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Panoramic view of Ötlingen from the southeast; the hilly landscape is typical for the region ofMarkgräflerland
Agriculture is the practice of cultivating the soil, planting, raising, and harvesting both food and non-food crops, as well aslivestock production. Broader definitions also includeforestry andaquaculture. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise ofsedentary humancivilization, whereby farming ofdomesticated plants and animals created foodsurpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century,industrial agriculture based on large-scalemonocultures came to dominate agricultural output.
As of 2021[update],small farms, of which the vast majority are one hectare (about 2.5 acres) or smaller, produce about one-third of the world's food. Moreover, five of every six farms in the world consist of fewer than 2 hectares (4.9 acres) and take up only around 12% of all agricultural land. In terms of total land use, large farms are dominant. While only 1% of all farms globally are greater than 50 hectares (120 acres), they encompass more than 70% of the world's farmland. Further, nearly 40% of all global agricultural land is found on farms larger than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres).
Farms and farming greatly influencerural economics and greatly shaperural society, affecting both the directagricultural workforce and broaderbusinesses that support the farms and farming populations.
The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped intofoods,fibers,fuels, andraw materials (such asrubber andtimber). Food classes includecereals (grains),vegetables,fruits,cooking oils,meat,milk,eggs, andfungi. Global agricultural production amounts to approximately 11 billion tonnes of food, 32 million tonnes of natural fibers and 4 billion m3 of wood. However, around 14% of the world's food is lost from production before reaching the retail level.
Modernagronomy,plant breeding,agrochemicals such aspesticides andfertilizers, and technological developments have sharply increasedcrop yields, but also contributed toecological and environmental damage.Selective breeding and modern practices inanimal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns aboutanimal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues includecontributions to climate change, depletion ofaquifers,deforestation,antibiotic resistance, andother agricultural pollution. Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive toenvironmental degradation, such asbiodiversity loss,desertification,soil degradation, andclimate change, all of which can cause decreases in crop yield.Genetically modified organisms are widely used, althoughsome countries ban them. (Full article...)
There is an increasing demand for fish and fish protein, which has resulted in widespreadoverfishing inwild fisheries. Fish farming offersfish marketers another source. However, farmingcarnivorous fish, such assalmon, does not always reduce pressure on wildfisheries, since carnivorous farmed fish are usually fedfishmeal andfish oil extracted from wildforage fish. In this way, the salmon can consume in weight more wild fish than they weigh themselves. The global returns for fish farming recorded by theFAO in 2008 totalled 33.8 milliontonnes worth about $US 60 billion. (Full article...)
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