Agriculture: Introduction

Agriculture is a critical part of the Zimbabwean economy. Image credit care.ca

• Agriculture is a primary activity in which man extracts food and industrial raw materials from nature on a production unit known as a farm.
• As a result, this industry or activity is called farming.
• It involves the production of food crops in the form of cereals such as maize, wheat, rice, millet and sorghum.
• Food stuffs like vegetables and beverages like tea, coffee, cocoa, as well as root crops like sugarbeet, cassava or yams are grown.
• Animal husbandry, which is the parallel rearing of livestock, is also undertaken for both food and raw material provision.
• The level at which agriculture is undertaken depends on the following:
  1. Size of the farm
  2. The level of technological advancement
  3. Production objectives (transforming raw material into finished product with the help of energy, capital, manpower and machinery).
  4. Economic history
  5. Capabilities of the farmer
• All this has led to various types of farming developing, ranging from subsistence farming through small mixed farming to commercial farming.
• Specialised types of farming have also come up in the form of market gardening, horticulture, irrigation, plantations and dairying.
• These share one common goal which is to increase food supply and raw materials to the ever-increasing world population.

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page