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Agriculture
General
Agribusiness · Agriculture

Agricultural science · Agronomy
Animal husbandry
Extensive farming
Factory farming · Free range
Industrial agriculture
Intensive farming
Organic farming · Permaculture
Sustainable agriculture
Urban agriculture

History
History of agriculture

Neolithic Revolution
Muslim Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution
Green Revolution

Particular
Aquaculture · Christmas trees · Dairy farming

Grazing · Hydroponics · IMTA
Intensive pig farming · Lumber
Maize · Orchard
Poultry farming · Ranching · Rice
Sheep husbandry · Soybean
System of Rice Intensification
Wheat

Categories
Agriculture by country

Agriculture companies
Agriculture companies, U.S.
Biotechnology
Farming history
Livestock
Meat processing
Poultry farming

Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, fertilizers, labour, or labour-saving technologies such as pesticides relative to land area. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture In Agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term that refers to the various Businesses involved in Food production including Farming, 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 Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact natural economic and Social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding Agronomy is the science and technology of using plants for food fuel feed and fiber Animal husbandry, also called Animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding Extensive farming (as opposed to Intensive farming) is an agricultural production system that uses little inputs on vast areas of land such as the Great Plains. Factory farming is the practice of raising Farm animals in confinement at high stocking density where a farm operates as a Factory &mdash a practice typical in Free range is a method of Farming Husbandry where the Animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of Livestock, Poultry, Fish, and Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on Crop rotation, Green manure, Compost, Biological pest control, and mechanical Cultivation The word permaculture, coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s is a Portmanteau of perma nent agri' Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals environmental Stewardship, Farm Profitability and prosperous Farming communities Urban Agriculture and Peri-Urban Agriculture is the practice of cultivating processing and distributing food in or around (peri-urban a village town or city Agriculture was developed at least 10000 years ago and it has undergone significant developments since the time of the earliest cultivation The Neolithic Revolution was the first Agricultural revolution &mdashthe transition from hunting and gathering communities and bands to Agriculture and The Islamic Golden Age from the 8th century to the 13th century witnessed a fundamental transformation in Agriculture known as the Arab Agricultural The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 18th century and the end of the 19th century which saw a massive increase in agricultural The Green Revolution refers to the transformation of Agriculture that began in 1945 at the request of the Mexican government to establish an agricultural research station to Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms including Molluscs Crustaceans and aquatic plants Christmas tree cultivation is an agricultural, Forestry, and horticultural occupation which involves growing Pine, Spruce, and Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an Animal husbandry enterprise for long-term production of Milk, which may be either processed on-site or Grazing generally describes a type of Predation in which an Herbivore feeds on Plants (such as Grasses, or more broadly on a multicellular Hydroponics (from the Greek words hydro (water and ponos (labour is a method of growing Plants using mineral Nutrient solutions without Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA is a practice in which the by-products (wastes from one species are recycled to become inputs ( Fertilizers Food) for another Intensive piggeries (or hog lots) are a type of Factory farm specialized for the raising of Domestic pigs up to slaughter weight Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica An orchard is an intentional planting of Trees or Shrubs maintained for Food production. Poultry farming is the practice of raising Poultry, such as Chickens turkeys ducks geese, as a subcategory of Animal husbandry A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of Domestic sheep, and a subcategory of Animal husbandry. The System of Rice Intensification ( SRI) is a method of increasing the yield of Rice produced in Farming. Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Input is the term denoting either an entrance or changes which are inserted into a System and which activate/modify a Process. Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. [1][2] This is in contrast to the concept of Extensive Agriculture which involves a low input of materials and labour with the crop yield depending largely on the naturally available soil fertility, water supply or other land qualities. Extensive farming (as opposed to Intensive farming) is an agricultural production system that uses little inputs on vast areas of land such as the Great Plains. In Agriculture, crop yield (also known as "agricultural output" is not only a measure of the Yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation Soil fertility is the characteristic of soil that supports abundant plant life Water supply is the process of self-provision or provision by third parties of water of various qualities to different users [3]

A potato field
A potato field

Modern day forms of intensive crop based agriculture involve the use of mechanical ploughing, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, plant growth regulators and/or pesticides. Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant A herbicide is used to kill unwanted Plants Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired Crop relatively unharmed Fungicides are Chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores An insecticide is a Pesticide used against Insects in all developmental forms A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. It is associated with the increasing use of agricultural mechanization, which have enabled a substantial increase in production. Mechanized agriculture is the process of using Agricultural machinery to massively increase farm output [1]

Intensive animal farming practices can involve very large numbers of animals raised on limited land which require large amounts of food, water and medical inputs (required to keep the animals healthy in cramped conditions). [2]. Very large or confined indoor intensive livestock operations (particularly descriptive of common US farming practices) are often referred to as Factory farming[4][1][5] and are criticised by opponents for the low level of animal welfare standards[5][6] and associated pollution and health issues. Factory farming is the practice of raising Farm animals in confinement at high stocking density where a farm operates as a Factory &mdash a practice typical in [7][8]


Contents

Advantages

Intensive agriculture has a number of benefits[9]:

Disadvantages

Intensive farming alters the environment in many ways.

Pre modern intensive farming

Pre modern intensive farming techniques and structures include terracing, rice paddies, and various forms of aquaculture. In Agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a Hilly cultivated area designed as a method of Soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid A paddy field is a flooded parcel of Arable land used for growing Rice and other semiaquatic crops. Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms including Molluscs Crustaceans and aquatic plants

Oysters

"Oysters were likely the first sea animal to be transported from one area to another and cultivated as food. The ancient world, while knowing little about the reproduction of oysters, knew much about the conditions necessary for their growth. Pliny the Elder, a noted Roman naturalist of the first century, has left an account of artificial oyster beds established in Lake Lucrinus near Naples by a Sergius Orata about 95 B. Sergius Orata (fl c 95 BC was a Roman merchant and hydraulic engineer who was famous during the Roman Republic. C. Orata's methods consisted of preparing the grounds by removing other forms of marine life, planting seed oysters, cultivating the oysters by keeping them separated in order to grow to a well-formed, mature size, and finally harvesting them when they were ready for market. Modern oyster farming, based on the knowledge of oyster biology, basically follows the Roman procedure. Fisheries and Oceans Canada] article American Oyster

Terrace

Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China
Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China
Main article: Terrace (agriculture)

In agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed as a method of soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid surface runoff of irrigation water. In Agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a Hilly cultivated area designed as a method of Soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture In Agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a Hilly cultivated area designed as a method of Soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid Soil conservation is set of management strategies for prevention of Soil being eroded from the earth’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse Surface runoff is a term used to describe when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess Water, from Rain, Snowmelt, or other sources flows Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops Often such land is formed into multiple terraces, giving a stepped appearance. The human landscapes of rice cultivation in terraces that follow the natural contours of the escarpments like contour ploughing is a classic feature of the island of Bali and the Banaue Rice Terraces in Benguet, Philippines. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Contour plowing or contour farming is the Farming practice of Plowing across a slope following its elevation Contour lines The rows formed Bali is an Indonesian Island located at, the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to The Banaue Rice Terraces (Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banaue are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines Benguet is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP In Peru, the Inca made use of otherwise unusable slopes by drystone walling to create terraces. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. The Inca Empire (or Inka Empire) was the largest empire in Pre-Columbian America. Dry stone is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together

Rice paddy

Main article: Paddy field

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. A paddy field is a flooded parcel of Arable land used for growing Rice and other semiaquatic crops. In Geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to Plough) is an agricultural term meaning land that can be used for Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Aquatic plants &mdash also called hydrophytic plants or hydrophytes &mdash are plants that have adapted to living in or on aquatic environments Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice-growing countries of east and southeast Asia including Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( Sinhalese:, இலங்கை known as Ceylon before 1972 is an Island Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar ( pjìdàunzṵ mjàmmà nàinŋàndɔ̀ is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP They are also found in other rice-growing regions such as Piedmont (Italy), the Camargue (France) and the Artibonite Valley (Haiti). Piedmont ( Piemonte; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; French: Piémont) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The Camargue ( Occitan: Camarga in classical norm or Camargo in Mistralian norm is located south of Arles, France, between the Artibonite redirects here For a river in Haiti see Artibonite River. They can occur naturally along rivers or marshes, or can be constructed, even on hillsides, often with much labour and materials. "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there In Geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of Wetland which is subject Manual labour (or manual labor) is physical work done with the hands especially in an unskilled job such as fruit and vegetable picking road building or any They require large quantities of water for irrigation, which can be quite complex for a highly developed system of paddy fields. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops Flooding provides water essential to the growth of the crop. It also gives an environment favourable to the strain of rice being grown, and is hostile to many species of weeds. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. WEED (1390 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Spanish format As the only draft animal species which is adapted for life in wetlands, the water buffalo is in widespread use in Asian rice paddies. A working animal is an animal that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog There are significant adverse environmental impacts from rice paddy cultivation due to the generation of large quantities of methane gas. Methane is a Chemical compound with the molecular formula. It is the simplest Alkane, and the principal component of Natural gas. World methane production due to rice paddies has been estimated in the range of 50 to 100 million tonnes per annum;[10] this level of greenhouse gas generation is a large component of the global warming threat and derives simply from an expanding human population. Greenhouse gases are gaseous constituents of the atmosphere bothnatural and anthropogenic that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat.

Rice-farming and the use of paddies in Korea is ancient. Korean paddy-farming can provide cultural background on the use of paddies in East Asia. A pit-house at the Daecheon-ni site yielded carbonized rice grains and radiocarbon dates indicating that rice cultivation may have begun as early as the Middle Jeulmun Pottery Period (c. The Jeulmun Pottery Period is an archaeological era in Korean prehistory that dates to approximately 8000-1500 B 3500-2000 B. C. ) in the Korean Peninsula (Crawford and Lee 2003). Physical geography See also Geography of North Korea, Geography of South Korea Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are The earliest rice cultivation in the Korean Peninsula may have used dry-fields instead of paddies.

The earliest Mumun features were usually located in low-lying narrow gulleys that were naturally swampy and fed by the local stream system. Some Mumun paddies in flat areas were made of a series of squares and rectangles separated by bunds approximately 10 cm in height, while terraced paddies consisted of long irregularly shapes that followed natural contours of the land at various levels (Bale 2001; Kwak 2001).

Mumun Period rice farmers used all of the elements that are present in today's paddies such terracing, bunds, canals, and small reservoirs. We can grasp some paddy-farming techniques of the Middle Mumun (c. 850-550 B. C. ) from the well-preserved wooden tools excavated from archaeological rice paddies at the Majeon-ni Site. However, iron tools for paddy-farming were not introduced until sometime after 200 B. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 C. The spatial scale of individual paddies, and thus entire paddy-fields, increased with the regular use of iron tools in the Three Kingdoms of Korea Period (c. This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age for the mythological Iron Age see Ages of Man. The Three Kingdoms of Korea ( refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula A. D. 300/400-668).

Modern Intensive farming Types

Modern intensive farming refers to the industrialized production of animals (livestock, poultry and fish) and crops. Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of Livestock, Poultry, Fish, and For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" The methods deployed are designed to produce the highest output at the lowest cost; usually using economies of scale, modern machinery, modern medicine, and global trade for financing, purchases and sales. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones The practice is widespread in developed nations, and most of the meat, dairy, eggs, and crops available in supermarkets are produced in this manner. The term developed country, or advanced country, is used to categorize countries with developed Economies in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal Milk &mdashmostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, Sheep An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals consisting of an Ovum surrounded by layers of Membranes and an outer casing which acts to nourish Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good

Sustainable Intensive Farming

Biointensive agriculture focuses on maximizing efficiency: yield per unit area, yield per energy input, yield per water input, etc. The biointensive method is an organic agricultural System which focuses on maximum Yields from the minimum area of land while simultaneously

Intensive Aquaculture

Main article: Aquaculture

Aquaculture is the cultivation of the natural produce of water (fish, shellfish, algae, seaweed and other aquatic organisms). Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms including Molluscs Crustaceans and aquatic plants Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Shellfish is a Culinary and Fisheries term for those aquatic Invertebrate animals that are used as Food: various species of molluscs Algae ( sing. alga are a large and diverse group of simple typically Autotrophic organisms ranging from Unicellular to Multicellular forms Seaweed is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic Multicellular, benthic marine Algae. Intensive Aquaculture can often involve tanks or other highly controlled systems which are designed to boost production for the available volume or area of water resource. [11][12]

Intensive Livestock Farming

Main article: Factory farming

The modern examples of intensive farming are broadly referred to as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or often termed Factory farming. Factory farming is the practice of raising Farm animals in confinement at high stocking density where a farm operates as a Factory &mdash a practice typical in Factory farming is the practice of raising Farm animals in confinement at high stocking density where a farm operates as a Factory &mdash a practice typical in These include:

Managed intensive grazing

This sustainable intensive livestock management system is increasingly used to optimize production within a sustainability framework and is generally not considered Factory farming. Intensive piggeries (or hog lots) are a type of Factory farm specialized for the raising of Domestic pigs up to slaughter weight The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Management Intensive Grazing ( MIG) is the practice of using rotational Grazing and careful usually daily management to get optimal production Factory farming is the practice of raising Farm animals in confinement at high stocking density where a farm operates as a Factory &mdash a practice typical in

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Intensive Agriculture
  2. ^ a b BBC School fact sheet on intensive farming
  3. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Extensive Agriculture
  4. ^ Factory farming. Webster's Dictionary definition of Factory farming
  5. ^ a b Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Factory farm
  6. ^ The Welfare of Intensively Kept Pigs
  7. ^ Commissioner points to factory farming as source of contamination
  8. ^ a b Rebuilding Agriculture - EPA of UK
  9. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica - Intensive Agriculture
  10. ^ Methane gas generation from rice paddies
  11. ^ American Heritage Definition of Aquaculture
  12. ^ McGraw Hill Sci-Tech Encyclopedia
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA is a practice in which the by-products (wastes from one species are recycled to become inputs ( Fertilizers Food) for another The word permaculture, coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s is a Portmanteau of perma nent agri' Polyculture is agriculture using multiple crops in the same space in imitation of the diversity of natural ecosystems and avoiding large stands of single crops or Monoculture The Green Revolution refers to the transformation of Agriculture that began in 1945 at the request of the Mexican government to establish an agricultural research station to The System of Rice Intensification ( SRI) is a method of increasing the yield of Rice produced in Farming. Alan Henry Kirton MBE (1933&ndash 25 July 2001) was a noted New Zealand Agricultural
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