Plantation agriculture Essay Example for Free

Plantation agriculture Essay Plantation agriculture is a kind of commercial arable farming in the world. It is especially important in humid tropics with luxuriant growth of vegetation. Its economic effectiveness is always emphasized, bringing both positive and negative impacts. In recent decades, crop diversification is introduced and the ecological balance of the natural environment is greatly conserved. Plantation agriculture refers to the growing of cash crops on large foreign owned estates in countries of tropical environment. It is usually practiced in a large scale with monoculture, in which only a certain type of plant is dominant. Take Papua New Guinea as an example, in the area, cacao, coffee and rubber are mainly grown in the region for export to other countries. Under this kind of farming, there are positive impacts to the economy. Firstly, due to its large scale of operation and being export-oriented in Papua New Guinea, the supply of products is regular and of uniformly high quality. With high demand for the products, this attracts large amount of investment of capital from the foreign countries, such as Europe and North America, thus allowing the farmers being financially able to provide the expensive machinery capable of turning out a high grade product. Benefiting from economies of scale, this enables both the transportation cost and production cost to be lowered. Secondly, plantations are also able to undertake greater scientific research and the eradication of pests and diseases. For example, one large sugar company in the former British colony of Guyana was able to employ a large research staff to produce a strain of sugar cane resistant to leaf-scald disease. Besides, government assistance has brought improved crop varieties, scientific research, new pesticides and fertilizers and effective marketing, The government of Papua New Guinea launched The Cape Hoskins Oil Palm Scheme to solve land disputes of many small holdings, strengthening national self-reliance. With increasing demand for the plantation, the employment rate of Papua New Guinea is greatly increased as there are more needs for personnel to manage crop growing and researching. Some crop processing and manufacturing industries are set up to satisfy the demand for crops. The farm productivity is increased as well. As people can earn more income from this kind of farming, this stimulates the rate of urbanization, hence the development of infrastructure and improvement of public facilities, such as roads, railways, ports, towns, schools, hospitals and the supply of electricity and water. As a result, the living standard of the labour is greatly improved. Despite the economic benefits, plantation farming somehow brings negative impacts to Papua New Guinea. First is the reliance upon the protected markets in Australia. At present, about one-third of the copra, 40 percent of the coffee, most of the cocoa and rubber is exported to Australia, which is assigned to admit duty free. In return, Papua New Guinea has to pay taxes for any imports. This leads to outflow of capital to foreign countries because this kind of farming is highly export-oriented. Second is the problem of labour. Plantations require large amount of cheap labour, but the wage rate is progressively higher because of the rising living standard and commercialization of the country. This increases the cost of production and thus reduces the competitiveness among other countries for the same kind of farming. Apart from this, the risk of crop failure is an important factor for consideration. As plantation agriculture is highly specialized. People highly rely on monoculture to earn a living. When the price of cash crops falls drastically or there is a sudden of crop failure, the income of farmers will fall as well. As a result, the earning of farmers tend to be unstable and badly affected the national income of Papua New Guinea. Besides, people have to import other necessities from other countries instead of planting within their own country, self-sufficiency cannot be achieved. In this way, there is no other source to safeguard the return of farmers. To overcome the negative impacts, crop diversification is a good method to reduce the over-reliance on certain types of cash crops. Ecologically, this method can also be beneficial to the environment. Since different types of crops are grown, the risk of crop failure decreases. This can stop the spread of diseases and pests for a particular type of crops. The population of pests decreases. This in turn reduces the use of pesticides. Hence, the chance of stream pollution is smaller, the sea organisms will not be poisoned or suffocated so easily, the nutrient flow can be more stable. There will be greater diversity of species of biomass, so the ecosystem will be more stable. Furthermore, diversification of crops increases the vegetation cover. There will be less surface runoff and soil erosion, yet infiltration increases. The nutrients of the soil can be preserved. Crop diversification also reduces the exhaustion of certain type of nutrients, fertility can be maintained and thus the use of fertilizer will be less common as well. Climatically, because of less crop failures, the amount of biomass increases. The evapotranspiration rate and wind speed can be more stable, so the microclimate can be maintained constant, the risk of global warming will not be getting serious so fast. In conclusion, plantation of cash crops is significant in Papua New Guinea for economic development. Though crop diversification may not be as profitable as plantation agriculture, ecological environment should not be ignored. In long-term, diversification of crops is a good way to safeguard the natural environment and brings more stable income to the farmers as well.

Product Study - Quorn Vegetarian Foods Essay -- Business Analysis, Veg

Analysis of the Situation There are currently 4 million vegetarians in the UK, and this figure is increasing at a rate of 5,000 each week. The fact that the number of vegetarians in the UK has doubled in the past ten years, proves vegetarianism to be constantly gaining popularity. The UK retail market for vegetarian foods is increasing by eight per cent per year, reflecting the constant demands for meat alternatives. Quorn products are amongst the most popular vegetarian foods in the UK, which is indicated through the vast amount of people choosing Quorn products as regular mealtime alternatives to meat based meals. I have chosen Quorn chicken style nuggets as my product study, as it is a well-established meat alternative, and one of Qourn's best selling products. Quorn as a company cater for many different needs of customers from social groups including religion and faith, culture, low fat diets, and of course, vegetarians themselves. History of Micoprotein and Quorn Products In the 1960's nutritionists and health experts were concerned that the predicted growth in population would mean that by the 1980's there would be a global protein shortage. Nutritionists and food scientists started a search to find new foods, which would help to meet the predicted increase in demand. The discovery of an organism occurring naturally in the soil ultimately gave Marlow Foods the opportunity to develop such a new food; mycoprotein. Research and product development work progressed. It wasn't until the early 1980's that mycoprotein could be grown on a com... ...gether to produce the batter for the nuggets. The flour and starch are mixed together along with water, and the salt is then added for flavouring. The batter is then set allowing he breadcrumbs to stick to it Wheat flour, wheat germ, yeast, salt Ââ€" are all used to make the breadcrumbs for the nuggets. The yeast allows the crumbs to grow and mixes with the ingredients, where as the wheat starch and flour are the main ingredients forming the crumbs. The salt is again used for extra flavouring. Sunflower oil Ââ€" replaces the fat in the mixture, making it a healthier option. It allows the nuggets to be fried a lot more easily, due to its high smoke point. Packaging. www.understandingfoodadditives.org Functions of ingrediants Compare chicken with quorn nuggets Packaging Price http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/awareness_campaigns/may_vegetarian.shtml

Africa Change over Time Essay

Around the period during the second World War and the Cold War, a Red Scare went on in the most powerful and influential capitalist countries of the world. The Red Scare was basically a fear of the spread of communism. According to the Domino Theory, which was developed in that era, if a specific country turned to communism, communism would soon spread to all the other countries in that area. This fear caused the United States to jump into action at the slightest sign of communist influence in many places in the world, especially subsaharan Africa. However, over the years, this fear has eased, and the U. S. is more prone to attempting to aid these nations, rather than destroying them. In sub-saharan Africa, from around 1900 to present day, conditions there have both changed and stayed the same. On one hand, western involvement in the area has changed, but on the other hand, the constant civil wars and oppressive circumstances from the past still exist today. Sub-saharan Africa from the beginning of the 20th century up to this present day has been under constant civil war. South Africa, Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia and Zaire (or the Republic of Congo) are good examples of this. South Africa was first colonized by the Dutch who integrated themselves into the country. However, in the late 19th century, the English conquered South Africa and moved the Boers (the Dutch-Africans) to the north of the country where they clashed with the native Zulu tribe. When diamonds where later discovered in that area, the Dutch and the English had wars for the territory. In Sudan, a fundamentalist Islamic group that sits at the head of the government was at civil war with a rebel Christian group. The main reason for this conflict was the obvious religious differences. This conflict has ruined many crops and homes of civilians and forced many others to flee the country. In Mozambique the civil So? a Gruber war there was a proxy war between the Soviet Union, that influenced a Marxist government in that area, and the U. S. , that sponsored a rebel movement to usurp the communist government. Similarly, in Angola and Ethiopia, a proxy war, sponsored by the two Cold War superpowers tear the countries apart, causing widespread famine and suffering. Finally, the civil war in Congo, that has lasted for decades, was a tug for power between both left and right leaders who, nonetheless, where all power hungry and corrupt. In sub-saharan Africa, there is a continuous pattern of oppression of the people. The examples for this seem to be endless, between constant genocides and militaristic dictators, the people in sub-saharan Africa suffer and die in squalor. In Rwanda, a mass genocide erupted when the Hutu tribe blamed the Tutsi tribe for their leader’s death. In a time span of 100 days, nearly 8000 people died, and countless more were injured in unspeakable ways. Throughout all of Africa, the use of child soldiers has become extremely popular. It is not uncommon for a 10 year old boy (sometimes even younger) to be drugged and paraded down the street while they shot innocent civilians and mutilated them. The living conditions in many nations are unspeakable. Many families live in shacks with no running water, and very few of them have any means of contact to the outside world (television, phones, radio, ect. ). Constant civil war force many families to flee their country, creating refugees for other countries, who stick them all in refugee camps. Most methods of war involve hurting civilians, in Sudan, a popular resistance method was scorched-earth policies. Here, armies would burn down everything that would be essential to life, ensuring that no aid would be available to their opponent. In South Africa, mostly, apartheid was practiced to the extreme. Not only were there segregated bathrooms and schools, but entire towns. A white minority would live in splendor, while the black, native majority would live in squalor. From 1900 to present day, the world’s involvement in sub-saharan Africa has drastically changed. Western involvement in sub-saharan Africa mainly consisted in imperialistic motives and proxy wars. However, its started to change into wanting to help improve the standard of living. South Africa is a very good example of this. In the times of imperialism, England and Holland both had interest in South Africa. England wanted to create colonies there and the Dutch were already there. After the Dutch kicked the English out of the country, they set up their own personal empire in the region. They created a world where whites ruled over blacks. The insalubrious living conditions there for the native black majority eventually set off the rest of the world. After years of both internal and external pressure, the South African government finally ended apartheid in the country. This type of change goes on in many African countries. Most of these countries suffer due to futile proxy wars set up in the region by both Soviet and American forces. After decades of watching this fighting, the world decided to step in and help. Red Cross is sent in there to aid and occasionally, the United Nations tries to stop these wars. Non-profit organizations, such as UNICEF and Hand Up Africa encourage western civilians to take part in working for peace in the sub-saharan African nations. Despite the change in western attitude towards sub-saharan African nations, most of them still are under the threat of constant civil war and their people live in oppressive circumstances. Many of these civil wars were caused by the American fear towards communism and tribal and religious differences. These conflicts bring rise to militaristic dictatorships and decrease the standard of living prominently. However, in retrospect, western nations seemed to have repented for their destruction of the large continent and continuously attempt to rebuild it.

Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer

Christopher Columbus (c. October 31, 1451–May 20, 1506) was an Italian explorer who led voyages to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. His exploration of these areas paved the way for European colonization. Since his death, Columbus has been criticized for his treatment of Native Americans in the New World. Fast Facts: Christopher Columbus Known For: Columbus completed four voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain, preparing the way for European colonization.Born: October 31, 1451 in GenoaDied: May 20, 1506  in Castile, Spain Early Life Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa (now Italy) in 1451 to Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver, and Susanna Fontanarossa. Though little is known about his childhood, it is assumed that he was well-educated because he was able to speak several languages as an adult and had considerable knowledge of classical literature. He is known to have studied the works of Ptolemy and Marinus, among others. Columbus first took to the sea when he was 14 years old, and he continued to sail throughout the rest of his youth. During the 1470s, he went on numerous trading trips that took him to the Aegean Sea, Northern Europe, and possibly Iceland. In 1479, he met his brother Bartolomeo, a mapmaker, in Lisbon. He later married Filipa Moniz Perestrello, and in 1480 his son Diego was born. The family stayed in Lisbon until 1485, when Columbus wife Filipa died. From there, Columbus and Diego moved to Spain, where Columbus began trying to obtain a grant to explore western trade routes. He believed that because the earth was a sphere, a ship could reach the Far East and set up trading routes in Asia by sailing west. For years, Columbus proposed his plans to the Portuguese and Spanish kings, but he was turned down each time. Finally, after the Moors were expelled from Spain in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered his requests. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silk from Asia, to spread Christianity, and to explore China. In return, he asked to be made admiral of the seas and governor of discovered lands. First Voyage After receiving significant funding from the Spanish monarchs, Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, with three ships—the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria—and 104 men. After a short stop at the Canary Islands to resupply and make minor repairs, the ships set out across the Atlantic. This voyage took five weeks—longer than Columbus had expected, as he believed the world was much smaller than it is. During this time, many of the crew members became ill and some died from diseases, hunger, and thirst. Finally, at 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492, sailor Rodrigo de Triana sighted land in the area of what is now the Bahamas. When Columbus reached the land, he believed it was an Asian island and named it San Salvador. Because he did not find any riches here, Columbus decided to continue sailing in search of China. Instead, he ended up visiting Cuba and Hispaniola. On November 21, 1492, the Pinta and its crew left to explore on its own. On Christmas Day, the Santa Maria wrecked off the coast of Hispaniola. Because there was limited space on the lone Nina, Columbus had to leave about 40 men behind at a fort they named Navidad. Soon after, Columbus set sail for Spain, where he arrived on March 15, 1493, completing his first voyage west. Second Voyage After the success of finding this new land, Columbus set sail west again on September 23, 1493, with 17 ships and 1,200 men. The purpose of this second journey was to establish colonies in the name of Spain, check on the crew at Navidad, and continue the search for riches in what Columbus still thought was the Far East. On November 3, the crew members sighted land and found three more islands: Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica, which Columbus thought were islands off of Japan. Because there were still no riches to be found, the crew went on to Hispaniola, only to discover that the fort of Navidad had been destroyed and the crew killed after they mistreated the indigenous population. At the site of the fort, Columbus established the colony of Santo Domingo, and after a battle in 1495 he conquered the entire island of Hispaniola. He then set sail for Spain in March 1496 and arrived in Cadiz on July 31. Third Voyage Columbus’s third voyage began on May 30, 1498, and took a more southern route than the previous two. Still searching for China, Columbus found Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Margarita on July 31. He also reached the mainland of South America. On August 31, he returned to Hispaniola and found the colony of Santo Domingo there in shambles. After a government representative was sent to investigate the problems in 1500, Columbus was arrested and sent back to Spain. He arrived in October and was able to successfully defend himself against the charges of treating both the locals and the Spaniards poorly. Fourth and Final Voyage Columbus final voyage began on May 9, 1502, and he arrived in Hispaniola in June. He was forbidden from entering the colony, so he continued to explore areas nearby. On July 4, he set sail again and later found Central America. In January 1503, he reached Panama and found a small amount of gold but was forced out of the area by those who lived there. After encountering numerous problems, Columbus set sail for Spain on November 7, 1504. After he arrived there, he settled with his son in Seville. Death After Queen Isabella died on November 26, 1504, Columbus tried to regain his governorship of Hispaniola. In 1505, the king allowed him to petition but did nothing. One year later, Columbus became ill, and he died on May 20, 1506. Legacy Because of his discoveries, Columbus is often venerated, notably in the Americas where places such as the District of Columbia bear his name and where many people celebrate Columbus Day. Despite this fame, however, Columbus was not the first to visit the Americas. Long before Columbus, various indigenous peoples had settled and explored different areas of the Americas. In addition, Norse explorers had already visited portions of North America. Leif Ericson is believed to have been the first European to visit the area and set up a settlement in the northern portion of Canadas Newfoundland some 500 years before the arrival of Columbus. Columbuss major contribution to geography is that he was the first to visit and settle in these new lands, effectively bringing a new area of the world to the forefront of the popular imagination. Sources Morison, Samuel Eliot.  The Great Explorers: the European Discovery of America. Oxford University Press, 1986.Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips.  The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. Cambridge University Press, 2002.