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Writer's pictureG.G.S Agrotech

Agricultural Activities

Updated: Apr 14, 2023


Agricultural Activities encompass the various processes we use to grow crops and raise livestock for food for human populations. Crops are also used for industrial processes, for example, palm oil is used in many products from frying oil to cosmetics, sugar cane waste is used for biofuel,

and cotton is used for textiles. Livestock are used for meat, eggs, milk, as well as for leather and wool.  Livestock are also used for labor.



Humans have altered Earth’s land for thousands of years through agricultural activities. Industrialization of many agricultural activities over the last 300 years, and especially over the last 70 years, has allowed us to greatly expand our land use. This has also fragmented habitats and ecosystems, affecting species populations and ranges and biodiversity.

Types of Agriculture activities

There are many multiple kinds of agricultural activities carried out all over the world.It is split into groups based on the type of crop cultivated, the size of cultivation, the severity of agriculture, the level of mechanisation, livestock combinations, and the manner in which farm produce is distributed.

  1. Subsistence Farming:Land holdings are small and dispersed, and primitive tools are used to cultivate the land.Farmer poverty prevents them from using chemical fertilizer and high yielding varieties of seeds to the extent that they should in their fields.

  2. Shifting Agriculture:The first step in this type of practice is the clearing of a portion of forest land, which is accomplished by cutting down forests and burning the trunks and branches of trees.Immediately following clearing of the land, crops are planted for 2 – 3 years before the land is neglected due to a decrease in the soil nutrients.The farmers then relocate to new locations, and the cycle is repeated once more.

  3. Plantation Agriculture:Rubber, tea, coffee, cocoa, spices, coconut, and fruit crops such as apples, grapes, oranges, and other citrus fruits are grown as a single crop.This is also a capital-intensive industry that necessitates strong managerial abilities, specialized know, advanced industrial equipment, fertilisers, irrigation, and transportation infrastructure to be successful.Plantation agriculture is a type of agriculture that is focused on exports. The majority of the agricultural production in agriculture have a cycle time of even more than two years, making them ideal for long-term storage.

  4. Intensive Farming:Farmer use of fertilisers and pesticides is widespread in regions in which irrigation has been made possible. A high yielding variety of seeds has also been introduced to their land. Through the use of machines in various farming processes, they have mechanised agriculture.

  5. Mixed and Multiple Agriculture:Mixed farming refers to the practise of cultivating crops while also raising animals at the same time.The term “‘Multiple farming’ is the technique of growing a wide range of crops in proximity to each other in order to maximise yield.

Non agricultural activities

Non-farming activities include any and all activities that are not related to agriculture. Non-farming activities, on the other hand, can be defined in two ways that are distinct from one another. The very first method is associated with the area wherein the activities take place, which should primarily be an assigned rural area in the first instance. The linkage criteria approach is the second method of approaching the problem.

Examples of non agricultural activities

Non-farming activities are any operations in which people can participate that are not related to agriculture. Non-farming activities include anything that is not related to agriculture. The following are examples of non-farming activities carried out in such a modern village:

  1. Dairy: People are involved in feeding their livestock with a variety of grasses and selling the milk they produce in the surrounding villages to make a living.

  2. Small Scale Industries: People can begin production units on a limited scale, which entails the use of rudimentary production methods. For example, smashing sugarcane and preparation it into jaggery are both tasks that can be completed with little effort

  3. Transport: By providing basic services like rickshaws, taxis, milk vans, water tankers, and other similar vehicles, many people can benefit from the increase in demand for efficient transportation facilities.

  4. Small-scale retailing: Villagers can buy a wide range of goods from urban distributors and resell them in their communities.

  5. Cottage industries: Because cottage industries could be started by anyone, including women, they represent a lucrative employment opportunity for everyone. In most cases, it can be satisfied with the most basic raw materials that are readily available in a person’s environment.

Agricultural activities impact the Earth system in a variety of ways, including:
  1. Increasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, for example, from farm animals (for example, methane from the digestion of plant material by cows), from the cultivation of rice (for example, methane is produced by bacteria that thrive in rice fields), and from the burning of fossil fuels to power farming equipment, and from the mining of minerals and the burning of fossil fuels to make fertilizer.

  2. Deforestation and other forms of habitat loss to make land available for crops and grazing livestock. Habitat loss often alters populations, species ranges, and the biodiversity in ecosystems. Fire is often used in deforestation, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Deforestation can also decrease soil quality by increasing erosion, necessitating the use of fertilizers that can also disrupt ecosystem biomass and productivity.

  3. Diverting freshwater for crops and livestock, which in turn decreases the amount of water available for other organisms and for other human needs and activities.

  4. Increasing food availability. Industrial and technological innovations increased the reliability of food supplies, especially the last 70 years, which in turn has played a role in global human population

  5. Increasing the amount of nutrients in soil or water, especially nitrogen and phosphorous. These nutrients increase plant and algae growth, but also have negative impacts on other species. For, example, in aquatic environments, nutrient-rich runoff can cause large amounts of algae grow – when the algae die, they are consumed by bacteria which can reduce oxygen levels in the water, killing fish and other species. This process is known as eutrophication.

  6. Releasing pollutants and waste from fertilizers and pesticides into ecosystems that can harm the health of native species populations. Pollutants and waste also decrease the quality of freshwater

  7. Removing trees and plants, plowing fields, and overgrazing by livestock disrupts roots that stabilize sediment and decrease soil quality. These human activities can increase erosion rates 10 to 100 times. In turn, increasing erosion decreases water quality by increasing sediment and pollutants in rivers and streams.

Definations

(1) "Agricultural activity" means a condition or activity which occurs on a farm in connection with the commercial production of farm products and includes, but is not limited to, marketed produce at roadside stands or farm markets; noise; odors; dust; fumes; operation of machinery and irrigation pumps; movement, including, but not limited to, use of current county road ditches, streams, rivers, canals, and drains, and use of water for agricultural activities; ground and aerial application of seed, fertilizers, conditioners, and plant protection products; keeping of bees for production of agricultural or apicultural products; employment and use of labor; roadway movement of equipment and livestock; protection from damage by wildlife; prevention of trespass; construction and maintenance of buildings, fences, roads, bridges, ponds, drains, waterways, and similar features and maintenance of stream banks and watercourses; and conversion from one agricultural activity to another, including a change in the type of plant-related farm product being produced. The term includes use of new practices and equipment consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry.

(2) "Farm" means the land, buildings, freshwater ponds, freshwater culturing and growing facilities, and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products.

(3) "Farmland" means land or freshwater ponds devoted primarily to the production, for commercial purposes, of livestock, freshwater aquacultural, or other farm products.

(4) "Farm product" means those plants and animals useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, forages and sod crops, dairy and dairy products, poultry and poultry products, livestock, including breeding, grazing, and recreational equine use, fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, grasses, trees, freshwater fish and fish products, apiaries and apiary products, equine and other similar products, or any other product which incorporates the use of food, feed, fiber, or fur.

(5) "Eutrophication" is defined as the moderate increase in initial amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, as well as other nutrient cycling in an aging aquatic ecosystem, such as a pond. Increases in the organic content which can be eliminated into nutrients result in natural productivity gains or fertility of an ecosystem.

Dead zones, toxic algal blooms, and fish kills are all caused by eutrophication, a process called when the environment is becoming more rich in nutrients, raising the amount of vegetation and algae growth in coastal and estuarine waters. Eutrophication is a process that has been around for thousands of years.

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