Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food,
The completion of harvesting marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop, and the social importance of this event makes it the focus of seasonal celebrations such as , found in many cultures and religions.
Etymology
"", a noun, came from the
Old English word hærf-est (coined before the Angles moved from
Angeln to Britain)
[ Proceedings of the Philological Society, vol. 5, p. 207.] meaning "
autumn" (the season), "harvest-time", or "August". (It continues to mean "autumn" in British dialect, and "season of gathering crops" generally.) "The harvest" came to also mean the activity of reaping, gathering, and storing grain and other grown products during the autumn season, and also the grain and other grown products themselves. "Harvest" was also
verbification: "To " means to reap, gather, and store the harvest (or the crop). People who harvest and equipment that harvests are harvesters; while they do it, they are harvesting.
Crop failure
Crop failure (also known as harvest failure) is an absent or greatly diminished
crop yield relative to expectation, caused by the plants being damaged, killed, or destroyed, or affected in some way that they fail to form edible fruit, seeds, or leaves in their expected abundance.
Crop failures can be caused by catastrophic events such as plant disease outbreaks (such as the Great Famine in Ireland), volcanic eruptions (such as the Year Without a Summer), heavy rainfall, , , or drought, or by slow, cumulative effects of soil degradation, too-high soil salinity, erosion, desertification, usually as results of drainage, overdrafting (for irrigation), overfertilization, or overexploitation.
In history, crop failures and subsequent have triggered human migration, rural exodus, etc.
The proliferation of industrial , with their reduction in crop diversity and dependence on heavy use of artificial fertilizers and , has led to overexploited soils that are nearly incapable of regeneration. Over years, unsustainable farming of land degrades soil fertility and diminishes crop yield. With a steadily-increasing world population and local overpopulation, even slightly diminishing yields are already the equivalent to a partial harvest failure. Fertilizers obviate the need for soil regeneration in the first place, and international trade prevents local crop failures from developing into famines.
Other uses
Harvesting commonly refers to
cereal and produce, but also has other uses:
fishing and
logging are also referred to as harvesting. The term harvest is also used in reference to harvesting grapes for
wine.
Wild harvesting refers to the collection of plants and other edible supplies which have not been cultivated.
[Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Impact of Cultivation and Gathering of Medicinal Plants on Biodiversity: Global Trends and Issues: Appendix 1, Table 7, October 2002, accessed 29 January 2024] Within the context of
irrigation,
water harvesting refers to the collection and run-off of rainwater for agricultural or domestic uses. Instead of
harvest, the term
exploit is also used, as in exploiting fisheries or water resources.
Energy harvesting is the process of capturing and storing
energy (such as
solar power, thermal energy,
wind energy, salinity gradients, and
kinetic energy) that would otherwise go unexploited.
Body harvesting, or
cadaver harvesting, is the process of collecting and preparing cadavers for
anatomy study. In a similar sense,
organ harvesting is the removal of tissues or organs from a donor for purposes of transplanting.
In a non-agricultural sense, the word "harvesting" is an economic principle which is known as an exit event or liquidity event. For example, if a person or business was to cash out of an ownership position in a company or eliminate their investment in a product, it is known as a harvest strategy.
Canada
Harvesting or
Domestic Harvesting in Canada refers to hunting, fishing, and plant gathering by First Nations, Métis, and
Inuit in discussions of aboriginal or treaty rights. For example, in the Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, "Harvesting means gathering, hunting, trapping or fishing...".
Similarly, in the Tlicho Land Claim and Self Government Agreement, Harvesting' means, in relation to wildlife, hunting, trapping or fishing and, in relation to plants or trees, gathering or cutting."
== Gallery ==
, 1900–1910.]]
in
Alginet, Land of Valencia, 1953.]]
harvester. Baden-Württemberg,
Germany.]]
See also
External links
