intensive agriculture

farming is the set of tasks that involve till and cultivate the land to obtain food and different raw materials that are used in the most varied production processes. Intensive, for its part, is an adjective that refers to what is carried out with a intensity or energy greater than usual.

It is called intensive agriculture to the agricultural activity that exploits the means of production to the maximum. Said intense use of the productive means can develop in terms of the capitalization, the supplies wave workforce.

Take the case of a system of intensive agriculture that appeals to a constant capitalization. In this case, the activity will require large sums of money to develop facilities that allow the environment to be controlled. When pressure on labor intensifies, however, it becomes necessary to have many workers to carry out the cultivation or harvesting tasks. Regarding the inputs, an example of intensive agriculture is produced with those flowers that require the application of multiple products so that, in the markets, they look in good condition.

At a general level, it can be said that intensive agriculture bets on obtain large productions in small spaces. It is common to focus on a single product, deriving all the resources to its exploitation.

The use of pesticides, fertilizers and other agrochemicals and a high amount of fuel is frequent in intensive agriculture to increase the productivity of the land.

It is important to mention that intensive agriculture tends to generate negative effects on the ecosystem, affecting the native fauna and flora and damaging the land, which may stop being productive due to overexploitation.

When thinking about intensive agriculture in ecological environments, a very common example is the method called deep bed. It is about creating a spongy bed of earth in which vegetables grow very easily, and their roots can develop properly, in a straight line and with the expected depth. One of its main advantages is that does not require the presence of a large surfaceas it takes advantage of every square inch better than other methods.

The origin of the deep bed is very old, and over the decades it has received different names, among which stand out the french method, the chinese method or, as it is known in North America, simply the method. In addition to its benefits for farmers, we can also say that it does not harm the environment as much as other more aggressive practices. Its use is usually reserved for family or school gardens.

If we look in the opposite direction to intensive agriculture, we find the extensive agriculture, a production system that is characterized by making use of the natural resources found in the place, unlike the first, which seeks to maximize productivity in the shortest possible time, through processes such as drainage or irrigation, and with the help of chemicals.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, there took place in various parts of the world an increase in the productivity agricultural, which became known by the name of green revolution. This phenomenon, which began in the United States and then spread to other countries, is often referred to as a historical intensification of agriculture, and for this reason it is not uncommon for confusion to be generated with the term intensive agriculture.

In short, intensive agriculture and the green revolution are completely unrelated, mainly because the former had its closure decades ago, but also because it simply involved a expansion of extensive agriculture.