Plantation agriculture: characteristics, objectives and technology

Plantation agriculture

plantation agriculture

Agriculture varies according to the economy of a country. We find that in underdeveloped countries there is debate between various types of agriculture that are opposite to each other and even contradictory. On the one hand, we have the traditional agriculture and, on the other hand, the plantation agriculture. Traditional agriculture is one that provides a small-scale economy, practically subsistence, to all peasants and supplies the local market as far as possible. However, plantation agriculture is the one that pursues the objective of being able to supply all the markets of the richest countries and for this it uses the technological advances known from the green revolution.

In this article we are going to tell you about all the characteristics of plantation agriculture and what is its importance for these countries.

Key features

Plantation agriculture is known as an agricultural holding that is located in a tropical or subtropical region and that mainly employs salaried workers with whom it is possible to commercialize and cultivate a monoculture. When an agricultural area has a monoculture, it only has one species that is produced in large quantities. These crops are usually tropical products. This is how we find a company that has a large property and that directly exploits this cultivation mode.

In order to improve production and reduce costs, it uses salaried employees and employs all technical and scientific means that the green revolution puts at your fingertips. The name of green revolution comes from those products to which technological advantages were provided as a result of the industrial revolution. In this way, with the introduction of these new technological elements, it was possible to increase the productivity of the land and it was possible to feed an ever-increasing population. The fundamental objective of the green revolution is to end hunger in the world by ensuring that all crops were much more abundant regardless of the climate in each area.

All this application of scientific and technical knowledge in agriculture is known as the green revolution. Plantation agriculture benefits in large part from the discoveries provided by the green revolution. Among these advantages we find the use of high-yield seed varieties with all the necessary inputs to be able to increase your results. In this way, it is possible to increase production at a lower cost.

Elements of the green revolution

plantation agriculture underdeveloped countries

plantation agriculture underdeveloped countries

In this green revolution they have been introduced new seeds that are more resistant to various adverse weather conditions. They tend to be more rustic, being able to better resist drought and flood seasons. For these seeds to thrive well, irrigation structures, special fertilizers, some pesticides and machinery are needed to optimize results. All these implementations are turning plantation agriculture into a kind of industrial process.

The most common crops found in plantation agriculture are: sugar cane, banana, coffee, cocoa, coconut, hevea, peanuts, tobacco, citrus, palm oil, cinchona, tea and cotton, among others. Keep in mind that this type of agriculture is fully dedicated to a single crop. Dedicating yourself to a single crop is taking various risks for the economy based on this type of agriculture. And it is that if the environmental conditions are adverse they affect the entire entire plantation.

The risk becomes even more notable if monoculture is spread across most of the plantations in a country. Even more so when the economy of that country depends on this product. Normally, underdeveloped countries with plantation agriculture export almost all of their production. The viability of this economic activity It depends on the international prices of that product at that time. This price will depend, in turn, on the demand that rich countries have and that other cheaper producers do not appear. In other words, plantation agriculture is also highly competitive.

Technology and impacts of plantation agriculture

The large plantations of this type of agriculture are found in poor countries. This It is not only because the products that these types of plantations provide are tropical. One of the main reasons plantation agriculture takes place in these regions is because the land there is very cheap. It is so cheap that when its fertility is exhausted it is cheaper to clear new forest than to recover the land.

This is one of the reasons why agricultural resources are deteriorating the entire region, leaving behind unproductive land and fragmentation of natural habitats. All this corresponds to the extension of various negative environmental impacts in ecosystems that are home to species of flora and fauna that need their conservation. Since land is cheap it is more profitable to cut down forests to create new agricultural land, natural habitats are degraded, as well as their resources. In these countries, forestry is a science that has yet to be developed.

Since the 60s, a large amount of capital has been invested in large plantations that do not come from rich countries, rather, they are indigenous plantations. Despite this, this is not a great advantage that they impose on these countries since they are the ones who face the difficulties of production. It is in the hands of rich countries to provide greater added value to these products and to their transportation and marketing.

In countries with this type of plantation, two different social classes are generated. We have on one side the plantation owners, wealthy farmers and landless laborers who work for them for wages. Among these classes are an economy that it is complemented by a small plot in which he cultivates subsistence polyculture. This plot is not normally suitable for traditional agriculture, but is a complementary agriculture in which few technological resources are used.

In summary, plantation agriculture is considered a good system to provide cheap food for most of the population. However, it is not geared to meeting the demand of the countries where it is grown. The goal is to meet the needs of rich countries.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about plantation agriculture.

Plantation agriculture: characteristics, objectives and technology

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