Why do commercial farms only grow a single type of crop?
457886
Same as manufacturing facility that only mass produce single product, for efficiency and volume harvest.\n\nSame as aquaculture, you only raise all carp, or all crabs, all lobster or all shrimp. Same as farming, you don't mix pig and poultry.
47498
ACTUALLY it depends on the plants.  often if crowded together plants will compete for resources and the weaker "less fortunate" plants will eventually die, but grasses grow just fine when crowded together.  in a commercial environment i can say that we crowd plants as much as possible.  this allows for more plants per square foot of greenhouse.  however with reduced air flow comes increased fungi.  fungi and insect pests travel quickly through crowded plants, and it is difficult to treat them because pesticides don't penetrate crowded plants as well as "properly" spaced ones.  for best results on ornamental crops i suggest you dont get greedy, and give your plants lots of space.  have you ever seen a field of corn, or wheat, or strawberries, or potatoes?  if not, i can tell you that they are generally very crowded plants by they time they reach full size, and that they grow just fine under those conditions...\n1 individual plant can become root bound. this is a symtom of a small container, so i think this is irrelevant.
1182027
Actually, that is why there is a 10 month school year.  The kids were needed on the farms during the summer.\n\nAnd I am not going to try to verify the figures, but you have a number of migrant workers that move from crop to crop as the weather changes.  Which means starting out in the South, then moving North in late summer.\n\nThere are also some crops that cannot be mechanically harvested, they are too fragile.  Most of the berries are in this category.  Yeah, you can mechanically harvest pretty much all the grains, but I would love to hear of a machine that can harvest strawberries.\n\nUm, with an official population of 350 million or so, 12 million is indeed a small number.   And they are not even officially counted as population...
1032960
in subtropical area "peddy" & CORN & Wheat are grown but we can not genralise all the agricultural activities. it differes from region to region, what or which crop are you interested in?
953963
i would assume it would have something to do with not having to stake plants up, etc..they would grow straighter, because their fruits, branches, etc would not weigh them down as much.  i.e. tomatoes would not have to be staked up but would naturally grow straighter and keep their fruit off the ground.
459475
It uses up all of the "nutrients" or whatever in the soil.  Crop rotation and planting things like legumes were done to allow the land to recharge between planting cycles.
687172
Farmland usage greatly depends on the type of food being produced. Growing grains might require less farmland to produce enough to feed one person (for one day or for one year) than needing farmland to raise livestock or grow fruits and vegetables. Because of the different amounts of farmland needed to produce certain crops or livestock, you might look at either simplifying the problem -- either looking at a person's diet, and equating that to only one food source that is fairly universal (like rice) or looking at another unit of measurement that can be studied across different food sources, like water -- it takes water to grow crops for food, and it takes water to grow feed for food animals. The amount of farmland needed to feed a person greatly depends on diet -- meat production uses a lot more land than vegetation productions.\n\nCheck out the first link, and it helps to answer some of your questions with some actual numbers.\nThe second link mentions that "At least 1.2 acres per person is required in order to maintain current American dietary standards."\nThe third link states "Agriculture is the world's biggest user of water -- it takes at least 2,000 liters to produce enough food for one person for one day. That translates into 730,000 liters annually per person."
552248
LOL none I'm already a vegeterian. Hey! wait a minute don't they work on farms also, Dammit. Just kidding, but seriously, NONE.
162493
Its getting very competitive, capital intensive and companies have more resources and can spread then over a greater geographical area.  A good harvest in one area helps with a poor one in the other, next year it might be the reverse.\n\nFamily farm poor harvest means no income for that year plus interest on loans, puts you behind and harder to catch up.
683211
There's a very logical reason actually.\n\nWhen you give free food to other countries the net effect is run the local farmers out of business. \n\nThe can't compete with FREE as a price for the crops they raise. Even people who can afford to buy food that is raised locally spend their efforts trying to get the FREE food. The crops of local farmers rot or get sold for prices so much lower than production costs that they go broke.\n\nThe result is that a temporary shortage can become permanent.
565224
We don't have that much farmers! Most people work in the profit sector (petrol industry, banks/insurance, real estate, distribution of products, construction, etc. etc...) and some work in the non-profit sector (government, hospitals etc.) and just a few are farmers, fishermen, glass-house cultivation etc.
571989
I dont think large scale enhanced crops are a good idea except when the need is in place. \n\nBut if you think about it, naturally grown crops are really just a very slow version of the process they are trying to achieve.. farmers only use the good seeds, and take the best seeds to make the plants to produce the seeds. so its not very different.. only genetic designed crops are a way faster way to achieve it\n\nI say crops for human consumption are bound to reach the enhanced version, so if we want to keep the natural one it wont be for human consumption.
680771
No, plantkon are just very small plants and animals. They are not single celled organisms, but if they were, that wouldnt automatically make them bacteria. Bacteria can only be prokaryotic organisms.\n\nBacteria are constantly being eaten. There is bacteria on everything you eat, and very often, bacteria is used in the production of food.
259625
Plantations very in size. They are really just large farms.
113791
Dairy farming has become big busines, and unless you can afford to invest in a large operation with hundreds of cows and the equipment that goes with it, it's almost impossible to make a living at it.\n\nYou might be able to do better with organic farming - raising cows that are grass fed and selling unpasteurized milk for people who are looking for that for health benefits.  Look for states where selling unpasteurized milk is legal - it is not in Colorado; here you have to buy an interest in the cow and pay monthly maintenance fees to get unpasteurized milk.
1042913
A lack of variety is never good.  All it takes is one new disease or pest and you are wiped out.  Look at Irish potato famine.......
198399
If you were a plant you don't want to start growing (from a seed) right next to the parent plant as competition for sunlight and carbon dioxide would occur. Therefore, you want seeds to be dispersed by wind, water etc.