Modern arable agriculture typically uses large fields like this one in Dorset, England.

Percentage of arable land by country, from CIA figures

In geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to plough) is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A green field or paddock In agriculture, a field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as: Cultivating crops Usage as a paddock or generally an enclosure of livestock Land left to lie fallow or as arable land See also Pasture... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dÉ”.sÉ™t], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1357x628, 52 KB) [edit] Summary Arable land percentage by country, as listed on CIA factbook, accessed June 2006. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1357x628, 52 KB) [edit] Summary Arable land percentage by country, as listed on CIA factbook, accessed June 2006. ... The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The traditional way: a German farmer works the land with a horse and plough. ... Land in economics comprises all naturally occurring resources whose supply is inherently fixed (i. ... Farmlands in Hebei province, China. ...

Of the earth's 57 million square miles (148,000,000 km²) of land, approximately 12 million square miles (31,000,000 km²) are arable; however, arable land is being lost at the rate of over 100,000 km² (38,610 square miles) per year.

A major element of arable land loss comes from deforestation (starting in the Middle Ages in Europe as well as Asia). Such deforestation continues to the present day primarily in tropical countries by commercial over-exploitation of tropical forest. Not uncommonly the deforestation is so extreme that is leads to desertification or total loss of arable land, such as occurred in the vast central highland plateau of Madagascar following extensive slash-and-burn. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area or wasteland. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Assarting in Finland in 1892 Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used in forested areas. ...

A smaller, but important loss of arable land arises from the lack of renewal of rich flooding sediment due to flood control works. Part of the arable land on earth is around the largest rivers on earth; for example, the Nile River, the Mississippi River, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Yellow River, the Amazon River, the Ganges and the Rhine River. The Nile (Arabic: , transliteration: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest named river in North America, with a length of 2320 miles (3733 km) from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. ... The Tigris is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq. ... Surfer Rosa The Euphrates (IPA: /juːˈfreɪtiːz/; Greek: EuphrátÄ“s; Akkadian: Pu-rat-tu; Hebrew: פְּרָת PÄ•rāth; Syriac: Prâth; Arabic: الفرات Al-Furāt; Turkish: Fırat; Kurdish: فرهات, Firhat, Ferhat, Azeri: FÉ™rat) is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia (the other... The Yellow River or Golden River (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin:  ; Wade-Giles: Hwang-ho, sometimes simply called the River in ancient Chinese) is the second longest river in China (after Yangtze River) and the seventh longest in the world, at 5464 km long [1]. Originating in the Bayankala... This article is about the river. ... Early morning on the Ganges The River Ganges (Ganga in Indian languages) (Devanagiri गंगा) is a major river in northern India. ... The Rhine (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. ...

In the case of the Nile, the river floods regularly, overspilling its banks. When the flood is over, the rivers recede, leaving behind rich silt. This silt is excellent fertilizer for crops. Even if the land is overfarmed, and all the nutrients are depleted from the soil, the land renews its fertility when the next flood comes. Thus, flood control projects such as levees may increase human comfort, but cause substantial adverse impact to the quantity and quality of arable land. The most important part of arable land comes from sediments left by those rivers and the sea in the geological times. These days, the rivers do not generally flood as much agricultural land, due to the demands of flood control to support instensive agriculture required of an overpopulated Earth. Silt is soil or rock derived granular material of a specific grain size. ... A crop is any plant that is grown in significant quantities to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, or for another economic purpose. ... A nutrient is either a chemical element or compound used in an organisms metabolism or physiology. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Dike (construction). ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... Map of countries by population density (See List of countries by population density. ...

Non-arable land

Land which is unsuitable for arable farming usually has at least one of the following deficiencies: no source of fresh water; too hot (desert); too cold (arctic); too rocky; too mountainous; too salty; too rainy; too snowy; too polluted; or too nutrient poor. Clouds may block the sunlight plants need for photosynthesis (making sunlight into food), reducing productivity. Plants can starve without light. Starvation and nomadism often exists on marginally arable land. Non-arable land is sometimes called wasteland, badlands, worthless or no man's land. The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ... A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ...

In rare cases, non-arable land can be converted into arable land. New arable land makes more food, and can reduce starvation. This outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. Making non-arable land arable often involves digging new irrigation canals and new wells, aqueducts, desalination plants, planting trees for shade in the desert, hydroponics, fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, reverse osmosis water processors, PET film insulation or other insulation against heat and cold, digging ditches and hills for protection against the wind, and greenhouses with internal light and heat for protection against the cold outside and to provide light in cloudy areas. This process is often extremely expensive. A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... Shevchenko BN350 desalination unit situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea. ... Hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... Reverse osmosis is a separation process that uses pressure to force a solvent through a membrane that retains the solute on one side and allows the pure solvent to pass to the other side. ... Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester film is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation. ...

Some examples of infertile non-arable land being turned into fertile arable land are:

• Aran Islands: This island off the west coast of Ireland, (not to be confused with the Isle of Arran in Scotland's Firth of Clyde), was unsuitable for arable farming because it was too rocky. The people covered the island with a shallow layer of seaweed and sand from the ocean. This made it arable. Today, crops are grown there.
• Israel: Israel was mostly desert until desalination plants were built on the coast. The plants turn salt water into fresh water for farming, drinking, and washing. They created their own large fresh water source.
• Slash and burn agriculture uses nutrients in wood ash, but these run out within a few years.

Some examples of fertile arable land being turned into infertile land are: This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Arran shown within Clyde Coast The Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde (430 km²). It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic)1 Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime... Map of the Firth of Clyde and area The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. ... Shevchenko BN350 desalination unit situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea. ... Assarting in Finland in 1892 Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used in forested areas. ...

• Droughts like the 'dust bowl' of the Great Depression in the U.S. turned farmland into desert.
• Rainforest Deforestation: The fertile tropical forests turn into infertile desert land. For example, Madagascar's central highland plateau has become virtually totally barren (about ten percent of the country), as a result of slash-and-burn deforestation, an element of shifting cultivation practiced by many natives.
• Romans' destruction of Carthage: At the end of the Punic Wars, legend has it that the victorious Romans sowed the earth with salt, to symbolize total victory. The Roman symbol meant that Carthage would never grow back - their civilization ended. (Whether this actually happened is debatable due to the logistics involved. Salt was very valuable and was used as money at the time, and it would have taken a lot of salt to ruin the whole area. See Carthage for details.) Crops won't generally grow in highly saline soil. This is why salt water from the ocean can't be used to water crops.
• Each year more arable land is lost to desertification and erosion from human industrial activities. Improper irrigation of farm land can wick the sodium, calcium, and magnesium from the soil and water to the surface. This process steadily concentrates salt in the root zone, decreasing productivity for crops that are not salt-tolerant.
• Urban sprawl: In the United States, about 2.2 million acres (8,900 km²) of land was added to urban areas between 1992 and 2002, much of it farm land now paved.

This article does not adequately cite its references. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Assarting in Finland in 1892 Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used in forested areas. ... Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which a person uses a piece of land, only to abandon or alter the initial use a short time later. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Carthage (Greek: , from the Phoenician Kart-hadasht meaning new town, Arabic: ‎, Latin: ) refers both to an ancient city in North Africa located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ... History -- Military History -- War The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and the Phoenician city of Carthage. ... This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... Carthage (Greek: , from the Phoenician Kart-hadasht meaning new town, Arabic: ‎, Latin: ) refers both to an ancient city in North Africa located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of ocean currents, wind, water, or ice by downward or down-slope movement... General Name, Symbol, Number sodium, Na, 11 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 3, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 22. ... General Name, Symbol, Number calcium, Ca, 20 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 4, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 40. ... General Name, Symbol, Number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 24. ... Urban sprawl (also: suburban sprawl), a term with pejorative implication, refers to the unplanned, rapid and expansive growth of a greater metropolitan area, traditionally suburbs (or exurbs) over a large area. ...

See also

• List of environment topics
• Fertility (soil)

This page aims to list articles related to the natural environment. ... Soil fertility is the characteristic of soil that supports abundant plant life. ...

References

External links

• Surface Area of the Earth
• Conserving Land: Population and Sustainable Food Production