What is a technical culture? Technical crops

Many people perceive almost everything that is grown on earth as food, but this is a mistaken opinion. Most of the world's agricultural land is devoted specifically to the cultivation of industrial crops. Every year more and more products are produced from them. And it's not just clothes. Soap, tires, medicines, cigarettes, construction materials and biofuel - this is not a complete list of the possibilities of such plants. In the turnover of many countries, industrial crops are as important as oil, iron ore or gas.

Types of industrial crops

Technical culture is raw material for industry. For convenience, these cultures were classified according to the principle of obtaining ready-made raw materials from them.

• Starch-containing crops. Cultivated, as is clear from the name, for the sake of obtaining starch from them. As a rule, it is found in tubers. Examples - potatoes, yams or sweet potatoes.
• Sugar-containing cultures. Plants that are grown for the sake of extracting sucrose from them. The most famous representatives of such cultures in our country are sugar beet and sugar cane. But there are also more rare plants, for example sugar maple, carob or chicory.
• Oilseeds. This is a large group of technical cultures. Its typical representatives are: sunflower, soybean, peanuts, oil trees, castor oil, rapeseed, sesame and others.
• Ethereous. Plants containing essential aromatic oils. The group is also huge. Cultures such as rose or lavender are world-famous raw materials for the world perfumery and cosmetics industry.
• Fibrous, or spinning. This group includes bast culture. These are flax, cotton, hemp, kenaf, sisal, rami.
• Rubber-bearing plants. The most famous are Hevea and Guayula.
• Toning. This group includes all plants from which produce tea, coffee, coca-cola, cocoa, tobacco.
• Cork or prokonosnye. This includes cork oak and Amur velvet.
• Other groups: dyeing (sophora, saffron, indigo), tanning (balan, oak, spruce), gutta-percha (chewescotch, payne), medicinal crops.

Cultivation of industrial crops

Technical crops occupy a large sown area in all countries. Before growing one or another of them, take into account not only the climatic conditions, but also the proximity of processing plants, the need in the market for raw materials that are produced from a particular crop.

In Russia, industrial crops are not cultivated very actively, as natural conditions make their cultivation time consuming, and large investments are required. In Ukraine, the geographical position of which is favorable for industrial crops, actively grow sugar beet, sunflower and flax.

All cereals and industrial crops require the use of special machines for cleaning and special tools. Usually this is also taken into account, preparing the area for one or another culture.

In connection with the growing interest of people in a healthy, environmentally friendly way of life, the cultivation of many industrial crops brings additional profit to producers. An example is the plantation of lavender in French Provence. To admire the blooming of this amazingly beautiful and fragrant plant people come from all over the world. For them, festivals and festivals are arranged, which bring a fair additional income.

Major technical crops in Russia

First of all, Russia is actively cultivating such a technical culture as sunflower. In the production of sunflower seeds, our country ranks second in the world (Argentina leads). This culture came to Russia under Peter I, along with potatoes. First, the sunflower was grown for decorative purposes, but then could appreciate the great benefits of this plant.

Once upon a time, the British had a monopoly on the production of sugar, since all the sugar cane crops belonged to them. Already in the eighteenth century other countries began to look for ways to meet the needs of their market in sugar. As a result, in 1747 the German chemist Andreas Marggraf found sugar in sugar beets. Now sugar beet is one of the main crops (technical) in many countries, and in Russia it occupies one percent of all planted land.

Russia has long been famous for producing flax. In Belarus and Russia, two-thirds of the world's flax fiber is cultivated. Russian cool and rainy summer is an ideal condition for growing flax. Although it is a fibrous culture, but flaxseed oil has a high nutritional value and is used for the preparation of high-quality paints. Linen fabrics are very durable, beautiful, they are used not only in the light, but also in the aviation, as well as in the automotive industry.

Technical cultures in the world

More than 20 million tons of cotton are produced every year in the world. This is the main technical culture in the world. One fifth of the world's quantity is harvested by the United States and China, 10 percent are cultivated in Pakistan and India, and many grow cotton in Turkey, Uzbekistan, Egypt and Syria. From a ton of cotton make 400 kg of fiber, from which you get three thousand meters of fabric.

India, China, Bangladesh and other Asian countries are famous for growing jute, sezal, supplying the whole world with sacking, ropes and rough fabrics. In South-East Asia, hevea grows, of which rubber products are made.

Ethereal and dyeing are grown in many countries. For example, almost all of the world's collection of saffron belongs to Iran. It is not only a dye, but also one of the most expensive condiments in the world. In order to get a kilogram of saffron, you need to collect 200 thousand crocuses.

It happens that technical agricultural crops become a symbol of the country. For example, a rose in Bulgaria. In this country in the Kazanlak Valley there is a world-famous Rose Museum. The country's rose oil brought world fame to Bulgaria.

In the world, such technical cultures as tobacco and hops are also popular. Cuban and Turkish tobacco are appreciated by smokers around the world, and Germany is famous for growing hops.

Genetically Modified Cultures and Their Possibilities

Soy is at the moment the main technical culture in the world. American scientists believe that this will be the main source of protein for humanity. The US produces three-quarters of all soybean in the world. Every tenth of all grain crops is soy. It is not only used for food, but also used for technical needs. From soybean oil you can make plastics, paints, biofuel.

Scientists are currently working on a wide application of such a technical culture as lupine. Its possibilities are even wider than those of soy. This technical culture is surprisingly multifunctional: the fibers give an excellent quality of the tissue, the oil is obtained from the plant with antioxidant properties, coffee is made from the roots. The world leader in the production of promising culture is Australia.

Petrol from industrial crops

Oil reserves on earth are coming to an end, and scientists around the world are working on the creation of optimal biofuel. A better technical culture is being sought for this purpose.

While leaders in this field are soybean, rapeseed and cotton, but there are less well-known plants. Among them - South American jatropha, Syrian swine, copayba, which grows in the tropics of the Amazon. In China, found the plant of the syndrome of Clabra. Its juice lights up like oil.

Cultivation of industrial crops has long gone beyond the limits of traditional agriculture and is becoming a modern high-tech industry with huge prospects. He who understands this today will win much tomorrow.