Arable land (from the Latin: [[wikt:arabilis#Latin|arabilis]], "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.[1] Alternatively, for the purposes of agricultural statistics,[2] the term often has a more precise definition: A more concise definition appearing in the Eurostat glossary similarly refers to actual rather than potential uses: "land worked (ploughed or tilled) regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation".[3] In Britain, arable land has traditionally been contrasted with pasturable land such as heaths, which could be used for sheep-rearing but not as farmland.
Arable land is vulnerable to land degradation and some types of un-arable land can be enriched to create useful land. Climate change and biodiversity loss, are driving pressure on arable land.[4]
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2013, the world's arable land amounted to 1.407 billion hectares, out of a total of 4.924 billion hectares of land used for agriculture.[5]
|
| 2013 | ||
| Afghanistan | 0.254 | |
| Albania | 0.213 | |
| Algeria | 0.196 | |
| American Samoa | 0.054 | |
| Andorra | 0.038 | |
| Angola | 0.209 | |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 0.044 | |
| Argentina | 0.933 | |
| Armenia | 0.150 | |
| Aruba | 0.019 | |
| Australia | 1.999 | |
| Austria | 0.160 | |
| Azerbaijan | 0.204 | |
| Bahamas, The | 0.021 | |
| Bahrain | 0.001 | |
| Bangladesh | 0.049 | |
| Barbados | 0.039 | |
| Belarus | 0.589 | |
| Belgium | 0.073 | |
| Belize | 0.227 | |
| Benin | 0.262 | |
| Bermuda | 0.005 | |
| Bhutan | 0.133 | |
| Bolivia | 0.427 | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.264 | |
| Botswana | 0.125 | |
| Brazil | 0.372 | |
| British Virgin Islands | 0.034 | |
| Brunei Darussalam | 0.012 | |
| Bulgaria | 0.479 | |
| Burkina Faso | 0.363 | |
| Burundi | 0.115 | |
| Cabo Verde | 0.108 | |
| Cambodia | 0.275 | |
| Cameroon | 0.279 | |
| Canada | 1.306 | |
| Cayman Islands | 0.003 | |
| Central African Republic | 0.382 | |
| Chad | 0.373 | |
| Channel Islands | 0.026 | |
| Chile | 0.074 | |
| China | 0.078 | |
| Colombia | 0.036 | |
| Comoros | 0.086 | |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 0.098 | |
| Congo, Rep. | 0.125 | |
| Costa Rica | 0.049 | |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 0.134 | |
| Croatia | 0.206 | |
| Cuba | 0.278 | |
| Curaçao | ||
| Cyprus | 0.070 | |
| Czech Republic | 0.299 | |
| Denmark | 0.429 | |
| Djibouti | 0.002 | |
| Dominica | 0.083 | |
| Dominican Republic | 0.078 | |
| Ecuador | 0.076 | |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 0.031 | |
| El Salvador | 0.120 | |
| Equatorial Guinea | 0.151 | |
| Eritrea | ||
| Estonia | 0.480 | |
| Ethiopia | 0.160 | |
| Faroe Islands | 0.062 | |
| Fiji | 0.187 | |
| Finland | 0.409 | |
| France | 0.277 | |
| French Polynesia | 0.009 | |
| Gabon | 0.197 | |
| Gambia, The | 0.236 | |
| Georgia | 0.119 | |
| Germany | 0.145 | |
| Ghana | 0.180 | |
| Gibraltar | ||
| Greece | 0.232 | |
| Greenland | 0.016 | |
| Grenada | 0.028 | |
| Guam | 0.006 | |
| Guatemala | 0.064 | |
| Guinea | 0.259 | |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0.171 | |
| Guyana | 0.552 | |
| Haiti | 0.103 | |
| Honduras | 0.130 | |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | 0.000 | |
| Hungary | 0.445 | |
| Iceland | 0.374 | |
| India | 0.123 | |
| Indonesia | 0.094 | |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 0.193 | |
| Iraq | 0.147 | |
| Ireland | 0.242 | |
| Isle of Man | 0.253 | |
| Israel | 0.035 | |
| Italy | 0.113 | |
| Jamaica | 0.044 | |
| Japan | 0.033 | |
| Jordan | 0.032 | |
| Kazakhstan | 1.726 | |
| Kenya | 0.133 | |
| Kiribati | 0.018 | |
| Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | 0.094 | |
| Korea, Rep. | 0.030 | |
| Kosovo | ||
| Kuwait | 0.003 | |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 0.223 | |
| Lao PDR | 0.226 | |
| Latvia | 0.600 | |
| Lebanon | 0.025 | |
| Lesotho | 0.119 | |
| Liberia | 0.116 | |
| Libya | 0.274 | |
| Liechtenstein | 0.070 | |
| Lithuania | 0.774 | |
| Luxembourg | 0.115 | |
| Macao SAR, China | ||
| Macedonia, FYR | 0.199 | |
| Madagascar | 0.153 | |
| Malawi | 0.235 | |
| Malaysia | 0.032 | |
| Maldives | 0.010 | |
| Mali | 0.386 | |
| Malta | 0.021 | |
| Marshall Islands | 0.038 | |
| Mauritania | 0.116 | |
| Mauritius | 0.060 | |
| Mexico | 0.186 | |
| Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 0.019 | |
| Moldova | 0.510 | |
| Monaco | ||
| Mongolia | 0.198 | |
| Montenegro | 0.013 | |
| Morocco | 0.240 | |
| Mozambique | 0.213 | |
| Myanmar | 0.203 | |
| Namibia | 0.341 | |
| Nauru | ||
| Nepal | 0.076 | |
| Netherlands | 0.062 | |
| New Caledonia | 0.024 | |
| New Zealand | 0.123 | |
| Nicaragua | 0.253 | |
| Niger | 0.866 | |
| Nigeria | 0.197 | |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 0.019 | |
| Norway | 0.159 | |
| Oman | 0.010 | |
| Pakistan | 0.168 | |
| Palau | 0.048 | |
| Panama | 0.148 | |
| Papua New Guinea | 0.041 | |
| Paraguay | 0.696 | |
| Peru | 0.136 | |
| Philippines | 0.057 | |
| Poland | 0.284 | |
| Portugal | 0.107 | |
| Puerto Rico | 0.017 | |
| Qatar | 0.007 | |
| Romania | 0.438 | |
| Russian Federation | 0.852 | |
| Rwanda | 0.107 | |
| Samoa | 0.042 | |
| San Marino | 0.032 | |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 0.048 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.102 | |
| Senegal | 0.229 | |
| Serbia | 0.460 | |
| Seychelles | 0.001 | |
| Sierra Leone | 0.256 | |
| Singapore | 0.000 | |
| Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | ||
| Slovak Republic | 0.258 | |
| Slovenia | 0.085 | |
| Solomon Islands | 0.036 | |
| Somalia | 0.107 | |
| South Africa | 0.235 | |
| South Sudan | ||
| Spain | 0.270 | |
| Sri Lanka | 0.063 | |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 0.092 | |
| St. Lucia | 0.016 | |
| St. Martin (French part) | ||
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.046 | |
| Sudan | 0.345 | |
| Suriname | 0.112 | |
| Swaziland | 0.140 | |
| Sweden | 0.270 | |
| Switzerland | 0.050 | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 0.241 | |
| Tajikistan | 0.106 | |
| Tanzania | 0.269 | |
| Thailand | 0.249 | |
| Timor-Leste | 0.131 | |
| Togo | 0.382 | |
| Tonga | 0.152 | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0.019 | |
| Tunisia | 0.262 | |
| Turkey | 0.270 | |
| Turkmenistan | 0.370 | |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 0.030 | |
| Tuvalu | ||
| Uganda | 0.189 | |
| Ukraine | 0.715 | |
| United Arab Emirates | 0.004 | |
| United Kingdom | 0.098 | |
| United States | 0.480 | |
| Uruguay | 0.682 | |
| Uzbekistan | 0.145 | |
| Vanuatu | 0.079 | |
| Venezuela, RB | 0.089 | |
| Vietnam | 0.071 | |
| Virgin Islands (US) | 0.010 | |
| West Bank and Gaza | 0.011 | |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.049 | |
| Zambia | 0.243 | |
| Zimbabwe | 0.268 |
Agricultural land that is not arable according to the FAO definition above includes:
Other non-arable land includes land that is not suitable for any agricultural use. Land that is not arable, in the sense of lacking capability or suitability for cultivation for crop production, has one or more limitationsa lack of sufficient freshwater for irrigation, stoniness, steepness, adverse climate, excessive wetness with the impracticality of drainage, excessive salts, or a combination of these, among others.[7] Although such limitations may preclude cultivation, and some will in some cases preclude any agricultural use, large areas unsuitable for cultivation may still be agriculturally productive. For example, United States NRCS statistics indicate that about 59 percent of US non-federal pasture and unforested rangeland is unsuitable for cultivation, yet such land has value for grazing of livestock.[8] In British Columbia, Canada, 41 percent of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve area is unsuitable for the production of cultivated crops, but is suitable for uncultivated production of forage usable by grazing livestock.[9] Similar examples can be found in many rangeland areas elsewhere.
Land incapable of being cultivated for the production of crops can sometimes be converted to arable land. New arable land makes more food and can reduce starvation. This outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. Making non-arable land arable often involves digging new irrigation canals and new wells, aqueducts, desalination plants, planting trees for shade in the desert, hydroponics, fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, reverse osmosis water processors, PET film insulation or other insulation against heat and cold, digging ditches and hills for protection against the wind, and installing greenhouses with internal light and heat for protection against the cold outside and to provide light in cloudy areas. Such modifications are often prohibitively expensive. An alternative is the seawater greenhouse, which desalinates water through evaporation and condensation using solar energy as the only energy input. This technology is optimized to grow crops on desert land close to the sea.
The use of artifices does not make the land arable. Rock still remains rock, and shallowless than 6feetturnable soil is still not considered toilable. The use of artifice is an open-air none recycled water hydroponics relationship. The below described circumstances are not in perspective, have limited duration, and have a tendency to accumulate trace materials in soil that either there or elsewhere cause deoxygenation. The use of vast amounts of fertilizer may have unintended consequences for the environment by devastating rivers, waterways, and river endings through the accumulation of non-degradable toxins and nitrogen-bearing molecules that remove oxygen and cause non-aerobic processes to form.
Examples of infertile non-arable land being turned into fertile arable land include:
Examples of fertile arable land being turned into infertile land include: