In
geography, arable land (from
Latin arare, to
plough) is an
agricultural term, meaning
land that can be used for growing
crops. Of the earth's 148,000,000 km² (57 million square miles) of land, approximately 31,000,000 km² (12 million square miles) are arable; however, arable land is currently being lost at the rate of over 100,000 km² (38,610 square miles) per year. A major element of arable land loss comes from
deforestation (starting in the
Middle Ages in
Europe as well as
Asia). Such deforestation continues to the present day primarily in tropical countries by commercial over-exploitation of tropical forest. At times, deforestation can be so extreme that it leads to
desertification, or the total loss of arable land, as has occurred in portions of the central highland plateau of
Madagascar following extensive
slash-and-burn activity.
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