What is plantation agriculture? Its advantages and disadvantages | Tractorgyan

02 Aug, 2022

Plantation agriculture is a type of commercial farming wherein a single crop is allowed to be grown for the entire year for saying tea, coffee, banana, or cotton is grown. A large amount of labor and capital are required to carry out plantation agriculture.

What is plantation agriculture?

Plantation agriculture is an extensive type of agriculture where the large size of the farm is utilized to grow a single crop which is even known as monoculture.

Farming practice known as "plantation agriculture" involves the production of crops on a vast scale for financial gain. Although they can be found everywhere in the world, plantations are more frequently found in tropical and subtropical areas.

Plantation crops are typically cash crops, which means they fetch high prices when sold on the international market. Sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, bananas, and pineapples are some of the fruits and vegetables that are most frequently grown on plantations.

What are the features of plantation farming?

Huge fields are employed in commercial plantation farming to raise mostly cash crops for export.

Large yields of bananas, tea, sugarcane, espresso, elastic, cotton, and cotton were produced on plantations.

Commercial and plantation farming demands a significant amount of labor and money.

These harvests had to be transported to the industries that would process them.

Modern plantation agricultural methods are employed. crops that are exported and money used for other parts. Among the developed harvests are tea, espresso, sugarcane, and elastic

It cost a lot of money to do this. labor-intensive farming Crops are raised using advanced techniques.

Crops that are grown under plantation agriculture

Around the world, plantations are used to raise a variety of crops. These plants have a wide range of uses, including food, fuel, and fiber. The most popular crops raised on plantations include:

Tea

Coffee

Rubber

Cocoa

Betel Nut

Betel Leaf

Oil Palm

Bamboo

Sugarcane

Cashew

Rubber

Advantages of Plantation Agriculture

1. Plantation agriculture is a source of employment

Plantation agriculture leads to the generation of employment. Due to their extensive size, plantations require a huge workforce to operate various machines in both the farm and processing facilities. Consequently, plantations offer a lot of employment opportunities, raising the level of living in the regions where they are located.

2. Plantation agriculture is a source of government revenue and taxes generation

When plantations sell their goods domestically and abroad, a portion of their profits are paid to the government in taxes, and the government may also receive extra income from them in the form of a skills development levy and other fees. this broadens the government's tax base and enables it to offer its inhabitants more services like healthcare, education, and security.

3. Plantation agriculture leads to foreign exchange reserves

When crops are exported, foreign currency enters the country, allowing it to purchase imports and creating a favorable balance of trade that benefits the economy.

4. Plantation agriculture promotes agricultural and research development

Plantation farms support research that results in enhanced and higher-quality crops. Many plantations include research facilities that focus on creating high-yielding, disease-resistant seeds to secure high-quality crops.

Disadvantages of plantation agriculture

1. The displacement of people from their land which makes them landless is a result of plantation agriculture

People in the areas where plantations are built are typically transferred to other areas since plantation agriculture requires enormous expanses.

Plantations may also result in skyrocketing land prices and a dearth of land for people to grow and raise their families' food because they take up a lot of space.

2. Plantation agriculture is leading to deforestation

Large areas of land must be removed from their natural vegetation to establish plantations, which can cause issues including soil erosion, ecological disruption, and biodiversity loss.

3. Plantation agriculture leads to the multiplication of pests and disease

Plantation agriculture's use of monoculture may encourage the spread of pests and illnesses. Profit repatriation results in less money flowing through the economy.

Farmers that adopt monoculture on plantations lose soil fertility due to erosion and soil depletion. Even though they are capital-intensive and large-scale, the majority of East Africans live in poverty, which encourages foreign ownership.

Due to the monoculture practiced on these plantations, pests and illnesses are more likely to spread.

Read More