Extensive agriculture does not aim to maximize soil performance with agrochemicals or infrastructure, but rather relies on natural resources.
Agriculture is the set of processes and knowledge that allow the land to be tilled and cultivated. The extensive adjective, for its part, qualifies that which can be extended to other things.
The idea of extensive agriculture , in this framework, is linked to agricultural exploitation that does not aim to maximize the yield of the soil through the use of agrochemicals or infrastructure, but instead relies on the use of the resources that nature offers in the area. That is why extensive agriculture is the opposite of intensive agriculture , which involves intense use of resources (inputs, workers, etc.) to increase yield per hectare.
Characteristics of extensive agriculture
Extensive agriculture, therefore, provides a low yield per hectare but, when developed on very large lands, allows for large production . Although many times it is organic farming, without chemical products, sometimes this farming system does not respect the environment either.
In cases where the producer does not have money to invest in technology or the soil is poor, it is common for extensive agriculture to be developed. The size of the land allows for a good yield per unit of work, even when the yield per hectare is very low.
The intention of obtaining a high yield in the short term makes industrial farms turn to intensive agriculture, using large machinery, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and advanced irrigation systems. Beyond this choice, extensive agriculture offers greater sustainability over time .
Extensive agriculture usually takes place on large areas of land.
natural irrigation
It is called rainfed agriculture, which does not depend on irrigation of the field by humans, but rather uses water from rain exclusively. Needless to say, a practice of this type fits perfectly into the scheme of extensive agriculture, which does not seek by all means to take advantage of every square centimeter of land.
The preferred climate for its application is tropical, and we can find it in several regions of the American continent, as well as in Asia, Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
Most common crops of extensive dryland agriculture
In the Mediterranean region, which makes up northern Africa, western Asia and southern Europe around the Mediterranean Sea, the most common crops of extensive rainfed agriculture are the following:
* cereals : wheat, barley, millet, rye and oats;
* legumes : peas, peanuts, broad beans and chickpeas;
* fruit trees : olive, almond and apricot trees;
* horticultural : melons, onions and tomatoes.
To this list we can add trees such as the carob, whose fruit is widely used both in gastronomy and in animal feeding , and the vine, of incalculable importance in the industry since it allows the production of wine . Precisely, the three most important crops in the Mediterranean are grapevines, olive trees and wheat.
If we focus on olives, for example, those grown in this way have a higher yield than irrigated ones ; The reason is that since it does not have as much water, its oil content is higher.
The weak points
This type of extensive agriculture receives different names in each part of the world: in Chile, for example, it is called rulo agriculture ; In the northern hemisphere , on the other hand, it is common to find it as rainfed agriculture , and it is practiced between the months of April and September.
Of course, like all methods and systems, extensive rainfed agriculture has its weaknesses and is not suitable for any type of crop or for any producer. One of its most obvious disadvantages is the possibility of delayed rainy seasons, something that can be fatal for sowing and lead to social problems such as famine.