Elements of Agricultural Landscapes: Uses, Systems & Habitats

Elements of Agricultural Landscapes

Plots

Plots are the basic divisions of the agricultural landscape. They can be classified according to:

• Size: Large, medium, or small.
• Shape: Irregular (characteristic of spontaneous occupation of space) or regular.
• Boundaries: Open or closed, surrounded by trees, hedges, or fences.

An exploitation is a plot or set of plots, even if not contiguous, worked by the same farmer, regardless of ownership.

Agricultural Uses

Agriculture is the practice of farming for the cultivation of vegetables, fodder, or industrial crops intended for human or animal consumption or industrial transformation.

Cropping Systems

Cropping systems are the techniques used by farmers for agricultural production and vary according to:

• Crop Variety: Monoculture refers to fields dedicated to a single crop, while intercropping involves cultivating several crops together.
• Water Supply: Crops can be rainfed (receiving water only from rain) or irrigated (receiving supplemental water from the farmer).
• Land Use: Land use can be continuous (without rest) or involve rotation (a regular succession of crops). Rotation can be fallow (leaving the land uncultivated for a period) or continuous, alternating crops that deplete the soil to varying degrees.

Agriculture can be intensive (maximizing land use) or extensive (otherwise).

Traditional Intensive Agriculture

• Achieves high yields using manual labor and often involves outdated technology.

Modern Intensive Agriculture

• Requires less labor and utilizes advanced technology to minimize human work.

Traditional Extensive Agriculture

• Does not cultivate the entire land, leaving a portion fallow.

Modern Extensive Agriculture

• May not cultivate the entire land due to the large size of plots and the use of modern techniques to address labor shortages.

Livestock Breeding Uses

Land devoted to raising livestock provides food and raw materials for industries. Livestock systems are the techniques used by farmers in animal breeding and are varied:

• Nomadic Livestock: Breeders continually move in search of pasture.
• Transhumance: Shepherds move seasonally between winter grazing in lowlands and valleys and summer grazing in the mountains.
• Extensive Grazing: Cattle graze freely in a limited area. Modern extensive grazing utilizes vast pastures to produce large amounts of meat or milk.
• Intensive Grazing: Cattle are housed and fed, requiring investment in facilities but yielding high production.
• Mixed Grazing: Combines outdoor grazing with feeding in barns.

Forest Uses

Logging

Forestry is dedicated to harnessing forest resources. The species with higher yields are hardwoods from tropical forests and conifers from temperate and cold areas. Forest types can be forested, consisting of tall trees, or scrubland, composed of low trees and bushes.

Afforestation is the planting of forests, particularly in mountains, to prevent over-exploitation of natural forests.

Rural Settlement and Habitat

Rural settlement refers to the distribution of the population in agricultural areas. It can be organized in three ways:

• Scattered: Houses and buildings are dispersed and surrounded by farmland.
• Concentrated: Houses and buildings are grouped in a single village or town separate from the farmland.
• Mixed: Consists of interleaved isolated houses and villages.

Rural habitat includes dwellings and agricultural buildings.