Cultural methods are

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

practices used to enhance crop and

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

health and prevent weed, pest or disease problems without the use of chemical substances. Examples include the selection of appropriate varieties and planting sites; selection of appropriate breeds of livestock; providing livestock facilities designed to meet requirements of species or type of livestock; proper timing and density of plantings;

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

; and extending a

growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. Whi ...

by manipulating the

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

with green houses, cold frames, or wind breaks. Helps in proper farming methods

History

#In the period preceding chemical fertilizer and pesticide use, agriculture played an important part in society. Agricultural output represented the strength of a country, considered directly proportional to its military power and the produce available to support the army in sustained operation. Critical to resources,

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

is critical to a successful agricultural economy. ## Cultural methods were divided into active composting, fertilizing, and

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. T ...

farming. Farmers practiced letting their land rest and allowing the wild vegetation to restore the soil.
In densely populated areas, fields are fertilized with green manure, organic waste from different sources, kitchen waste and ashes. In sparsely populated areas, a

strategy created greater labor demands.
One extension of active composting is the addition of charcoal and terra cotta bits; see

Terra preta ''Terra preta'' (, literally "black soil" in Portuguese language, Portuguese), also known as Amazonian dark earth or Indian black earth, is a type of very dark, fertile human impact on the environment, anthropogenic soil (anthrosol) found in the ...

. Journeytoforever.org Farmers of Forty Centuries—or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan by F. H. King Weeds—Guardians of the Soil by Joseph A. Cocannouer # Chemical fertilizer and pesticides: Chemical fertilizer and pesticides became available and the practice of improper tillage ushered in a period of lesser quality farming practices. ## Industrial Agri-business/Enterprise: With the success of the introduction of chemicals and mechanized farm operations, farms became larger and farmers equated chemicals and machines as a substitute for labor input. Farms worker numbers decreased dramatically. (e.g. from 48% of the population to about 2% in the 20th century.) The soil was depleted by imbalanced fertilizing and productivity was reduced further by improper tillage. Weeds are not permitted to grow, therefore inhibiting the buffer available in the

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...

. #

Organic movement The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic food and other organic products. It started during the first half of the 20th century, when modern large-scale agricultural p ...

: A movement towards

organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

that sees chemically-based production as adverse towards

soil health Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cultural Methods United States Department of Agriculture

History

See also

References