Hello bangmal,
I have done some more research for you and here are my results:
Crop Value (High or Low) – It is easy to understand that (by
definition) Cash Food Crops have a high crop value, whereas Staple
Food Crops have a lower value. Bananas, Coffee and Pineapples can be
exported easily outside the country. This contributes to the food
problem in that people are not only unable to buy the products of Cash
Food Crops (too expensive), but they also have a hard time finding
Staple Food Crops.
Size of Farm (50% of Football Field or Huge) –Staple food crops are
grown on smaller fields, while Cash Food crops are grown on large
“Analyses of the structural and functional aspects of tropical
homegardens show that the average size is less than 0.5 ha with large
numbers of tree and herbaceous species in a multistrata arrangement.”
ALSO: “In all cases, homegardens are associated with outlying fields
(usually treeless) where the shade-intolerant, staple food crops (such
as rice and corn) are grown.” SOURCE:
http://www.css.cornell.edu/ecf3/Web/new/AF/homeGardens_01.html
“Between 30 and 40 percent of the world's population and about
two-thirds of the world's farmers are living on small acreage
subsistence farms.” ALSO “Commercial farming systems […] tend to be
large.” SOURCE: http://www.ais.msstate.edu/age/lesson2/farmsys.html
Method of Production (Highly Mechanized or Labour Intensive): Cash
Crop Farms are highly mechanized while Labour intensive farms depend
on labourers (either a family or hired workers) to havest the crop.
“Commercial farming systems produce agricultural commodities for sale.
Capital is used to purchase items, such as tractors and machinery,
fertilizers, pesticides, improved plants, better breeds of animals,
and other technological innovations.” Source:
http://www.ais.msstate.edu/age/lesson2/farmsys.html “Yam is a highly
labour intensive crop” SOURCE:
http://infolab.aua.gr/tropicalproduce/eng/yam.html
Land Control/Owner (Local/Individual or Corporational): Cash crops are
more often owned by Corporations and Local/Individual farmers grow
more staple crops (they need food): “Most bananas are grown in
tropical countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Latin American
bananas are commonly referred to as the "dollar bananas" due to the
fact that they are controlled primarily by U.S. multi-nationals.”
SOURCE: http://www.web.net/fairfruit/banrealcost.html “Subsistence
farming systems grow only enough food and fiber for their own needs,
collect fuel and building materials from natural sources, and hardly
enter into the cash economy.” SOURCE:
http://www.ais.msstate.edu/age/lesson2/farmsys.html
Cost of Production (High or Low): Well it depends… Cash crops will
have a higher cost of production, but with the capital that the owners
have, it is probably a smaller risk. Comparatively speaking, the cost
of production for the available capital would be much higher for the
Staple food crops, but the overall cost of production is higher with
Cash crops. “For an average yield of 2500 cartons per hectare, the
production costs for Cavendish bananas in north Queensland are
estimated at $25 000 to $30 000 per hectare or about $10 to $12 per 13
kg carton. “ SOURCE: http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5242.html
People on the smaller subsistence farms probably do not even dream
about that kind of money.
Food Destination/Market – Cash crops usually go outside the country to
richer nations, or at least to richer areas of the country. The market
for the food crops is people in the general area and they are often
used to feed the people who are harvesting and the local people.
“Exports rely on cash crops, principally cotton and groundnuts; fruit
and vegetables are also exported to Europe.” SOURCE:
http://www.amadeus.net/home/destinations/en/guides/mali/bus.htm “The
vast majority of homegardens [the smaller farms] are subsistence
production systems.” SOURCE:
http://www.css.cornell.edu/ecf3/Web/new/AF/homeGardens_01.html By
definition, subsistence means feeding the people who farm the land.
Location of Land Owner – For cash crops, because of the high levels of
investment required, (and the profit that is possible) the cash crop
land is often owned by people from richer countries, or a rich member
of a specific country. For staple farms, the people generally live
right on the farm. RE: the Owner question, the Land Owner is often
located in the United States: “Latin American bananas are commonly
referred to as the "dollar bananas" due to the fact that they are
controlled primarily by U.S. multi-nationals.” SOURCE:
http://www.web.net/fairfruit/banrealcost.html We have also established
that subsistence farms (staple crops) are owned by often poor people
living on the land. Note that landowners of staple crops could also be
rich individuals who might not live on the land, but would probably
live in the immediate country.
Final Destination of Profits – Well, for Staple crops, the profits are
not that high in the first place, and are generally more for feeding
people. If a farmer were to make a profit, the profit would be more
likely to stay in the community/country. The destination of profits
for Cash Crops is often outside of the country, for example, bananas
exported to the United States (we have already established that the
owners are often in the United States) would be resold in a retail
atmosphere in the United States with more profit being generated which
does not find its way back to the tropical area.
Field Workers (Farmers or Farm Labourers) – This point is very
connected to the “Method of Production” question above. For the Cash
Food crops, with the technology that is used the people who run the
farm would be called farmers. Coffee harvesting is often mechanized to
reduce labour costs. SOURCE:
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~gmhyde/433_web_pages/coffee/student-pages/3harvest/harvest.htm
Note that there are Labourers involved in both staple crops and cash
crops in tropical countries, but cash crops generally use technology
when available to cut down on labour costs. There are indeed problems
labourers not being paid adequate amounts of money and even children
being mistreated and forced to work, but you are likely to find this
also with a poor family that is growing corn and potatoes and trying
to make a meager living.
Food Production Activity (Agriculture or Agribusiness) – Agribusiness
is often connected to large multinational agriculture companies who
manufacture technologies such as chemicals and tractors. Who do you
think they would be more interested in researching and working for?
While it is true that projects are designed and indeed currently in
progress to help improve staple food crop types, these projects are
often Government or University sponsored. In the event that a billion
dollar Agribusiness is sponsoring research in staple crop types, you
can be sure that there is another motive there, and that they will
retain the rights to the genetic product that comes out at the end,
and charge licensing fees. Source:
http://www.schoolnet.ca/learning/teacher/publications/agric/biotech/content.htm
I hope this was the type of answer you were expecting. Please let me
know if you require any clarifications and I will do my best to get
back to you as soon as possible.
All the best,
tisme-ga
Search Strategy (on Google):
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