensional Stability This process is often extremely expensive.
Some examples of infertile non-arable land being turned into fertile arable land are:
- Aran Islands: This island off the west coast of Ireland, (not to be confused with the Isle of Arran in Scotland's Firth of Clyde), was unsuitable for arable farming because it was too rocky. The Aran Islands ( Irish: Oileáin Árann, Aran Islands Dialect: ˈɑːrənʲ ˈhɑːrənʲəxə are a group of three Islands located The Isle of Arran ( Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, with an area of 430 km² (167 square Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water sheltered from the Atlantic ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer Firth in The people covered the island with a shallow layer of seaweed and sand from the ocean. This made it arable. Today, crops are grown there.
- Israel: Israel's land primarily consisted of desert until the construction of desalination plants along the country's coast. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove excess salt and other Minerals from Water The desalination plants, which remove the salt from ocean water, have created a new source of water for farming, drinking, and washing.
- Slash and burn agriculture uses nutrients in wood ash, but these expire within a few years. Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or
Some examples of fertile arable land being turned into infertile land are:
- Droughts like the 'dust bowl' of the Great Depression in the U. The Dust Bowl, or the dirty thirties, was a period of severe Dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and S. turned farmland into desert.
- Rainforest Deforestation: The fertile tropical forests turn into infertile desert land. Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches For example, Madagascar's central highland plateau has become virtually totally barren (about ten percent of the country), as a result of slash-and-burn deforestation, an element of shifting cultivation practiced by many natives. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of Forests or Woodlands to create fields for Agriculture or Pasture for Livestock, or For methods see Slash and burn Shifting cultivation is an Agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily then abandoned
- Romans' destruction of Carthage: At the end of the Punic Wars, legend has it that the victorious Romans sowed the earth with salt, to symbolize total victory. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BC and were probably the largest wars yet of the ancient Not to be confused with Salt of the earth. Salting the earth refers to the practice of spreading salt on fields to make them incapable The Roman symbol meant that Carthage would never grow back - their civilization ended. (Whether this actually happened is debatable due to the logistics involved. Salt was very valuable and was used as money at the time, and it would have taken a lot of salt to ruin the whole area. See Carthage for details. Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers ) Most crops do not grow in highly saline soil. Consequently, salt water cannot be used to water crops.
- Each year, arable land is lost to desertification and erosion from human industrial activities. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Improper irrigation of farm land can wick the sodium, calcium, and magnesium from the soil and water to the surface. Sodium (ˈsoʊdiəm is an element which has the symbol Na( Latin natrium, from Arabic natrun) atomic number 11 atomic mass 22 Calcium (ˈkælsiəm is the Chemical element with the symbol Ca and Atomic number 20 Magnesium (mægˈniːziəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Mg, Atomic number 12 Atomic weight 24 This process steadily concentrates salt in the root zone, decreasing productivity for crops that are not salt-tolerant.
- Urban sprawl: In the United States, 8,900 km² (about 2. Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is the spreading of a city and its Suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area 2 million acres) of land was added to urban areas between 1992 and 2002.
See also
External links
- Surface Area of the Earth
- Conserving Land: Population and Sustainable Food Production Arable farming is usually based on clay soil because clay is impermiable and does not absorb water
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