Day 43 – Q 2.Examine the factors responsible for development of plantations in Asia and America.

2. Examine the factors responsible for development of plantations in Asia and America. 

एशिया और अमेरिका में बाग़ान के विकास के लिए जिम्मेदार कारकों की जांच करें।

Introduction:

Plantation agriculture is confined within tropical areas, i.e., both sides of the equator. Plantations exist on every continent possessing a tropical climate. The plantation system however is considerably older in tropical America than in Asia and Africa. The tropical areas of Latin America, Asia and Africa are the areas where plantation agriculture has been developed.

Crops:

• Tree crops: rubber, coconut, areca nut, oil palm, teak, avocado.
• Perennial shrubs: coffee, tea, bananas, sugar cane, cocoa, cashew nut, almond, pistachio, macadamia.
• Perennial wines: grapes, vanilla, black pepper, betel vine.
• Spices: cardamom, pepper, and other spices
• Annual crops: sugar beets, cassava, sweet potato, pine apple potato, pepper, and tobacco

Body

Countries and plantation farming:

• Coffee plantation in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, Tanzania, Kenya.
• Sugarcane plantation in Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Puerto Rico and Philippines.
• Tea plantation in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia.
• Cocoa farming in West Indies, Ecuador, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana.
• Rubber plantation in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar, India. 
• Banana plantation in Mexico, Jamaica, Columbia, Brazil, Panama and Costa Rico. 

Factors responsible for development of plantations in Asia and America:

• Cheap labour: Colonies utilizing cheap and plentiful local labour. After independence most of the plantations were distributed among the local farmers.
• Capital: Finances were made by European powers during colonization time.
• Large labour: Due to the large size of a plantation, a lot of labour is needed to tend to the crops and work in the nearby processing factories. Most of them are permanent labourers housed near the plantations and taken care of by the plantation owner. For example in Malaysia’s large rubber plantations, many workers are hired to tap latex from rubber trees, and in India for plucking tea leaves in tea plantations or coffee berries in coffee plantations
• Climate: Most of the plantation crop requires less temperature and rainfall of 150-250mm. And also characterizing high, constant temperatures with small daily variations, ample rainfall, well-distributed throughout the year well-drained late rite soils.
• Topography: Water Stagnation is very harmful for Plantation Crops. Hilly and terrace type of areas are much suited as seen in Asia and America.
• Foreign estate farming: The farming is owned by the foreign state and the labour employed for the farming is local. For example Cocoa and coffee farms in Cameroon and Ivory Coast of Africa are owned by the French states.
• Transport: The produce may be processed on the farm itself or in nearby factories. The development of a transport network is thus essential for such farming.
• Single crop culture: Export-oriented specialised farming method where emphasis is given to raise a single crop – specially meant for export to the overseas countries
• Others:  Protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage (consume less and give more) have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located.

Conclusion

All forms of agriculture are controlled largely by temperature. Areas deficient in heat are deficient in agriculture. For that is one element of climate that man has not been able to create at economic costs on a large scale. Temperature determines the growth of vegetation through determining the length of the vegetative period