Agriculture

Agricultural Hearths – 1st Agricultural Revolution

Carl Sauer’s beliefs on domestication

Domestication probably did not develop in response to hunger– Starving people must spend every waking hour searching

for food

Started by people who had enough food to remain settled in one placeDid not occur in grasslands or river floodplains because of thick sod and periodic floodingMust have started in regions where many different kinds of wild plants grewStarted in hilly district areas, where climates change with differing sun exposure and altitudeVegetative Planting 1st (transplanting part of actual plant) then Seed Planting

Diffusion along Trade Routes

Techniques as well as foods

Subsistence Agriculture– Found in LDC’s

Commercial Agriculture– Found in MDC’s– Distinguishing features

• Purpose of farming• # of farmers in the labor force• Use of machinery• Farm size• Relationship of farming to other

businesses

Rubenstein p. 330-333

Percent of Labor Force engaged in Agriculture

Rub. Map 331

Agricultural Regions

By Derwent Whittlesey, 1936

11 main agricultural regions– 5 in LDC’s– 6 in MDC’s– Plus 1 where ag is nonexistent

LDC: Shifting Cultivation

Characterized by– Slash and burn agriculture– Using field for only a few years

Cleared land called Swidden or ladang, milpa, chena or kaingin

Crops– SE Asia: rice– S America: maize & cassava– Africa: millet & sorghum

LDC: Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agricultural

Located in semiarid lands of: N. Africa, Middle East, Central Asia

Only 15 million people are pastoral nomads but us 20% of Earth’s land area

Transhumance

LDC: Intensive Subsistence Agriculture w/wet rice

Intensive: farmers more work more intensively to subsistAreas of high population density resulting in less land available/farmerSome are wet rice areasSome have double cropping

LDC: Intensive Subsistence Agriculture wet rice not dominant

Areas with low precipitation

Crops: wheat, barley, legumes, etc.

Crop rotation

Common in Communist China

LDC: Plantation Farming

A large farm that specializes in one or two crops: cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber & tobacco

Usually in subtropics

Usually in areas of low population density – must import workers

MDC: Mixed Crop & Livestock

Most common form of commercial ag in US

Most crops are fed to animals rather than for human consumption – corn or soybeans common

Uses crop rotation

Rub. Map 343

MDC: Dairy Farming

Once only in MDC’s, now more common in S & E Asia – – India is the #1 producer

Must be close to market – milkshed– Improved transportation and

refrigeration have increased milkshed radius

Rub. Map p. 344

MDC: Grain Farming

Crops grown primarily for human consumption

Grains are: wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, etc.

Stores easily & transported a long distance

N. Am prairies – world’s “breadbasket”

Rub. Map 346

MDC: Livestock Ranching

Commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area

Range wars caused by enclosures

Introduction of new cattle breeds

Non-US ranching: Spain, Portugal, Argentina, southern Brazil & Uruguay

Rub. Map 348

MDC: Mediterranean Ag.

S. Europe, N. Africa, w. Asia, California, central Chile, & sw. AustraliaAll of the above borders seas, most on west coast off continentsMostly horticulture: fruits, vegetables, and flowers & commercial tree cropsMost of world’s olives & grapes produced in Med. areas

MDC: Commercial Gardening

Predominant in se US

Aka “truck farming” (truck was a Middle English word for bartering)

Highly efficient large-scale operations

New England has specialty farming – limited but increased demand among affluent, ex: asparugus, strawberries, etc.

2nd Agricultural Rev.

1750-1900 – with the Industrial Rev. Increased productivityMore food with less farmersEsther Boserup - agric. output depends on the pop. - Anti-Malthusian – 5 stages of intensification of farmland

• 1. forest fallow, 2. bush fallow 3. short fallow 4. annual cropping 5. multicropping

Green (3rd) Revolution

Invention and quick diffusion of agricultural techniques during 1960’s-80’sMain techniques– Genetic Engineering

• Higher-yield seeds – Norman Borlaug• Drought/disease resistance• Quicker growing season (double-cropping)

– Expanded use of fertilizers

Need tractors, irrigation pumps & other machinery to take full advantage