25-10-2012, 02:40 PM
Cash crop
Cash crop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf (Size: 60.09 KB / Downloads: 24)
Cash crop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.pdf (Size: 60.09 KB / Downloads: 24)
The term is used to differentiate from
subsistence crops, which are those fed to the
producer's own livestock or grown as food for
the producer's family. In earlier times cash
crops were usually only a small (but vital) part
of a farm's total yield, while today, especially in the developed
countries, almost all crops are mainly grown for cash. In nondeveloped
nations, cash crops are usually crops which attract demand
in more developed nations, and hence have some export value.
In many tropical and subtropical areas, jute, coffee, cocoa, sugar
cane, bananas, oranges and cotton are common cash crops. In cooler
areas, grain crops, oil-yielding crops and some vegetables and herbs
are predominate; an example of this is the United States, where corn,
wheat, soybean are the predominant cash crops. Coca, poppies and
cannabis are other popular black-market cash crops, the prevalence
of which varies. In the United States cannabis is considered by some
to be the most valuable cash crop.[1]
Prices for major cash crops are set in commodity markets with global scope, with some local variation (called
basis) based on freight costs and local supply and demand balance. A consequence of this is that a nation,
region, or individual producer relying on such a crop may suffer low prices should a bumper crop elsewhere lead
to excess supply on the global markets. This system is criticized by traditional farmers. Coffee is a major part of
this.