The Importance of Agriculture in History and the World

Civilization began with agriculture, it allowed nomads to settle down, and form relationships, societies and eventually nations. But as our society developed, so did our means of farming. Whilst modern society greatly differs from our nomadic past, humanity still has fundamental dependence on agriculture.

Today agriculture is the livelihood of most poor underdeveloped nations. This communal life blood provides a majority of the population with a source of employment, nourishment and income. It is considered to be an invaluable skill, that is taught down from generation to generation along with a sense of respect for the environment. However as a nation begins to undergo development, so do their food production systems. The country's newfound development causes significant restructuring of their agricultural production practices. This restructuring leads to poor environmental practices, and adverse agriculture methods. Increased economic development/production negatively affects a country's environmental and agricultural health.

Agriculture holds a significant role in underdeveloped countries. It is often the backbone of their economic and social well-being. It acts as the main source of employment and income, 70% of a country's population rely on framing as a mean of living (CITE HERE). Because most underdeveloped countries have low rates of educational attainment, farming is a popular source of employment. It requires little to no education. As a result agriculture employs many people contributing to nations economic development. Residents can also sell what they grow, providing them with a source of income, thus not only raising the national income level but the standard of living as well. Agriculture is not only a ...

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...le agricultural industry. One that challenges the stigma that farming in underdeveloped countries have low productivity despite their high efficiency.

In reality a underdeveloped nation agricultural system has high rates of productivity. Due to farmers crop mixtures (polyculture). Between the rows of one crop there will be another crop, or several other crops, opposed to the empty spaces usually found between crops. Utilizing this area produces something of use to the farmer rather than requiring an investment of more labor, money or herbicides (CITE HERE). Meaning the more complex farming system (polyculture) is gets more total production per area. Underdeveloped agriculture systems produce a more diverse crop set with the same amount of energy it requires a large farm to produce a single crop. The agricultural output per area is larger than developed farms.