Crop production secures most of the world's food supply. Its products also provide textile, chemical, pharmacological, furniture, construction and other industries with raw materials. This industry is closely connected with animal husbandry, being a supplier of livestock feed and a consumer of fertilizers produced by animals.
Today, over 20,000 agricultural crops are cultivated in the world, of which about 650 are of paramount importance for civilization. Modern production technologies are aimed at strict consideration of the conditions and factors that affect the yield and the quality of cultivated crops.
Contents:
- The concept of crop production, its goals and related industries.
- History of agriculture development.
- Crop-producing industries.
- Plant crops by geography.
- Crop products.
- Industry development factors.
- Promising areas of crop production in Russia.
- Challenging issues of the agricultural sector.
The Concept of Crop Production, Its Goals and Related Industries
The term crop production defines the branch of agriculture and combines both the cultivation of various crops and the science of them. The study of diversity, varieties, forms, hybrids, and their growth conditions allows us to improve production methods to collect maximum yields of the best quality at minimum labor and production costs, or weather dependence. In this respect, the sphere is closely connected with other disciplines: chemistry, physics, geology, botany, soil science, plant physiology, agrochemistry, meteorology, agricultural breeding, land reclamation and seed production, and economics.
History of Agriculture Development
Crop production dates back to the Neolithic era, when people began to consciously grow fruits and vegetables. The first centers of ancient agriculture were spotted in China, India, Mexico, Syria, Peru, Egypt, and Bolivia. The first objective was to increase the yield of fruits available in the wild. Later, people learned to cultivate the soil and grow grains. With the development of agriculture, the resulting crops and seeds began to migrate to other parts of the world, expanding their habitat. Import of various crops increased the range of sowed cereals, legumes and root crops in one region. The adaptation of imported seeds helped to breed new varieties and change the conditions of land cultivation.
In Russia, crop production as an independent discipline has been developing since the 18th century, when M.V. Lomonosov approved the “Agriculture Class” at the Russian Academy of Sciences. At that time, they started working on the generalization and structuring of the experience of cultivating different crops on the territory of Russia.
Crop-Producing Industries
The whole variety of commercially grown plants is conditionally classified into 7 main industries depending on their type, cultivation specifics, habitat, and other factors:
- field cropping,
- meadow cropping,
- vegetable growing,
- fruit growing,
- viticulture,
- floriculture,
- forestry.
The choice of an industry to develop, as well as specific crops to grow, largely depends on the area, soil characteristics, climate, number of sunny days, precipitation, and other factors. Therefore, geography is the decisive factor in the success of agricultural production.
Plant Crops by Geography
Climate, soil and natural conditions versatility lets different regions grow different crops. In a private garden, one can make attempts to adapt an exotic plant to local weather conditions, while on an industrial scale, growing unadapted species is unprofitable and impractical.
Cereals is the main source of food for about 75% of the world's population. Most species grow well and yield good harvests in regions with relatively low rainfall and a temperate climate. Natural conditions have contributed to the widespread cultivation of rice in Asian countries, corn in the USA, wheat in Western Europe and Russia.
Fruit crops are common in almost all inhabited regions. Countries with a predominant subtropical and tropical climate are the most successful in the cultivation of fruits and berries. Vegetable growing is also widespread. The largest volume of vegetable production falls on the countries of Europe, Russia, the USA, North Africa.
From the point of view of geography, the Russian climate is unfavorable for crop production. Thus, such indicators as degree days, frost-free season, and precipitation are about half as low as in Western European or North American countries.
Crop Products
The end product varies depending on the area of crop production considered. In each area, different crops are represented, they are used as food or as industrial raw materials:
- The grain branch of crop production combines agricultural crops such as wheat, corn, rice, millet, buckwheat, oats, and others.
- Cucurbit and vegetable growing is focused on growing tomatoes, root crops, cucumbers, sweet and hot peppers, salad greens, zucchinis, pumpkins, and other crops. Sometimes potato growing is singled out as a separate industry.
- Viticulture and horticulture products are berries (raspberries, currants, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries), grapes, as well as fruits from fruit trees (apples, apricots, plums, oranges, peaches).
- The technical industry is focused on obtaining raw materials for consumer and food industries, such as cotton and flax for textiles, potatoes for starch, sunflowers or olives for oil, beets or cane for sugar.
- Forage crop production intersects with animal husbandry. Grain (corn, oats, wheat), silage crops, root crops (potatoes, carrots), herbs (clover, alfalfa) are supplied to the market.
- The goal of forestry is to provide the furniture, construction, textile and other industries with the necessary raw materials.
- Floriculture produces raw materials for decorative purposes (floristry, landscape design), as well as perfume, food and pharmaceutical industries.
It is important to stress that one crop can be grown for different purposes. For example, potatoes are cultivated as a food crop, as a raw material for starch production, as well as an animal feed.
Industry Development Factors
The successful development of crop production depends on a combination of many factors, including natural and social ones:
- Volume of cultivated lands and their condition. Good nutritious soil provides more freedom for crop choice, as well as high yields and quality of agricultural products. Not all lands, even when well-cultivated, fertilized and cared for by humans, are suitable for cropping. Therefore, the highest rates of development are observed in the Chernozem region, in the South, in the Altai Territory and Central Russia.
- Breeding of new varieties and hybrids. Selection is aimed at improving the nutritional and taste qualities of crops, their yields, resistance to climatic conditions, as well as simplicity in production. Seed production and breeding allow to minimize the cost of cultivation, to obtain consistently high yields, and to expand sown areas.
- Equipment and infrastructure. Access to modern powerful agricultural technologies, as well as the level of related industries of crop storage, transportation and marketing affect the yield and efficiency of crop production.
- Qualified personnel. Academically trained agricultural specialists successfully implement up-to-date knowledge when selecting and preparing seeds, sowing, caring, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting, storing, and transporting. However, not all graduates of agricultural colleges work within their specialty due to low funding for the agricultural sector, as well as undeveloped regional infrastructure.
- Variety of forms of production. The consistent development of the industry as a whole, including small farms and large enterprises, as well as the introduction of new technologies for growing crops, raise the overall level of crop production in the country.
- People’s income. Purchasing power directly affects the pace of development of agriculture as the main source of food production. Demand in a region affects the profitability of growing a particular crop, even in presence of favorable conditions and acreage.
In addition to the above-mentioned factors, the level of development of the agricultural industry is inevitably determined by natural factors, which a human is almost unable to influence. These include weather and climate changes, natural disasters, and pest outbreaks.
Promising Areas of Crop Production in Russia
Analysts map out two main vectors of development in the production of agricultural products on Russian cultivated areas, which will remain profitable in the unstable economic situation. These are greenhouse vegetable growing and grain cultivation. Greenhouse vegetables, herbs and berries, coupled with the development of their storage, provide a good payback and minimal risks among crop production industries.
The grain industry is promising in terms of export potential. It is also cost-effective and relatively economically stable due to its short production cycle.
Challenging Issues of the Agricultural Sector
The main problem of modern crop production is that the supply can hardly meet the ever-growing demand. Cities are rapidly expanding their borders, urban population is growing, while the areas under crops, forests and meadows are shrinking.
In many countries, there is a problem of lack of state support. High prices for sowing seeds, fertilizers and agricultural equipment stop farmers and large producers from expanding planted areas, introducing modern technologies, and acquiring more productive, weather-resistant and easy-to-grow crops.
A lack of human and technical resources results in about 14% of the world's crops being left unharvested every year. Another 11% of plants are lost and do not mature due to the lack of nutrition or care.
In addition to the human factor, harvests depend on natural conditions: rainfall, average temperature, and so on. In the modern world, an unstable ecological situation leads to unpredictable climate changes and, as a result, difficulties in choosing the optimal conditions for cropping.
Successful harvest does not guarantee that crop products will be fully used for food purposes or as raw materials for production. Rot, mold and pests threaten to destroy stored grains or vegetables after harvest. This problem is most relevant for humid regions.
Timely overcoming of these difficulties and any positive changes will help solve the problems of hunger, food shortages, high production costs in the food, textile, pharmaceutical, furniture, livestock, and other industries. To the contrary, ignoring the complexities leads to growing global problems.