Crop production is what kind of activity? Industries and fields of plant growing

More than two thirds of the products consumed by the world's population are provided by the leading branch of agriculture - plant growing. This is the fundamental basis of world agricultural production. Consider its structure and talk about the achievements and prospects for the development of this world economy.

Sectors of plant growing

The vegetation world is diverse, so this branch covers many areas. The main ones are:

• grain;

• Potatoes and tubers;

• technical crops;

• vegetables and melons;

• fruit and grapes;

• feed.

Let's consider features of each of the listed areas.

Grain production

The cultivation of cereals is the main share of the world production of agricultural products. Crop production of the world can not be imagined without this main segment. Cereal crops on average occupy more than half of the world's arable land, and in some countries - almost all areas under crops. It is these cultures that create the basis for the nutrition of the population of each country, as well as a significant share of the feed ration in livestock.

Grain acts as raw material for many industries. World grain production reached 2 billion tons a year, and 1.6 billion tons of the total volume is occupied by wheat, rice and corn. Let's talk about the main cultures of this group.

Wheat

Leading in the global volume of wheat grain growing. A native of the Arabian steppes, it has been known for six thousand years, and in the modern world has become an unshakable foundation of an industry such as crop production. This can not be overemphasized. Thanks to the efforts of breeders, regional wheat varieties are grown today throughout the world. Huge areas given to arable land are in the Northern Hemisphere, slightly smaller in size - in the Southern hemisphere. The universally recognized world wheat growing areas are the American plains that connect to the Canadian steppes in the north, the arable land of Argentina, Russia, China and many other countries and continents. The largest suppliers of wheat today are the USA, Australia, Canada.

Rice

On the second place in terms of crop volumes is rice, which is the main product of a huge part of the earth's population, mainly from Asian countries. Rice is an excellent basis for the production of flour, starch, alcohol, the waste of these manufactures supplement the feed ration of cattle. Historians argue that people began to grow rice in the central and southern regions of China in the first millennium BC. E. Cultivation of this crop is a special technology of plant growing, and perhaps it is exclusively in a hot and humid climate. That is why the main areas of intensive rice cultivation are concentrated in the countries of the south and southeast of Asia, yielding up to 90% of the world harvest. The indisputable leader in the collection of rice is China. Large producers are Thailand, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Japan.

Corn

The use of corn is very diverse. In the livestock of the US and Western European countries, it is used as the main fodder crop. In Africa, Asia, Latin America and the southern European countries, it is a food culture. Corn is a plant of Mexican origin, from where it spread all over the world. Growing it is concentrated today in areas with a comfortable warm, temperate or subtropical climate. The main areas of maize production are the sown areas of America, dispersed in a southerly direction from the Great Lakes. The USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Australia export it.

Tuber and potato growing

The most widespread tuber culture is the potato - a native of South American lands, cultivated today in all temperate zones. Leading in the production of potatoes are Russia, the United States, Poland, China, India.

An important role is played by sugar beet and reed, cultivated in the states of the tropical and subtropical belts, such as China and Cuba. For some developing countries (Dominican Republic), such crop production is the basis of state policy. Developed countries produce no more than a tenth of the world's sugar cane.

The situation with sugar beet production is different. The region of its cultivation is temperate latitudes: the middle belt of Europe (EU countries and Ukraine, as well as the USA and Canada). Asian producers - Turkey, China, Iran.

Oilseeds

To date, vegetable oils produced from oil plants account for two-thirds of the total consumed fats in the world. Oilseeds include peanuts, sesame, rapeseed, sunflower and many others. Intensive growth in the production and consumption of products from these plants is currently associated with the substitution of vegetable fats in economically developed countries in the diet and the comparative availability of these products in developing countries.

Leading positions in the production of soy products are occupied by the United States, gathering peanuts - India, collecting cottonseed and rape seeds - China.

Developing countries, which grow an impressive part of the cultures of this industry, today noticeably reduce the export of oilseeds in connection with the creation and rapid development of their own fat and oil industry. And they do not sell raw materials anymore, but produce their own production.

Cultures that have tonic properties and are valued precisely for them (tea, coffee, cocoa), grow in very limited areas - in tropical and subtropical belts. Their cultivation is concentrated in the southern countries of the Asian continent, where the tropical climate gives an opportunity to develop crop production. This is Malaysia, India, etc.

Vegetable growing

Along with grain, fruit and vegetable crops dominate the economy of many countries. Impressive sizes of the lands occupied for their cultivation practically compete with grain crops. With the growing world trend of consumption of vegetables and fruits, the volumes of their production and imports are growing today.

The steady trend of entering the world market for a significant share of oilseeds, sugar, fruit and tonic crops from developing countries remains unchanged.

Non-food products of plant growing

From cultures that do not belong to the food market, fibrous cultures and rubber play an important role. The main fiber-containing plant is cotton, the recognized leadership in the production of which is shared by the countries of Asia, a slightly smaller amount - the states of the Americas and the African continents.

Other, no less valuable fibrous cultures - flax and jute - occupy much smaller areas. More than three-quarters of the world's flax production - in Russia and Belarus, jute is grown in Bangladesh. Traditional producers of natural rubber are the countries of the southeast of the Asian continent (Indonesia, Thailand). For developing Asian countries, cultivation of cultures containing alkaloids - tobacco, opium poppy, Indian hemp - is characteristic. These are the current global crop production and sales areas.

Peculiarities of plant growing in Russia

Despite the fact that Russia is a country with a very severe temperate climate in most of the world, its agricultural sectors have never lagged behind the world leaders in the production of sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables, grains and oilseeds.

The production of agricultural products covers almost all branches of crop production, except for the cultivation of exotic plants, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber.

Domestic sowing areas are concentrated in temperate continental latitudes - in the Central regions of the Volga region, in the Urals and in Western Siberia, and also in the southern regions of the Caucasus. The technology of plant growing in Russia is very extensive and covers the production of both food, and technical and fodder crops. And in this process practically all sowing grounds of all climatic zones covering the country are involved.

Growing of cereals in Russia

As well as plant growing of the world, this branch in Russia is inconceivable without the production of grain, the main share of which is wheat. The vast areas of arable land, favorable climatic conditions, geographically adapted varieties and growing traditions have made wheat not just a basis for obtaining flour, cereals and subsequent processing in bakery production, but also the dominant economic component of domestic agriculture. Today Russia is in the world's top three leaders - suppliers of wheat. The natural conditions of Russia allow growing both winter and spring wheat. The yield of winter crops is much higher than spring crops, but this is due to the conditions and geography of growth. As winter varieties are more vulnerable and thermophilic, they grow them, as a rule, in the western regions of the country, where the climate is softer.

Important and inferior to wheat in terms of production, however, very little, the culture - barley. It occupies almost a quarter of the total crop of cereals. Being a raw material for the beer industry and an excellent fodder base, barley has a number of other advantages: it is surprisingly frost-resistant, has a short vegetation period, which allows it to be cleaned practically without loss.

The production of grain in Russia is not limited to the cultivation of wheat and barley, as crop production is an industry (this is confirmed by state support programs), encompassing many directions. Cultivated rye, oats, corn, buckwheat and rice are much inferior in the volumes of wheat sowing, but nevertheless the acreage and, consequently, the yields of these crops are gradually increasing.

Cultivation of root crops and industrial crops in Russia

But domestic crop production is not only grain crops. Impressive areas are occupied by planting potatoes, traditionally included in our diet. But it should be noted that the industrial cultivation of potatoes is still small, because the Russians get the greatest yields on household plots.

Another technically valuable, multi-purpose crop, grown mainly in the Central Black Earth region is sugar beet. It is cultivated for the production of sugar, and waste and processed products serve as an excellent additive in livestock farms.

We can not forget about sunflower, the seeds of which are raw materials for almost all vegetable oil produced and consumed in Russia.
Important, but not too relevant, due to the natural features of the country, directions - vegetable growing and melon growing . Traditionally, beets, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, carrots, etc. are grown. In Orenburg and the Volga lower reaches, melons and melons are successfully grown. The production of crop production is not just a solution to the food problem, but also ensuring the security of the country, which is confirmed by the practice of state support for agricultural producers.