Many people perceive almost everything that is grown on earth as food, but this is an erroneous opinion. Most of the world's agricultural land is reserved specifically for the cultivation of industrial crops. Every year more and more goods are produced from them. And this is not just clothes. Soap, tires, medicines, cigarettes, building materials and biofuels - this is not a complete list of the possibilities of such plants. In the commodity circulation of many countries, industrial crops are as important as oil, iron ore or gas.
Types of industrial crops
Technical culture is a raw material for industry. For convenience, these cultures were classified according to the principle of obtaining finished raw materials from them.
- Starchy crops. They are grown, as the name implies, for the sake of obtaining starch from them. As a rule, it is found in tubers. Examples are potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes.
- Sugar-containing crops. Plants that are grown to extract sucrose from them. The most famous representatives of such crops in our country are sugar beets and sugar cane. But there are rarer plants, such as sugar maple, carob, or chicory.
- Oilseeds. This is a large group of industrial crops. Its typical representatives: sunflower, soybeans, peanuts, oil trees, castor oil, rape, rape, sesame and others.
- Essential oil. Plants containing essential aromatic oils. The group is also huge. Crops such as rose or lavender are world famous raw materials for the global perfumery and cosmetics industry.
- Fibrous or spinning. This group also includes bast cultures. This is linen, cotton, hemp, kenaf, sisal, ramie.
- Rubbers. The most famous are Hevea and Guaula.
- Tonic. This group includes all the plants from which tea, coffee, Coca-Cola, cocoa, and tobacco are produced.
- Cork or cork. This includes cork oak and Amur velvet.
- Other groups: dye (Sofora, saffron, indigo), tannin (incense, oak, spruce), gutta-percha (euonymus, payen), medicinal crops.
Cultivation of industrial crops
Industrial crops occupy a large sown area in all countries. Before growing one or another of them, not only climatic conditions are taken into account, but also the proximity of processing plants, the market demand for raw materials that are produced from a particular crop.
In Russia, industrial crops are not cultivated very actively, as the natural conditions make their cultivation time-consuming, and require large investments. In Ukraine, whose geographical location is favorable for industrial crops, sugar beets, sunflowers and flax are actively grown.
All grain and industrial crops require the use of special machines for harvesting and special tools. Usually, this is also taken into account when preparing areas for certain crops.
In connection with the growing interest of people in a healthy, environmentally friendly lifestyle, the cultivation of many industrial crops brings producers additional profit. An example is lavender plantation in French Provence. People from all over the world come to admire the flowering of this amazingly beautiful and fragrant plant. Festivals and festivals are organized for them, which bring a fair additional income.
The main technical cultures in Russia
First of all, in Russia, such a technical crop as sunflower is actively grown. Our country ranks second in the world in the production of sunflower seeds (Argentina leads). This culture came to Russia under Peter I along with potatoes. At first, sunflower was grown for decorative purposes, but then they were able to appreciate the enormous benefits of this plant.
Once the British had a monopoly on sugar production, since all crops of sugarcane belonged to them. Already in the eighteenth century, other countries began to look for how to satisfy the needs of their market for sugar. As a result, in 1747, the German chemist Andreas Marggraf found sugar in sugar beets. Now sugar beet is a major crop (technical) in many countries, and in Russia it occupies one percent of all sown land.
Russia has long been famous for the production of flax. In Belarus and in Russia, two-thirds of flax fiber is cultivated all over the world. Russian cool and rainy summers are ideal for growing flax. Although it is a fibrous culture, linseed oil has a high nutritional value and is used to make high-quality paints. Linen fabrics are very durable, beautiful, they are used not only in the light, but also in the aviation, as well as in the automotive industry.
Industrial crops in the world
Every year, more than 20 million tons of cotton are produced in the world. This is the main technical culture in the world. One fifth of the world total is collected by the USA and China, ten percent are cultivated by Pakistan and India, cotton is grown a lot in Turkey, Uzbekistan, Egypt and Syria. 400 tons of fiber are made from a ton of cotton, from which three thousand meters of fabric is obtained.
India, China, Bangladesh and other Asian countries are famous for growing jute, sesal, supplying the whole world with burlap, ropes and coarse fabrics. In Southeast Asia, hevea is growing, from which rubber products are made.
Essential oils and dyes are grown in many countries. For example, almost all of the world's saffron harvest belongs to Iran. This is not only a dye, but also one of the most expensive seasonings in the world. In order to get a kilogram of saffron, you need to collect 200 thousand crocuses.
It happens that technical crops become a symbol of the country. For example, a rose in Bulgaria. In this country in the Kazanlak Valley there is a world famous rose museum. The rose oil produced by the country brought world fame to Bulgaria.
Industrial crops such as tobacco and hops are also popular in the world. Cuban and Turkish tobacco are valued by smokers around the world, and Germany is famous for growing hops.
Genetically modified cultures and their capabilities
Soy is currently the main technical culture in the world. American scientists believe that this will be the main source of protein for humanity. The USA produces three quarters of all soybeans in the world. Every tenth of all crops is soy. It is not only eaten, but also used for technical needs. Soybean oil can make plastics, paints, biofuels.
Scientists are currently working on the widespread use of such a technical culture as lupine. Its possibilities are even broader than that of soy. This technical culture is surprisingly multifunctional: the fibers give excellent tissue quality, the plant produces oil with antioxidant properties, and coffee is made from the roots. The world leader in the production of promising culture is Australia.
Gasoline from industrial crops
Oil reserves on the earth are running out, and scientists around the world are working on creating optimal biofuels. Looking for the best technical culture for this purpose.
So far, the leaders in this field are soy, rape and cotton, but there are less well-known plants. Among them are the South American jatropha, the Syrian quiver, the kopayba, which grows in the tropics of the Amazon. In China, they found a Clabra syndrome plant. Its juice lights up like oil.
The cultivation of industrial crops has long gone beyond the boundaries of traditional agriculture and is turning into a modern high-tech industry with great prospects. Anyone who understands this today will win much tomorrow.