Latin America is known for producing food that are use for trading all around the world which helps with economic.
Here are some of the product that are grown here.
Here are some of the product that are grown here.
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Corn-A native of tropical America and now a staple in countries around the world, is the most widely cultivated crop throughout the continent. Argentina became a major exporter of corn during the 20th century.
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Beans-Are widely cultivated by small-scale methods and form an important food item in most countries in Latin America. They are also a top trading resources which help in economic growth.
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Sweet Potato-Are indigenous to the New World and have become the basic food staples for much tropical Africa and parts of Asia
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Potato-Originated in the high Andes, became a dietary staple of many European nations. The potato are also a a top resources that are traded among other countries.
Latin America and the Caribbean contribute 11% of the value of world food production and represent 24% of the world’s arable land. Right now, agriculture in the region suffers from slow growth in productivity. The annual rate of growth of total productivity in the region grew only 1.9 percent between 1961 and 2007 compared with 2.4 percent in OECD countries. In the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, where limited land availability is a key determinant of production expansion, the rate of growth is even lower: 1.1% for the same period.
Farmers in Latin America had many methods of farming. One way is Slash and Burn. Slash and burn agriculture is the process of cutting down the vegetation in a particular plot of land, setting fire to the remaining foliage, and using the ashes to provide nutrients to the soil for use of planting food crops. Places where open land for farming is not readily available because of dense vegetation are the places where slash and burn agriculture is practiced most often. These regions include central Africa, northern South America, and Southeast Asia, and typically within grasslands and rain forests. Slash and burn is a method of agriculture primarily used by tribal communities for subsistence farming (farming to survive). Humans have practiced this method for about 12,000 years, ever since the transition known as the Neolithic Revolution, the time when humans stopped hunting and gathering and started to stay put and grow crops. Today, between 200 and 500 million people, or up to 7% of the world’s population, uses slash and burn agriculture.
Even though this is an easier and more efficient way of Agriculture, Its also bad for the environment. Many critics claim that slash and burn agriculture contributes to a number of reoccurring problems specific to the environment. They include:
Even though this is an easier and more efficient way of Agriculture, Its also bad for the environment. Many critics claim that slash and burn agriculture contributes to a number of reoccurring problems specific to the environment. They include:
- Deforestation: When practiced by large populations, or when fields are not given sufficient time for vegetation to grow back, there is a temporary or permanent loss of forest cover.
- Erosion: When fields are slashed, burned, and cultivated next to each other in rapid succession, roots and temporary water storages are lost and unable to prevent nutrients from leaving the area permanently.
- Nutrient Loss: For the same reasons, fields may gradually lose the fertility they once had. The result may be desertification, a situation in which land is infertile and unable to support growth of any kind.
- Biodiversity Loss: When plots of land area cleared, the various plants and animals that lived there are swept away. If a particular area is the only one that holds a particular species, slashing and burning could result in extinction for that species. Because slash and burn agriculture is often practiced in tropical regions where biodiversity is extremely high, endangerment and extinction may be magnified.