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FACTORS INFLUENCING AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT (FARMING)
There are several factors which affect agricultural development and these are as follows.
1. Climate: Climate influences agriculture through the impact of rainfall, temperature and wind.
2. Rainfall: Where there is adequate rainfall a variety of crops can be grown. But where there is poor rainfall agriculture tends to have poor performance. For example, in arid areas like desert, regions agriculture is usually poor due to lack of rainfall. Rainfall also affects distribution of crops. Crops, which need high rainfall like bananas, will be grown in areas that experience high rainfall like the coastal lands of east Africa and highland areas. The crops that need slight rainfall (like cotton and wheat) will grow in the areas, which experience little (slight) rainfall.
Rainfall also can affect agricultural by causing destruction of crops and human settlement. This happens when there are floods. Floods are very common in Bangladesh and lowlands of China. Apart from floods heavy rainfall can cause soil erosion leading to the reduction of arable land and other property. These predicaments associated with climatic vagaries can lead to poor agricultural performance.
3. Temperature: Temperature affects germination of the seeds, growth rate and length of the growing season as well as soil development.
In warm areas plant growth takes place very fast unlike in the areas where the temperatures are very low like the tundra regions and highlands. Hence, moderate temperature like in Western parts of Europe encourages crop production and animal husbandry while where there temperature extremes (that is very high temperature or very low temperatures) agriculture tends to fail. If the area has very low temperatures the soils are frozen and hence lead to poor growth of crops and where the temperature is very high like in the tropical deserts the soils are very dry because of excessive evaporation hence discouraging plant growth and animal husbandry.
Microbial activities are also efficient where the temperature is high leading the high rate of organic decomposition and hence the addition of organic matter to the soil.
Optimum temperature for each crop encourages plant growth. Some crops need cool conditions and hence will be grow in areas which have cool conditions and hence will be grown in areas which have cool climate. Other crops need high temperatures and hence will be grown in the areas that have high temperature.
4. Wind: Wind effects physical damage to crops especially when there are stormy winds like tornadoes, hurricanes etc. It can also cause soil erosion especially where the surface is bare usually in the desert and semi desert areas. Wind also accelerate evaporation and hence loss of water from the soil. However, wind also help in the pollination process and seed dispersal.
5. Edaphic (Soil) factors
Soil also influences agriculture both positively and negatively. Good soils, which are fertile and deep, encourage positive development of agriculture while poor soils, that is, infertile soils discourage agricultural development.
Soil also determines distribution of crops over space. Crops which need acidic soils will grow in the areas which have acidic conditions while the crops which need slight alkalinity will grow in the areas which have alkaline soils like the halophytic plants which grow in the areas with saline soils.
6. Topographic (Relief)
Nature of the relied affects agriculture either positively or negatively. For example on steep slopes or hilly areas mechanization is difficult while where the area has gentle slopes or flat surface mechanization can be carried out easily. The prairies of Canada have been developed into extensive wheat cultivation because of the gently sloping undulating surface, which has allowed easy mechanization. The undulating surface also has made soil drainage take place very easily.
Flat areas facilitate transportation of crops from the forms to the storage or market places. Mountainous areas pose problems of transportation. Altitudes influence the variation in temperatures such that high altitudes with very low temperatures limit agricultural activities. Low lands are prone to flooding; hence, they discourage the development due to being free of floods.
Aspect is another topographical factor. The slopes, which receive more people sunshine and reliable rainfall are conducive the development of agricultural while the slopes which do not receive enough sunshine and experience rain-shadow effect (dryness) are not conducive for agricultural development.
7. Economic Factors
i. Capital availability can influence agricultural development. The places where people have high capital modern farming can easily take place due to investment in new and sophisticated
ii. Agricultural facilities like tractors etc. But where farmers have low or poor capital agricultural tends to be poor due to poor level of investment.
8. Marketing system
Good marketing system encourages agricultural development while poor marketing system discourages development of agricultural. Price fluctuation in farm products is a big problem in the development of agriculture. Most farmers are discouraged due to the price fluctuation or low prices especially in the developing world. If prices are stable and are high, farmers can produce more and more so as to raise their living standards.
9. Social Factors
10. Technological Factors
Where there is advanced technology, agriculture is also more advanced because of the use of the scientific methods. But where farmers have low level of technology due to low education agricultural performance is usually poor. This is caused by domination of traditional farming methods that employ simple tools and techniques.
11. Biotic Factors
These include the influence of animals and plants on the agricultural development. They can have both positive and negative effects as follows:-
Some animals and birds destroy crops and cause great loss to the formers. Other animals like lions attract livestock in the farms or in the grazing areas. But animals can also facilitate pollination in plants and encourage production of fruits.
Weeds also compete for food with crops leading to low production. Sometimes the weeds produce poisonous chemicals and end up killing the crops.
There are some insects and fungi, which attack crops and lead to great destruction and losses in the farms. Sometimes insects help in the pollination process in plants.
11. Demographic Factors
These are related to changes in population. The rapid expansion of population poses a problem of pressure for land leading to poor development of agricultural. Population pressure can cause land fragmentation and bring problems in applying mechanization in the farms, which are, after all, small in size. Sometimes due to the increase in population the farmlands are changed into settlement areas leading to the reduction of the size of the arable land.
Like wise, population expansion has brought the problem of high dependency ratio. This is due to the fact that the number of children and old people is greater that the young and energetic people. This has negative impacts on agriculture since children and old people are not effective or efficient in the production process.
Population is also very migratory. There is high movement from rural to urban areas. The rural areas are left unattended because of lack of labor after the flow of the young people to the urban centers has taken place. This is a big problem in the Least Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) and is indeed of grave concern to all the governments and their people. It is a problem that needs being addressed since it is ‘time bomb’ that has fatal effects to the society.
12. Political Factors
Where there are clear policies on agriculture associated with strong support by the government, agriculture develops very fast unlike where there are poor policies and weak support from the government. In European counties agriculture has developed positively in many areas due to the government involvement as well as formulation of clear agricultural policies. Likewise, the success in tea production in Kenya has been due to the strong support by the government.
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