Agriculture

2. AGRICULTURE STRUCTURE OF AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES -

Agrarian land occupies one third of he planet’s land area.

Agricultural structure refers to how farming areas are organised.

Factors:

1.Plot shape - Regular: in plains or flatland areas.

- Irregular: in hilly or mountainous relief.

2. Boundaries: How areas are divided up - Enclosed fields: plots with fixed boundaries (fences) - Open fields: plots with no boundaries.

3. Farm size: How large or small a framing area is - Large estates: farms made up of large plots.

- Smallholdings: small farms.

4. Ownership: who the land belongs to: - Private: the land belongs to an individual.

- Collective: the land belongs o several owners.

5.Land occupation: The possession or use of the land.

- Direct use: the land is worked on by its owner.

- Indirect use: the use of the land is transferred to the people who work on it, in exchange for rent.

2. AGRICULTURE TYPES OF CROPS - Plot: - It is the smallest unit of farmland that an agricultural area is divided into.

- Farm: - It is a collection of several plots.

- Crops: - Herbaceous crops - These have flexible stems (cereals) - The cycle from planting to harvest is less than one year.

- Tree crops - Trees with a rigid stem and a long productive life. (fruit trees)

- Shrub crops - These have a rigid stem - Their productive life can last sevral years. (grape plants)

2. AGRICULTURE FARMING SYSTEMS -

The variety of species - Polyculture: - Several different species are grown because the production is for supplying the population.

- Monoculture: - Specialising in a single crop because the production is for sale on the market.

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The area farmed and type of production - Intensive farming: - It requires important financial investment (high technology agriculture), resulting in better harvest.

- Extensive farming: - It is for farming of large areas, with lower productivity per hectare because financial investment is lower.

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The use of water resources - Dryland or rain-fed farming - It uses only rainwater.

- Irrigation farming - Water is supplied to crops.