Plantation crops such as tea, rubber, coconuts, and coffee are grown in Asia. Tea is indigenous to China, which is the world's largest producer, fol lowed by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Tea is Sri Lanka's largest export crop, accounting for about one third of annual exports by value. Tea is grown in the central highlands of Sri Lanka and in the hilly regions of northeastern India and Bangladesh. Rubber is grown in Malaysia and Indonesia which account for about 75 percent of total world production and Cambodia, India, and Sri Lanka. Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka are world-leading exporters of coconuts and coconut products.
Green Revolution
A dramatic growth in food production in Asia began with the Green Revolution in the late 1960's, particularly for wheat and rice. Cultivation of the new varieties of rice and wheat caused an impressive increase in the use of fertilizer and the expansion of irrigation, particularly the exploitation of groundwater through tube wells. With proper and timely application of fertilizers and water, yields of wheat can be tripled, and yields of rice can be doubled.
Critics of the Green Revolution have concentrated on the negative impacts of increased use of fertilizer and pesticides, which causes surface water pollution. With high-yield seeds, three crops a year can be cultivated. Adopting this practice has two consequences: It causes overuse of land, a major source of land degradation, and it leads to increasing monocultures of rice and wheat, reducing the genetic diversity of food crops.
Without the Green Revolution, feeding current Asian populations at prevailing nutritional standards would have been impossible. New agricultural practices enabled Asia to avoid the famine that was widely predicted in the 1970's. The new rice and wheat varieties also have stimulated agricultural employment, because more people are needed to cultivate, harvest, and handle the increased production.
Throughout Asia, agricultural growth and the increase in food production were somewhat slower in the 1990's than in the 1980's. The opportunity for bringing more land under cultivation has largely been exhausted. Therefore, any increase in crop output will have to come largely from an increase in yields. Rice and wheat yields are still relatively low in many Asian countries, primarily because of low use of modern agricultural inputs. For example, the use of chemical fertilizer in South Asian countries has not reached the levels of neighboring regions.
Demand for fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, milk, and an egg is likely to grow with the increased urbanization and industrialization of Asia. This will reduce the demand for cereal crops. In Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, consumption of rice has already begun to decline. Increased crop production is required to feed the growing populations of most Asian countries. While increasing agricultural production, Asian policymakers must also promote environmentally sound technologies and implement effective land reforms to address the problems of inequality and poverty caused by land-lessness. Better crop management and better management of irrigation water are also needed to sustain agricultural growth in Asian countries.
See also: Rice and Wheat, Slash, Forestry
|
