Fertile Terrain is Essential to Agricultural Development
River valleys worldwide are amongst the most fertile grounds for agricultural and social development. Throughout history, the first civilizations to emerge did so mainly around river valleys, from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that create the valley of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East to the Nile river of Egypt. Today, rivers still play a key role in our contemporary societies as modes of transportation, sources of clean hydraulic energy, habitats for fisheries, and natural irrigators. Most of the world’s rivers have existed for thousands of years. However, they are living entities that grow, shrink, and even change course throughout time. Originating mainly in high mountainous areas and regions with snow or ice, most rivers traverse long distances before finally meeting a lake or ocean. During their long journeys, rivers collect sediments and natural elements from the soil and habitats that they cross. This organic baggage is what gives rivers their sometimes-dark coloration as well as their mineral richness.
Fertile Terrain is Essential to Agricultural Development
The Amazon River, which crosses through Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, is the largest in the world, both in terms of length and water flow as well as biodiversity. However, most of the Amazon River basin is composed of a dense and protected rainforest, which is not ideal for agricultural development. In the case of Colombia, the country boasts more than 15 major rivers totaling over 350 kilometers in length. This is mainly due to a national geography that connects with both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans as well as the Amazon rainforest. While the rivers that dominate Colombia’s Amazon region are the country’s longest, these traverse mainly rainforest areas that are thick and protected, thus not subject to agricultural exploitation. Meanwhile, the rivers that traverse the savannas of the Caribbean lowlands and the eastern plains create a territory that has been extremely fertile for thousands of years. The main riverbanks and valleys for agricultural production in Colombia include the Magdalena River, the Cauca River, the Sinu River, and the Atrato River, all of which end up in the Atlantic by way of the Caribbean.
Due to this geographic layout, cattle grazing throughout Colombia is distributed between the Caribbean coastal region with approximately 40% of the total, the Andean valleys with another 40%, and the eastern valleys towards Venezuela with the final 20%. The total head of cattle in Colombia is estimated to be around 25 million, while goats account for over 1 million and sheep for more than 2 million. Furthermore, the region of the Caribbean savanna, particularly the Sinu River valley, has some of the most fertile and best irrigated soil in South America, suited for agricultural operations that combine crop development and cattle grazing. Finally, it is important to mention that almost half of Colombia’s national territory consists of rainforest. Nevertheless, the country currently boasts approximately 1.7 million hectares of arable land, 1.9 million hectares of permanent crops, and 41.1 million hectares worth of permanent pastures and meadows.
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