User:Adwoa AKG

An industry involved in the extraction and collection of natural resources, such as copper and timber, as well as by activities such as farming and fishing. A company in a primary industry can also be involved in turning natural resources into products. Primary industry tends to make up a larger portion of the economy of developing countries than they do for developed countries. See also service industry, secondary industry. The primary sector is concerned with the extraction of raw materials. It includes fishing, farming and mining.[1]

Primary industry is a larger sector in developing countries; for instance, animal husbandry is more common in countries in Africa than in Japan.[2] Mining in 19th-century South Wales provides a case study of how an economy can come to rely on one form of activity.[3]

In developed countries the primary industry has become more technologically advanced, for instance the mechanization of farming as opposed to hand picking and planting.[4] In more developed countries, additional capital is invested in primary means of production. As an example, in the United States' corn belt, combine harvesters pick the corn, and sprayers spray large amounts of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, producing a higher yield than is possible using less capital-intensive techniques. These technological advances and investment allow the primary sector to require less workforce and, this way, developed countries tend to have a smaller percentage of their workforce involved in primary activities, instead having a higher percentage involved in the secondary and tertiary sectors.[5]