Economic Activities: Sectors, Agriculture, and Minerals in Venezuela
Economic Activities and Sectoral Classification
Economic activities can be classified according to their sectoral approach:
- Primary Sector: Extractive activities based on natural resources, such as mining, agriculture, and fishing.
- Secondary Sector: Transforms raw materials extracted from nature.
- Tertiary Sector: Commercial activities and services.
Agricultural Production: Evolution and Systems
Agricultural production has changed significantly over the years. Initially, simple stone or wood tools and animal power were used for plowing. Today, modern appliances and technology are employed, including machinery provided by genetic engineering, chemical fertilizers, and aerial pest control.
Main Crop Systems:
- Plantation: Includes traditional crops and recently introduced ones. These are permanent monocultures requiring considerable land areas.
- Mechanized Annual Crops: Covers the production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and fibers, using complex technologies.
- Commercial Fruit Production: Includes the production of fruits, including citrus and vines (grapes), using small tracts of land.
- Commercial Horticulture: Thrives in different climatic zones, including vegetables, roots and tubers, bulbs, seeds, and fruits.
- Livestock and Poultry: Breeding cattle, pigs, and poultry for human consumption.
- Subsistence and Semi-Subsistence: Conucos (small plots of land).
Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value at market prices of all goods produced in a given period in the commercial sector of the economy.
Agricultural Subsectors:
- Agricultural Plant: Comprising cereals, pulses, oilseeds, textiles, roots, and tubers.
- Animal Farm: Livestock and poultry production.
- Fish: Fish production.
- Forestry: Exploitation of forests and jungles.
Agro-Ecological Regions of Venezuela
- Guayana Shield: Formed by large forest areas crossed by rivers, with poor tropical soils and high ecological fragility.
- Plains: Sandy soils; good agricultural and pastoral areas (Portuguesa, Barinas, Anzoátegui, Cojedes, Monagas).
- Mountain Ranges: High agricultural potential, cultivation of vegetables and fruits; population pressure.
Sustainable Agriculture
The use of natural resources without damaging them, allowing poor soils to ensure future use.
Mineral Resources in Venezuela
Metallic Minerals
These contain metals, have high value, transfer heat, and are very good transmitters of energy.
- Guayana Shield: Large deposits, including iron, aluminum, tin, magnesium, uranium, gold, and diamonds.
- Plains: Small deposits of uranium, iron, and copper.
- Andes and La Costa: Copper, zinc, lead, magnesium, iron, aluminum, mercury, chromium, and titanium.
Non-Metallic Minerals
These are useful to society.
- Guayana Shield: Quartz crystal, barite, and kaolin.
- Plains: Feldspar and silica.
- Andes and La Costa: Coal, salt, silica, feldspar, barite, and quartz crystal.
Oil Activity in Venezuela
There is a tendency to think that the discovery of oil in the country’s economic life has become a curse, but it should not be considered as such.
Oil and Gas Basins
In Venezuela, there are several regions, including:
- The Maracaibo Basin (the most important).
- Falcón.
- Barinas-Apure.
- Eastern Basin (the 2nd most important).
- The Orinoco Oil Belt, which extends for 600 kilometers long and 7 km wide.
PDVSA is responsible for the extraction, processing, and sale of oil in the Republic.
Industry in Venezuela
Industry is one of the links connecting the production of raw materials to final consumers.
- Small Industry: Fewer than 20 employees.
- Medium-Scale Industries: Between 21 and 100 employees.
- Big Industry: Over 101 employees.
Traditional industries produce goods for final consumption, and intermediate industries produce raw materials.