Global Agricultural Systems: Traditional and Modern Farming Practices

Traditional Agricultural Systems

These systems aim to ensure the livelihood of farmers and their families. Farms are typically small, family-run operations with low yields. Products are usually grown for self-consumption, and rudimentary tools are utilized.

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

This is a form of subsistence agriculture practiced in small areas. It involves burning vegetation to clear the ground for cultivation. Clearing and cultivating tasks are carried out within the settlement. After 5 or 6 years, parcels are abandoned to recover fertility, while another plot is cleared and burned.

Extensive Farming Lands

This is another form of subsistence agriculture. Arable land is divided into several parcels. Livestock provides manure for the soil and is used to pull plows. The main products are cereals.

Monsoon Oryziculture

East Asia offers favorable conditions for growing rice. Firstly, physical factors like climate provide abundant warm rain and mild winters, along with fertile soils. Secondly, demographic pressure contributes to its development. As a consequence, intensive agriculture with efficient land use has developed. Farmers carry out this work using traditional techniques and tools.

Technified Agricultural Systems

These agrarian systems are primarily focused on production for markets. Their yields are high due to advanced technology. There is also a high degree of crop specialization.

Plantation Agriculture

This involves the monoculture of tropical products dedicated to export to developed countries, where weather conditions do not allow their growth. Plantations are large tracts of land owned by large multinational companies.

Extensive Cereal Farming

This agriculture utilizes huge, regularly shaped parcels with high yields. High productivity is achieved with very little manpower. Cereals are the main products cultivated here, but cotton and other crops can also be grown.

Atlantic Agriculture

Productivity is high. Modern technologies are applied, allowing for high yields. The products grown are mainly those that can be freely harvested or have a high market value.

Modern Mediterranean Agriculture

This traditional agricultural system has adapted to market requirements by applying new technologies. Thus, a high economic yield is achieved. Water channeling and modern irrigation systems have allowed cultivation over large extensions of land.