Agricultural Practices and Rural Land Use in Spain
Agricultural Uses of Rural Space
The uses of rural areas are mainly agricultural: agriculture, livestock, and forestry.
- The area occupied by such use in Spain is divided between cropland, which tends to decrease; natural pastures and grasslands, which are stable; and forest land, which has increased. There is a growing percentage occupied by other surfaces, due to the introduction of non-agricultural uses in rural areas and the extension of protected natural areas, although there are marked differences between regions.
- The concentration of each application to the final agricultural production (PFA) has evolved from a predominance of crop production over animal production to a relative balance between 60-65% and 40-35%. There are annual variations due to weather conditions and strong contrasts between communities.
Agricultural Activity
Traditional agriculture is based on polyculture, backward techniques, and extensive farming systems, which cause low yields. It is oriented toward subsistence production or the sale of surpluses on the domestic market.
Agricultural Structure and its Recent Transformations
a) Agriculture tends to specialize in the best products of each region.
b) The culture incorporates modern techniques:
- Seeds are selected, and simple transgenic crops are used, engineered to provide them with certain properties and increase yields.
- The use of pesticides and fertilizers has grown, too.
- The use of machinery, which increased since the 1960s, has reached acceptable levels. But part of it is aging and underutilized, given the small size of many farms and the limited extent of collective use through cooperatives or services for yourself. Today, companies are encouraged to renew machines for more efficient, safer, and greener ones and promote collective use.
- Various techniques are used to overcome natural limitations. Cover crops, plastic mulch strips, and greenhouses with fixed structures, plastic, or glass create a warm and humid microclimate, making it possible to anticipate and multiply annual crops. Sanding prepares the ground with a layer of manure and another upper layer of sand where water is filtered, and manure moisture is retained and slowly returns to plants, acting as fertilizer. Hydroponics, or growing without soil, holds the root of plants with gravel, sand, or ashes and feeds them with inorganic salt solutions. It is used primarily for growing flowers.
c) Intensive farming is gaining weight over extensive farming due to decreased fallow in dryland and irrigation expansion.
- Fallow is a traditional agricultural practice that consists of letting the land rest for a variable period. During this time, the field must be plowed to collect rainwater and weeds, which serve as fertilizer for the soil. Fallow land is rotated, permitting the recovery of soil fertility. The fallow area in Spain has fallen due to widespread environmental seeded fallow, which reduces the period of spring break by planting a short-cycle crop that is collected before the summer. It also contributes to reducing the use of fertilizers and irrigation expansion. The spatial distribution of fallow shows contrasts between its low impact on the northern mainland and the high values in Castilla-La Mancha and Aragon. The main advantage of fallow is to allow the natural break of the earth, but it has the problem of reducing agricultural production in affected areas.
- Irrigation is a farming practice that provides additional water to crops beyond rainfall, from surface water or groundwater. Different systems are used, such as surface irrigation, sprinkler, or drip. Irrigation can be intensive or extensive.
Intensive irrigation, outdoors or in greenhouses, provides several annual crops, including early and extra-early crops. It is used for fruits, vegetables, and tropical crops. Extensive irrigation provides a single harvest at the same time as neighboring dryland crops. It is devoted to the same crops as dryland, although with superior performance, and also to industrial and forage crops.
The irrigated area has seen a marked increase throughout the twentieth century, thanks to the implementation of major state works such as dams, canals, and water transfers. Currently, the National Irrigation Plan aims to expand the irrigated area and create social irrigation in deprived areas to prevent depopulation. But the focus is on improving existing irrigation by maintaining networks and using water-saving irrigation systems with less consumption and water from desalination and urban cleansing.
The spatial distribution of irrigation in Spain shows clear contrasts between its low impact on the moist northern peninsula and its importance in the area of Mediterranean climate, with low and irregular rainfall. Within the latter, two areas are different:
- On the Mediterranean coast, intensive irrigation predominates, which benefits from favorable conditions, both physical and human.
- In the peninsular interior, extensive irrigation stands out, which benefits from the water provided by the major peninsular rivers, the total machining that allows their crops, and the growing demand for feed grains and certain industrial products.
The advantages of irrigation, especially intensive irrigation, are numerous. In the economic sphere, production is stabilized after gaining independence from drought cycles, and yields and incomes of farmers and the country increase. In the social sphere, it improves living standards and increases demand and the provision of services and welfare of the population. In the demographic sphere, it helps to establish the population, breaking the trend of emigration from many regions, causing migration of people to work in agricultural tasks, the industrial transformation of production, and the maintenance of irrigation. In the cultural field, it improves technical and professional training, increasing professional and college graduates.
The problems of irrigation can also be diverse. These include the exploitation of surface water and groundwater, the wasteful use of water systems, the conflict over water use with urban, industrial, and tourism demand, and environmental disruption related to increased fertilizer consumption and the structures of plastic greenhouses, which cause an unsightly modification of the landscape.