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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 3/13 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:56:01.016896+00:00 | kb-cron |
In shifting cultivation, a small area of forest is cleared by cutting and burning the trees. The cleared land is used for growing crops for a few years until the soil becomes too infertile, and the area is abandoned. Another patch of land is selected and the process is repeated. This type of farming is practiced mainly in areas with abundant rainfall where the forest regenerates quickly. This practice is used in Northeast India, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon Basin. Subsistence farming is practiced to satisfy family or local needs alone, with little left over for transport elsewhere. It is intensively practiced in Monsoon Asia and South-East Asia. An estimated 2.5 billion subsistence farmers worked in 2018, cultivating about 60% of the earth's arable land. Intensive farming is cultivation to maximize productivity, with a low fallow ratio and a high use of inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticide and automation). It is practiced mainly in developed countries.
== Contemporary agriculture ==
=== Status ===
From the twentieth century onwards, intensive agriculture increased crop productivity. It substituted synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for labor, but caused increased water pollution, and often involved farm subsidies. Soil degradation and diseases such as stem rust are major concerns globally; approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. Modern agriculture has raised or encountered ecological, political, and economic issues including water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs and farm subsidies, leading to alternative approaches such as the organic movement. Unsustainable farming practices in North America led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In recent years there has been a backlash against the environmental effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic, regenerative, and sustainable agriculture movements. One of the major forces behind this movement has been the European Union, which first certified organic food in 1991 and began reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2005 to phase out commodity-linked farm subsidies, also known as decoupling. The growth of organic farming has renewed research in alternative technologies such as integrated pest management, selective breeding, and controlled-environment agriculture. There are concerns about the lower yield associated with organic farming and its impact on global food security. Recent mainstream technological developments include genetically modified food. During the 60-year period between 1964 and 2023, most of the increase in agricultural production was achieved through intensification, while the expansion of agricultural land was limited to just 8%. In the twenty-first century, between 2001 and 2023, global agricultural area decreased by 78 million hectares (Mha) (−2%), with cropland area increasing by 78 Mha and permanent meadows and pastures decreasing by 151 Mha. These changes exhibit significant regional variations. Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed cropland expansion of 69 Mha accompanied by 72 Mha of forest loss, while Latin America saw 25 Mha of cropland growth alongside 85 Mha of net forest area loss. Agricultural expansion remains the primary driver of global deforestation, accounting for nearly 90% of forest loss. In this century, another important aspect to consider is that approximately 3.6 Mha of croplands are abandoned annually, with land degradation likely playing a significant role in these losses.
By 2015, the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world, followed by the European Union, India and the United States. Economists measure the total factor productivity of agriculture, according to which agriculture in the United States is roughly 1.7 times more productive than it was in 1948. Agriculture employed 873 million people in 2021, or 27% of the global workforce, 916 million in 2023, compared with 1 027 million (or 40%) in 2000. The share of agriculture in global GDP was stable at around 4% since 2000–2023. Despite increases in agricultural production and productivity, between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021. Food insecurity and malnutrition can be the result of conflict, climate extremes and variability and economic swings. It can also be caused by a country's structural characteristics such as income status and natural resource endowments as well as its political economy. Pesticide use in agriculture went up 62% between 2000 and 2021, with the Americas accounting for half the use in 2021. The International Fund for Agricultural Development posits that an increase in smallholder agriculture may be part of the solution to concerns about food prices and overall food security, given the favorable experience of Vietnam. Disasters have inflicted an estimated USD 3.26 trillion in agricultural losses over 33 years (1991–2023), averaging at USD 99 billion per year, with cereal crops bearing the heaviest burden at 4.6 billion tonnes lost, followed by fruits and vegetables (2.8 billion tonnes), and with meat and dairy losing 900 million tonnes.
=== Workforce ===