The leading sector of the economy of the countries of Foreign Asia is Agriculture which employs the vast majority of the population. The agricultural development of the territory is not the same. It is greatest in Bangladesh, where about 70% of the total area is plowed up, and in India, more than 50%. The lowest rates - 10-15% - are in China, Afghanistan, Jordan, Iran.
The bulk of the peasants in Asia are landless or landless. The smallest arable land per capita is in Japan (0.02 ha), Indonesia (0.1 ha), Bangladesh (0.12 ha).
The drylands of Asia are dominated by extensive agriculture. Intensive farming is carried out on irrigated land, mainly in South and Southeast Asia, but a small proportion of the cultivated land is irrigated (10-20%).
The countries of the region produce the overwhelming part of the world production of tea, jute, natural rubber. These are the main export crops of Asia. Sowings of such industrial crops as cotton (India, Pakistan, Turkey), sugar cane (India, China, Philippines), oilseeds: peanuts, rapeseed, castor oil plant, sesame (India, China, North Korea), soybeans (China, North Korea ), olive plantations (Turkey, Syria).
Asia ranks prominently in the world for the production of copra, tropical and subtropical fruits, and a variety of spices (India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia).
The main food crop in Asia is rice (over 90% of world production). In many countries of the region, more than 50% of the total cultivated area is sown with rice. The first place in the world in the production of rice is China (190 million tons), the second - India (110 million tons). rice production is quite large in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar. Rice yield in most of these countries is low (20-25 c / ha), except for Japan and China (55.8 and 55.4 c / ha, respectively).
The second most important grain crop in Asia is wheat. The region provides approximately 20% of its world production. The largest wheat producers are China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia. Wheat is often grown as a winter crop on irrigated land.
Among the important grain crops of the region, one should also highlight corn (India, Indonesia, the Philippines), barley (India, Turkey, Iran). Millet and legumes are also important for food.
Livestock development in Asia is lower than in other parts of the world. In those areas where, due to natural conditions, agriculture is impossible (deserts, semi-deserts, mountainous regions), the main occupation of the population has long been nomadic cattle breeding. These areas are characterized by a high proportion of sheep in the herd of productive livestock. Camels are also bred. Yaks, zuo (a hybrid of a yak and a cow), and goats graze on pastures in high-altitude regions (for example, in the Himalayas). Extensive pastoralism. Marketable and, in particular, export livestock products are insignificant and mainly consist of wool, hides and skins.
In most of the densely populated countries of South and Southeast Asia, where agricultural areas are occupied by crops, the number of livestock is small. These areas are characterized by cattle (in particular water buffaloes), and in countries with non-Muslim populations - China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan - pigs are bred.
In India, which has the largest herd of cattle (about 200 million heads), it is used only as a draft force. Domesticated elephants are also used as working animals in the countries of South and South-East Asia, and camels, donkeys and horses in South-West Asia.
Recently, it has become fashionable (and profitable) to breed ostriches on farms.
economy of asia
In chapter Hometasks to the question GeOGRAFiA posed by the author Solovely the best answer is The leading branch of the economy of the overwhelming majority of the countries of Foreign Asia is agriculture.
The location of agriculture in the vast area of Overseas Asia is highly dependent on environmental factors.
Most of the territory of Foreign Asia is occupied by mountain systems, hills and plateaus, which are not very suitable for agriculture. Compared to the vast mountain ranges, the area of the lowlands is small. The low-lying regions of Foreign Asia (all of them are located along its western, southern and eastern margins) are well supplied with moisture, since they are located in the monsoon (eastern and southern part of the region) and Mediterranean (western part of the region) climate zone. High thermal and moisture supply (the amount of precipitation reaches 1000-2000 mm per year) in combination with the fertile soils of the alluvial plains makes it possible to develop here almost any direction of agriculture. More than 90% of its arable land is concentrated in this part of the region.
In the rest of the territory of Foreign Asia, the climate is unfavorable for agriculture: too humid in the equatorial regions (the amount of precipitation reaches 3000 mm or more per year) and too dry in the desert, semi-desert and alpine regions of South-West and Central Asia (the amount of precipitation barely reaches 50 mm in year). Successful farming here is possible only with land reclamation.
The main food crop of Overseas Asia is rice. Its countries (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, etc.) provide over 90% of world rice production. The second most important grain crop in Foreign Asia is wheat. In coastal, well-humid areas, winter wheat is grown, in the arid continental part, spring wheat. Among other cereals, sowings of corn and millet are significant. Despite the fact that Overseas Asia produces the vast majority of rice and about 20% of the world's wheat harvest, many of its countries import grain. The main export crops of Foreign Asia are tea, cotton, jute, sugar cane, natural rubber. Cotton and sugarcane are grown almost everywhere, with hevea plantations located in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The overwhelming part of the world tea production comes from India, China and Sri Lanka, jute - from India and Bangladesh.
Overseas Asia occupies a prominent place in the world for the production of soybeans, copra (dried pulp of a coconut), coffee, tobacco, tropical and subtropical fruits, grapes, various spices (red and black pepper, ginger, vanilla, cloves), which are also exported.
The level of development of animal husbandry in Overseas Asia is lower than in other regions of the world. The main branches of animal husbandry are cattle breeding and sheep breeding, and in countries with non-Muslim populations (China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan) - pig breeding. Horses, camels, and yaks are bred in desert and mountainous areas. Export products of animal husbandry are negligible and mainly consist of wool, hides and skins. Fishing is of great importance in coastal countries.
