In the economies of many countries an important place is given to agriculture: crop production and animal husbandry. About what these industries are engaged in, what types are subdivided, our article tells.
Historical reference
The emergence of animal husbandry goes back to ancient times, when a person, living next to wild animals, decided to tame them for the purpose of use in the household. Thanks to hard work for a long time, people managed to change the nature of certain species living in the wild. After domestication, their productivity increased many times. Animals have become for humans:
- Food source: they gave meat, milk, eggs.
- Raw materials (skins) were received from them, from which clothes were sewed, huts were built.
- Animals were used for movement, as labor, and for the protection of property (for example, dogs).
Animals such as cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, camels and some others were suitable for domestication. Scientists were able to establish that most of the species of these animals intersected in the Middle East. For the peoples living here, this served as a great advantage in development, as a result of which the first civilizations arose.
What is animal husbandry?
There are various industries: chemical, woodworking, engineering, food, light. Livestock is an industry that relates to agriculture. Its main task is the breeding and keeping of animals with the aim of producing and selling products that are received from them.
The importance of livestock
Human life is impossible to imagine without agricultural products. Livestock - this is the main element in the agricultural sector. This industry is one of the main ones. Thanks to it, the population is provided with meat and lard, milk and eggs, and the light industry is provided with leather, wool, bristles and many others. In addition, livestock is a supplier of lively draft power. The industry is engaged in breeding horses, camels, oxen, deer, mules, donkeys. Livestock is of great importance as a supplier of organic fertilizer.
Products and waste from the industry are used to obtain feed: meat and bone meal, skim milk and much more. They go to the manufacture of hormonal drugs, therapeutic serums and other drugs. So, the manifestation of the basics of animal husbandry is carried out through the elements of the agro-industrial complex, interconnected.
In economically developed countries, livestock breeding is a leading sector of the economy not by chance, because products of this direction make up 60% of the diet.
Livestock Analysis
For the proper management of the economy and making a profit, analysis that is carried out for various indicators is of great importance. Using cows as an example, it looks like this:
- The number of livestock and the structure of the herd are determined. It takes into account what kind of animals are kept, how many of them are in number, including young animals.
- Find out the volume of products received during the accounting period. It is determined what kind of products, how much milk and meat is obtained (in tons), what is the offspring of calves.
- Clarify the productivity of animals. The indicators of annual milk yield per cow are analyzed, the number of calves from 100 cows and the average daily (meaning meat) weight gain in grams.
Livestock Types
This industry in agriculture is very extensive. Livestock breeding is such a direction that breeds cattle and small cattle and pigs, horses and camels, sheep and goats, mules and donkeys, rabbits and dogs, birds and fish, bees, fur animals and many others. The direction of the industry depends on the terrain to which conditions certain animal species are adapted. For example, in the northern regions llamas and camels are not bred, and in the southern regions - Arctic foxes and minks. However, there are animals that can be found in the agricultural sector of almost every country. These are hens, cows, pigs, rabbits, horses and others.
Cattle breeding
Currently, this area is the main industry of livestock. The main task is to raise cattle and small cattle. Animals are divided into meat and dairy. The level of providing consumers with milk and meat depends on the development of cattle breeding. The performance of this industry affects the work of light industry enterprises that produce wool clothes and household items.
Pig breeding
This sector of the industry supplies the population with such livestock products, like meat, fat. In Russia, it is developed in the regions of the Central Black Earth Region, in the Caucasus, in the Volga region. It grows meat, greasy, bacon, ham pigs.
Horse breeding
This industry is engaged in breeding animals of this species. In addition, horses in the national economy are productive and athletic. Horse breeding was developed in the North Caucasus and Altai, the south of Siberia and the Urals, in Yakutia and Buryatia.
Sheep breeding
This direction is engaged in breeding sheep and goats. Animals provide humans with meat, milk, wool, and down. Their skin goes to the production of chrome, husky, chevro. From sheep of Karakul breed they get valuable fur - astrakhan fur. Milk is used to make feta cheese and other types of cheese.
Poultry farming
This industry trend is common in any country. It provides consumers with meat, eggs, feathers, and down. Since the main food of the bird is grain, it is bred in the areas where it grows: in the North Caucasus, in the Volga region, in the Black Earth region. Poultry farming is also developed in densely populated regions (North-West, Central), located near large cities.
Beekeeping
No less popular direction in agriculture is the breeding of bees. Thanks to its development, the population is provided with honey, royal jelly, wax. The areas of use of this product are very diverse, but the main ones are the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Fur farming
The industry is engaged in the breeding of fur animals such as nutria, arctic foxes, minks and others. The main products are skins, from which they sew hats, outerwear, accessories and much more.
Plant growing
Its basis is grain farming, which in the world occupies half of all areas. Grain, like potatoes, forms the basis of the human diet. It is the raw material base for such an industry as the food industry. The grain uses cereal, flour, mixed feed alcohol. The most important crops in the world are wheat, corn and rice.
Wheat is grown in 70 countries, but most of it is in Canada, America, Australia, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. These states are the main breadbasket of the world.
We owe the appearance of rice on our tables to China and India, from where the culture has spread widely to other regions. Currently, rice is grown in 100 countries of the world, however, 9/10 of the total grain harvest falls on such Asian countries as China, Japan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia.
The country where the corn came from is Mexico, from where it quickly spread throughout the world. Corn is used as a feed crop, and as a food crop. The leading country in the cultivation of corn is the United States. In addition to grain man uses for different purposes crops such as vegetables (potatoes), sugar crops (sugarcane), oilseeds (sunflower), and fruits.
Types of crop production
Crop production is divided into the following types:
- Cereals. These cultures for humans and animals are essential in the diet.
- Oilseeds. They are the raw material for the production of vegetable oil.
- Potato growing. All tubers belong to this direction.
- Viticulture. The objective of this direction is to grow grapes for wine production. To this end, breeders are developing many new varieties that are of high quality.
- Gardening. This direction is multifaceted. Both fruit trees of different species and berry bushes are grown.
- Melon breeding. Crops in this industry include melons and watermelons.
- Floriculture. Flowers are grown not only for pleasure, but also for profit. To make the business profitable year-round, they build greenhouses where flowers grow in the winter.
- Cotton growing. Without the products of this industry, weaving will not work. Cotton does not grow everywhere. Its plantations are located in Uzbekistan.
Crop production is a very important industry for the national economy, as it provides people and animals not only with food, but also with raw materials for the manufacture of clothing, medicines, and cosmetics.