Farming And it's Historical Development

Farming has been a long standing venture as far as human race is concerned. It was inugurated by the Almighty Creator back then in the Garden of Eden according to the story of human creation. It involves the cultivation of crops e.g cassava, groundnuts, cotton, okra e.t.c and the raring of farm animals e.g pig, rabbit, goat e.t.c.
Farming or Agriculture can therefore be defined as the Art and Science of cultivating the soil, producing livestock, preparing livestock feeds, processing crops and livestock products for man's use. It also involves the process of selling excess crops and livestock.

The History of Farming or Agricultural Development

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The history and development of agriculture is closely related to the history of man and his search for food. Four stages are very pronounced; they are:

1. Hunting and gathering
2. Subsistence Farming
3. Cash Crop production
4. Commercial Farming.

Let's try and talk about the stages one after another.

1. Hunting and Gathering

   This was the early stage of Agriculture where the early man lived by hunting wild animals and gathering wild fruits.
   
   
   This system was characterised by the use of primitive tools like stones, bows and arrows, traps, clubs and wooden ploughs. There was little to eat and nothing to reserve for the next farming season.

2. Subsistence Farming

   This is a system of farming whereby a farmer just cultivate crops and rare animals in order to produce food for himself and his family only. It involves the use of very small area of land, labour is provided by the farmer and his family, crude implements like hoe, cutlass, digger etc are used, the produced from farm are not for sale, little capital is required, therefore the yield is also low.
   

3. Cash Crop Production

   This is more advanced stage of agricultural production. The farmer specializes in the cultivation of cash crops like cocoa, kola, citrus, groundnut, rubber, oil palm, etc. These crop are produced for export and they require processing into finished products before they can be consumed. Therefore the farmer sells the product in a semi-processed form.
   

4. Commercial Farming

   This is a type of farming that is done on a large scale. It involves the production of cash crops and animals in large quantity. Large area of farmland is required. Also required is the use of farm machines like tractors, cultivators, ploughs, harrows, planters, harvesters and the rest. Labour is both manual and mechanical and specialists are required in some stages of production. The returns are very high at harvest time. It also involves a lot of research into the different aspects of production. Moreso record-keeping is paramount so as to make proper and adequate decisions.
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