Skip to main content

Types of farming

(i) Shifting Cultivation: This is a traditional form of agriculture which is practised in the tropics and subtopics by societies which do not have permanent homes, but moves from one place to another.
(ii) Land rotation: This is a modified form of shifting cultivation. A farmer clears an area of bush, cultivates the land until its fertility decreases, allows it to lie fallow to regain its fertility and then returns to cultivate it again.
    Like shifting cultivation, land rotation is an uneconomical and wasteful farming practice. It cannot provide for the needs of a rapidly growing human population. Often, the land is not left to lie fallow long enough to allow it to regain its fertility before it is cultivated again. This eventually damages the soil and converts the land into into a barren desert. This form of farming is a major factor in the destruction of tropical forests.

(iii) Pastoral Farming: This is a traditional type of farming. Certain tribes keep only grazing livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats. They move with their livestock along the same routes at definite seasons of the year. These routes follow the rain so that the livestock get good grazing land. The routes also avoid areas infested with pests like tsetse flies. In this type of farming, overgrazing of poor pastures may lay the land bare and expose it to soil erosion.
(iv) Crop rotation: In most countries, crop rotation has replaced land rotation and shifting cultivation. Crops in a rotation plan are grown on a piece of land in a particular order and rotated through a three, four, five or six year period. A well closed crop rotation plan will allow the continuous use of land while maintaining soil fertility and controlling pests and diseases at the same time. This farming practice is, there important in the present world where agriculturally suitable land is scarce and the population is large and increasing all the time.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Formation

A rock may be defined as a hard compact mass made up of cluster of primary or secondary minerals. The primary minerals are those that are as they were made in nature. Some of them are Quartz, Olivine, Pyroxene, Hornblende, Biotite, Muscovite and feldspar. On the other hand, secondary minerals consists of particles worn out from original minerals which have combined with other elements. They exist in form of: (i) Oxide such as those of magnesium, Iron and Aluminum. (ii) Sulphates and carbonates of Iron, Magnesium and Calcium. (iii) Clay minerals such as the silicate clays and the hydrous Oxide.   TYPES OF ROCKS (i) Igneous rock (ii) sedimentary rock (iii) Metamorphic rock. Based on their chemical composition, we have basic and acidic rocks. Granite is a very good example of an acid rock. PROCESSES OF ROCK FORMATION IGNEOUS ROCK :This is formed through the process of cooling and hardening of the molten magma. This molten magna is confined deep down below the earth crust und...
1 comment
Read more

HERNIA

Hernia occurs in an individual when part of the intestine pushes through the wall of the abdomen and appears as a bulge at the site. There are many sites where hernia can occur, although the commonly encountered type is that found in the groin. This type of hernia is known as femoral or inguinal hernia. Hernia may occur on the navel or near it. The hernia which occurs on the navel is called umbilical hernia, while that which occurs close to it is known as paraumbilical hernia. These two types of hernia are less common than the femoral type.   Groin hernia occurs more commonly in males, but can also occur in females in a few cases. In this kind of hernia, there is a weakness in the abdominal wall in the groin region about midway across the groin. It may appear on either side or, sometimes on both sides. A good sign is that swelling increases, initially it can be pushed back manually into the body. Later on, it gets bigger still and lies almost permanently outside the body, especi...
1 comment
Read more

TEACHING AND PEACE CORPS

Teaching today is hard work. The old demands that one knows his subject and master the art of teaching are increased by the need to prepare students for a world that is constantly changing, and in ways that were unfamiliar and complicated.     We now inhabit what we should call spaceship earth, and the instructor's book didn't come with it.     But it is not true that the demands of our own technological world represent the only or even the most difficult challenge to the teacher. Beyond the technological world, there is a world not constantly changing, in fact, where change has not come fast enough, and when change alone can bring partnership in the 20th century.     To the developing world, the peace corps teacher is asked to bring skills and knowledge. He is also asked to bring understanding, which respects the beauty of that world's religious beliefs and customs. The peace corps teacher must guide and, at the same time, respect the student's uniquene...
1 comment
Read more