AGRICULTURE AND MAN : CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE

WHAT IS AGRICULTURE?

Latin - Ager (field) , Cultura (soil cultivation)

Product of Agriculture

UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES

Continual improvement in agriculture which involve various disciplines ( economists, engineers, scientist & ect )

Raw Material
Food
Non-food product

AGRICULTURE AS BUSINESS

Country that involved in Agriculture

IMPORTANT OF AGRICULTURE

Under-develop country - food for survival
Developing or advance developing & industrialized country produce raw material for industrialized nation (e.g: rubber, cocoa, livestock & palm oil)
Maintain social-political stability of a country in difficult time (e.g: drought) - need food stock (pile)
Income - now agriculture waste into feeds & fertilizers, oil palm wood, wooden tile etc

🔻Agriculture is food for survival

🔺 Agriculture provides raw material for industrialized nation

🔻 Agriculture provides income

🔺 Agriculture is important to maintain socio-political stability of a country

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION EFFECT AGRICULTURE ACTIVITIES

Polluted water & wetland

Nitrogen and phosphorus from inorganic fertilizer & pesticides and other biocides – effect the biodiversity of plants

AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM

1. Subsistence Farming

Low input
Most primitive form
Once soil fertility declines, farmers abandon
Domesticated livestock for food- small enclosure or limited free range

Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. The output is mostly for local requirements with little or no surplus for trade. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to feed and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, and secondarily toward market prices. Tony Waters[1] writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace."

2. Commercialized Farming

Mono-culture or combination of a few crops.
Use of high yielding modern varieties
Large chemicals input (Pesticides & fertilizers)
High use of technology and machineries.

Commercial farms are often larger than regular family farms because economies of scale are richly sought after due to the immense competition involved. Another difference is that commercial farms regularly employ outside help due to the level of work required. Family members can also be involved, but a key factor that differentiates commercial farming is that hired help is used. Commercial farms also tend to make use of new technologies in order to increase output and create competitive advantages where possible

A) Tropical Plantation Agriculture

Mono-cropping e.g: Rubber, oil palm, cocoa , coffee, coconut.
Suitable humid tropical climate
Yield exported to industrialized nations
Crop-animal integrated farming: Private & state owned. - Animal: free range, under shelter (Rubber, oil palm, coconut)

B) Vegetable Farming

Production in block or row
Open or enclosed – Use machinery
Efficient and high output
Labor intensive Ripening technologies and refrigeration has reduce the problem with getting fresh produce to market.

Organic Farming

– Involve crop rotation

• Avoid build up of pests and diseases

• Helps balance the fertility

– No chemicals are used

– Organic fertilizers

Soilless culture

– providing plants with support and a reservoir for nutrients and water

– Growing without soil

– Controlled environment

– High production

– High quality