Intensive agriculture - agricultural production, characterized by low crop rotation and high levels of resource use, such as capital and labor, or intensive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in relation to the area [1] [2] .
It is opposed to many types of traditional agriculture, in which the output per unit area is lower. With the intensification of agriculture, energy use tends to increase. Initially, the necessary labor was provided by people, later with the addition of animals, and is now supplemented or replaced by machines. Intensification of agriculture is a natural reaction to population growth, as it allows you to produce more food on the same amount of land.
Intensive animal husbandry is a very large number of animals raised in a limited space, which require a large amount of food, water and medical care (it is necessary to keep animals healthy in cramped conditions) [2] . Very large or limited indoor intensive animal husbandry (especially in the USA) is often criticized by opponents for the low standards of animal welfare and related pollution problems and health [1] [3] [4] [5] [6 ] [7] .
Modern forms of intensive cereal cultivation are associated with the use of mechanical plowing, chemical fertilizers, plant growth regulators and pesticides . This is due to the growth of agricultural mechanization, which allowed a significant increase in production, but environmental pollution also increased sharply due to increased erosion and poisoning of water by agricultural chemicals.
The methods of modern intensive farming include innovations in agricultural machinery and agricultural methods, genetic technologies, methods for achieving economies of scale in production, the creation of new markets, the application of patent protection for genetic information, and global trade. These methods are widespread in developed countries and around the world. Most of the meat, dairy products, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced using these industrial farming methods.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Intensive Agriculture
- ↑ 1 2 BBC School fact sheet on intensive farming
- ↑ Factory farming. Webster's Dictionary definition of Factory farming
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica's definition of Factory farm
- ↑ The Welfare of Intensively Kept Pigs Archived on May 22, 2013.
- ↑ Commissioner points to factory farming as source of contamination
- ↑ Rebuilding Agriculture - EPA of UK Archived September 30, 2007 on the Wayback Machine