Agriculture Systems and Importance

Agriculture Systems and Importance

• Agriculture is the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock for meeting human needs.
• Agriculture involves the production of crops, livestock, or poultry.
• A farm is a system with inputs (land, natural resources, human resources) that produce outputs (crops like fruits, dairy products).

Lesson Objectives

• Define the term agriculture.
• List and define different types of agriculture.
• Explain the importance of agriculture.

What Is Agriculture?

• Images demonstrate farming activities: planting, harvesting, livestock keeping, food production.
• Agriculture involves the production and cultivation of crops and animals for food and other purposes.

What Is Agriculture (Definition)

• Refers to the production of crops, livestock, or poultry for human needs.
• Also a science and occupation concerning cultivation, feeding, breeding, and raising livestock.

Agricultural or Farming System

• A farm is a system with inputs (land, natural resources, human resources) that produce outputs (crops, fruits, dairy products).

Types of Agriculture

• Pastoral Farming: The rearing and keeping of animals for meat or products like milk and skins.
• Arable Farming: Focuses on the production of crops.
• Mixed Farming: Cultivates crops and rears animals on the same farm.
• Peasant Farming: Cultivation of crops and rearing of animals on small plots of land (usually less than 5 acres).
• Commercial Farming: Cultivation of crops on large plots of land.

Classifying Agricultural Systems

• By Type of Product: Pastoral (animal products), Arable (crops), Mixed (both).
• By Size of Farm Unit: Small-scale (e.g., peasant farm), Medium-scale (e.g., family farm), Large-scale.
• By Main Purpose of the Farm: Subsistence, Semi-subsistence.

Importance of Agriculture

• Provides Foreign Exchange: Agricultural exports earn foreign currency (e.g., sugarcane, bananas, coffee, yam, ackee, flowers).
• Provides Employment: Provides jobs directly (farmers, farm workers, managers) and indirectly (agri-business, marketing). Employment increases rural income and improves living standards.
• Provides Linkages to Other Industries: Raw materials for food processing (e.g., sugarcane for sugar refining).
• Contributes to Domestic Food Supply: Agriculture provides food for local consumption, satisfying local and especially urban food demands. Local production leads to food security. Food security means having reliable access to enough affordable and nutritious food.