Agriculture as a system

Agricultural enterprises-crop or livestock-deal with such concepts as labor supply, marketing, finances, natural resources, genetic stock, nutrition, equipment, and hazards. While it is possible to effectively manipulate each mechanism of successful farming individually, better results can often be obtained by treating the farming operation as a system. The interactions, then, among system components may become more important than how each component functions by itself. Treating production operations holistically offers greater management flexibility, provides for more environmentally and economically sound practices, and creates safer and healthier conditions for workers and for farm animals. NIFA staff provides leadership to land-grant university partners and other grantees as they conduct research, education, and extension activities in programs related directly and indirectly to agricultural systems.
Agricultural systems are the world's main source of food for the population. These systems, sometimes called agro-ecosystems, usually consist of several parts and processes. Include: a farming area (with soils formed by previous geological and ecological processes), and production equipments for planting and harvesting, land clearing and harvest. You need a market to buy production and provide the money for the purchase of fuel, fertilizer, merchandise and services that keep the system running.

Crop farming

A crop is an agricultural product, and at the same time is the set of agricultural (crops) and its surroundings.
A crop is produced from traditional raw materials and by traditional systems or not, using more or less technology and its derivatives. Production systems are based on crops in different ways, some use a crop for years, generating very long fallow periods, which erode the soil and increase its risk of loss. Other systems employ cover crops, whereupon, during the non-productive period stays covered the ground, recycling nutrients. There are a variety of cover, including leguminous crops.
The types of crops grown can depend on environmental conditions, market demands, and preference.
Plants grown for food, like rice, wheat, and vegetables, are one form of crop farming. It is also possible to cultivate plants such as alfalfa that will be used to feed animals. Some farms have a combination of crops and animals, using the crops they grow to feed their livestock.

Physical factors affecting farming

The farming is affecting by physical factors like:

• Climate: Temperature – a minimum temperature of 6°C is needed for crops to grow. The growing season is the number of months the temperature is over 6°C. Different crops need a different growing season, e.g. wheat needs 90 days. Rainfall – all crops and animals need water.

• Relief: Temperatures decrease by 1>°C every 160 metres vertical height. Uplands are more exposed to wind and rain. Steep slopes also cause thin soils and limit the use of machinery. Lowland areas are more easily farmed.

• Soils: Crops grow best on deep, fertile, free-draining soils, e.g. the brown earths found in lowland Britain. Less fertile soils prone to water logging are best used for pastoral farming.

• Aspect: The direction a slope faces. South-facing slopes are best for growing crops

The farming system

Farming system is a decision making unit comprising the farm household, cropping and livestock system that transform land, capital and labour into useful products that can be consumed or sold.
Farming system is a resource management strategy to achieve economic and sustained production to meet diverse requirement to farm household while presenting resources base and maintaining a high level environmental quality.
They interact adequately with environment without dislocating the ecological and socio- economic balance on the one hand and attempt to meet the national goal on the other.
Farming system consist of several enterprises like cropping system, dairying, piggery, poultry, fishery, bee, keeping etc. these enterprises are interrelated. The end product and wastes of one enterprise are used as inputs in others. The waste of dairying like dung, urine, refuse etc. is used for preparation of FYM, which is an input in cropping systems. The straw obtained from the crops is used as fodder for cattle’s are used for different field operations for growing crops. Thus different enterprises of farming systems are highly interrelated.
Farming system is a complex inter related matrix of soil plants, animals, implements, power labour, capital and other inputs controlled in parts by farming families and influenced to varying degree by political, economic, institutional and socials forces that operate at many levels. Thus farming system is the result of a complex interaction among a number of interdependent components. To achieve it, the individual farmer allocates and qualities of four factors of production. Land, labour, capital and management, which has access to processes like management which has crop, livestock and off farm enterprises in a manner, which within the knowledge he possess will maximize the attainment of goal he is striving for.

Types of farming

There principal types of farming are:

1. Capital investment and labour.

• Extensive livestock farming: capital investment (in feed, farms...) is limited and productivity low. The livestock is mostly cattle and sheep, and grazes on large pastures in the open air.

• Intensive livestock farming: capital investment (in feed, farms...), labour and productivity are high. Mostly cattle, pig and poultry are farmed.

     2. Food and feeding methods.

• Grazing livestock: animals feed on grass. This is an example of extensive farming.
• Confined livestock: animals are kept in sheds and covered pens, and eat feed. This is an example of intensive farming.
• Semi-confined livestock: in summer, the animals eat grass; when there is not enough grass, they eat feed.

      3. Mobility of livestock:

• Nomadic herding: herders and their families are constantly moving with their animals in search of good pasture.
• Transhumance (seasonal migration of livestock): herders move their animals several times a year between winter and summer pastures.
• Sedentary livestock farming: animals don't have to move around to obtain food because farmers give them feed.

Primary economic activity word map

The primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the earth. The primary sector includes the production of raw material and basic foods.
Activities associated whit the primary sector include:

1. Agriculture. 
2. Mining.
3. Forestry.
4. Farming.
5. Grazing.
6. Hunting.
7. Cathering.
8. Fishing.
9. Quarrying.

Here there´s a world map of Primary Sector: