Intensive Agriculture

The intensive agriculture/farming that we see today, involves high capital investment. Typical characteristics of this form of agriculture include excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hi-tech machinery and employing high number of labor (per unit land). The main aim of carrying out intensive agriculture is earning maximum amount of profit from a given piece of land.

Capital Intensive Agriculture
Mechanization of agriculture to bring about maximum production in the available space is the core principle of capital intensive agriculture. Pesticides are used to kill insects which harm the main crop. Herbicides used to carry out this form of agriculture destroy weeds that infiltrate the territory of these main crops. Fertilizers used in this type of farming have a chemical base. Nutrients obtained from these fertilizers cater to certain specific needs of the plants. For example, nitrogenous chemical fertilizers bring about rapid growth of the green portion (leaves) of the plant. Unlike organic fertilizers (compost) used in organic or sustainable farming, the chemical fertilizers do not provide complete/wholesome nutrition to plants. Growth regulators are also used in intensive agriculture to increase production of crops.

Intensive Agriculture Advantages
Intensive agriculture though has many harmful effects on soil, plants and the quality of crops obtained, there are however, few short terms advantages that one can avail. Intensive agriculture being a commercial form of agriculture, food obtained (only in terms of quantity and not quality) from a given piece of land is high. Consumers are benefited from the availability food grains (and other crops) at a lesser price.

Alternatives to Intensive Agriculture

Most of the problems we see in today's agriculture scenario have resulted from wrong interpretation and usage of the word 'intensive'. The common definition of intensive agriculture, as is taught to students of agriculture and farmers worldwide, is maximizing the profits obtained from commercial farming by the 'intensive' use of capital for chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.), expensive machinery and related things. Intensive agriculture/farming should no doubt, be a way of extracting profits from a given piece of land. However, the manner in which it is done today, is crude and lacks knowledge about the basic nature of plants. Sustainable farming can be practiced even in small patches of land without investing much capital in chemical fertilizers. Intensive agriculture should be aimed at making optimum use of natural resources without harming them. And this can be done 'intensively' i.e. for obtaining profits. Here are few of the techniques of intensive farming which affect the environment to the least.

Intercropping
The intercropping allowing growing two different crops plants with different requirements on the same piece of land. For example, shallow rooted plants are grown with those having deep roots. The principle behind using the intercropping technique is keeping the crops from competing with each other. It helps in healthy growth of these plants and also results into increased yield.

Organic Farming
Use of organic farming techniques can yield crops which don't contain chemicals. Organic foods obtained from such type of farming are good for health and hence fetch more price than those produced with intensive farming. The cost incurred in chemical fertilizers is reduced if agriculture is done in the organic way. The beneficial insects present in the soil, due to the absence of chemicals are not killed.

The advantages and disadvantages of intensive farming presented in the article above, should clear some fundamental concepts about this type of farming. One should incorporate better ideas which promote sustainable use of land in intensive agriculture to partake in the preservation of environment. Finally, it is necessary to keep a balance between commerce and careful use of natural resources.