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Agriculture: Key Issue 1

Where Did Agriculture Originate? Rubenstein, pp. 306-314

● ORIGINS OF AGRICULTURE 1. Define agriculture: 2. Define crop: 3a. What are the characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society? b. How many hunter-gatherers are there today? c. Where do they live? 4a. What 4 crops were domesticated in Southwest Asia? b. what 2 crops were domesticated in East Asia? c. What 4 crops were domesticated in Africa? d. What 4 crops were domesticated in Latin America? (One is in the SW of the US)

6. What 5 animals were domesticated in Southwest Asia? 7a. What animal was domesticated in Central Asia?

5. Indicate the hearth areas for various animals on the map below.

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7b. What is associated with the domestication of this animal? 8. How were animals used in Southwest Asia?

10. What is primarily responsible for the origin of agriculture? 11. How did plant cultivation develop?

● SUBSISTENCE AND COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE 12. Who prepared the most widely used map of world agricultural regions? When? Add relevant information.

13. _______________ _______________ also explain agricultural differences. _________ _______________ is virtually nonexistent in predominantly _______________ countries because of that religions taboo against consuming ________ _______________. _____________ production is relatively low in __________ and _________, even where climates are favorable to growing ____________ because of___________ avoidance in primarily ______-________________ countries.

9. Indicate the hearth areas for various crops on the map below.

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14. Read this section of the chapter and complete the table below with pertinent information.

Subsistence Agriculture (mostly in LDCs)

Commercial Agriculture (mostly in MDCs)

Pu

rpo

se o

f

Farm

ing

% o

f fa

rme

rs

in la

bo

r fo

rce

Use

of

mac

hin

ery

Te

ch

no

log

y

Farm

siz

e

Not given. Hypothesize an answer.

Re

lati

on

ship

of

farm

ing

to

oth

er

bu

sin

ess

es

Not given. Hypothesize an answer.

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Agriculture: Key Issue 2

Where Are Agricultural Regions in Less Developed Countries? Rubenstein, pp. 314-322

● SHIFTING CULTIVATION 1. In what climate does shifting cultivation predominate? What are its two characteristics? 2. Identify the two hallmarks of the technique of shifting cultivation. (a) (b) 3. Regarding a swidden… a. what is it? b. What is potash? c. How long are swiddens used? 4. List crops typical of shifting cultivation. 5. How is land owned in a typical village that practices shifting cultivation? 6a. What percentage of the world’s land area is devoted to shifting cultivation? 6b. What percentage of the world’s people work it?

7. Identify THREE economic activities that are replacing shifting cultivation.

8. Describe the pros and cons of shifting cultivation, or the arguments made for it and criticisms leveled against it, in the spaces below.

PROS (Arguments against replacing shifting cultivation.)

CONS (How is shifting cultivation being replaced?)

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● PASTORAL NOMADISM 8. What is pastoral nomadism? 9. In what type of climate is it usually found? 10. What regions of the earth are currently occupied by this practice? 11. How do pastoral nomads obtain grain (several ways)? 12. What animals are chosen, and where? 13. Describe territoriality among pastoral nomads. 14. What is transhumance? 15. In what ways is pastoral nomadism currently threatened by modern governments?

● INTENSIVE SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE 16. What is meant by “intensive”? 17. Where is intensive subsistence agriculture practiced? Why there? 18a. What is “wet rice”? 18b. What is a “sawah”? a “paddy”? 19. Wet rice requires a flat field – but some farmers must cultivate it in hilly or mountainous regions. How do they accomplish this? 20. Where is double-cropping possible? Not possible? 21. In areas of intensive subsistence agriculture where wet rice is not dominant, what is the major crop? 22. How are multiple harvests made possible in these less mild regions?

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23. Make some notes about intensive subsistence farming in communist China.

Agriculture in Communist China (since 1949 Revolution)

Agriculture following the communist revolution, communes.

Agriculture in Communist China today, post-commune.

PLANTATION FARMING 25. Define/describe plantation farming by filling in the table below.

P L A N T A T I O N Climate

Continents

Situated in

Owned an operated by Workers

Types of crops

Definition

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Agriculture: Key Issue 3

Where Are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries? Rubenstein, pp. 322-329

● MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMING 1. Where is mixed crop and livestock farming common? 2. Describe the irony between the amount of land devoted to crops vs. animals and the income generated by each in this region. 3. How does this type of agriculture allow farmers to more evenly “distribute their workload”? 4. Where is the US Corn Belt and what crop is making rapid inroads among farms there. 5. In what different ways is the corn used? 6. Define/describe the following as they relate to crop rotation: a. cereal grains: b. fallow: c. rest crop:

● DAIRY FARMING

7. What country is the world’s largest producer of dairy products? (Who follows?) 8. What is a milkshed? 9. Why do some regions specialize in “milk products” like cheese and butter rather than fluid milk? Identify some these important regions.

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I. Introduction and establishment… Cattle were first brought to the Americas by Columbus on his second voyage. (Cattle were hardy enough to survive the ocean crossing.) Living in the wild, the cattle multiplied and thrived on the abundant grazing lands of N and S America. Immigrants from Spain and Portugal began ranching in the Americas and taught it to settles from N Europe and E US who moved to Texas and other frontier territories in the 19

th

century.

II. Open range and cattle drives…

III. Fixed location ranching…

W H E A T

10. What challenges do dairy farmers currently face?

● GRAIN FARMING 11. What is the principal difference between grains grown in “commercial grain farming” regions and grains grown in “mixed crop and livestock” regions? 12. Complete a bullet list which details the importance of wheat as a crop. 13. Identify the three regions of large-scale grain production in North America. 14. How do farmers and combine companies make use of the fact that the wheat matures at different times in the spring and winter wheat belts?

● LIVESTOCK RANCHING

15. What type of climate is livestock best adapted to? 16. Describe the “stages” of ranching as it has evolved in the US (and very similarly elsewhere) in the flowchart below.

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17. Make brief notes to describe the following:

Ranching in Europe Ranching in South America Ranching in Australia

● MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE 20. Describe the climatic conditions of Mediterranean climate and agriculture. 21. Most crops in Mediterranean lands are grown for _____________ __________________ rather than for ____________________ ___________. 22. What is horticulture? 23. List the TWO most important cash crops of Mediterranean regions. 24. Describe the role (and changing role) of California in Mediterranean agriculture.

● COMMERCIAL GARDENING AND FRUIT FARMING 25. What three conditions make the US southeast an ideal location for this type of agriculture? 26. Whom do “truck farmers” sell their crops to?

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27. List the three ways that truck farmers keep labor costs low.

i.

ii. iii. 28. What is “specialty farming” and where has it spread in the US?

Agriculture: Key Issue 4

Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? Rubenstein, pp. 329-338

● CHALLENGES FOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS 1. Who was von Thunen? Why is he important? Explain his model.

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2. How have efficient agricultural practices, fertilizers, and mechanical equipment, etc. created a problem for commercial farmers? 3. Illustrate this situation with the example from the dairy industry. 4. Explain “market saturation” in terms of agricultural products. 5. Identify and describe/explain the three practices of the US Government aimed at helping to solve this problem.

US government practice Explanation/description

6. Make a brief note about farm subsidies in

a) the US: b) Europe:

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7. What are the three principal practices that distinguish farmers practicing sustainable agriculture from those operating conventionally? i. ii. iii. 8. List three advantages of ridge tillage.

a)

b)

c) 9. What are “Roundup-Ready” seeds? 10. In what ways are animals treated differently in sustainable agriculture?

● ISSUES FOR SUBSISTENCE FARMERS 11. Summarize the “Boserup Thesis” which describes changing agricultural land use. 12. What is the dilemma that is faced by LDCs as they seek to increase the amount of export crops to sell to MDCs? 13. Some LDCs turn to the production of drug crops for export. The geography of these crops is distinctive. Identify the countries associated with the crops below.

Coca leaf Marijuana Opium/Heroin

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● STRATEGIES TO INCREASE FOOD SUPPLY 14. Four strategies have been proposed to increase the world’s food supply in places where populations are underfed.

Expand _____________ _______________ used for agriculture.

Increase the __________________________ of land now used for agriculture.

Identify new ___________________ sources.

Increase __________________ from other countries.

15. There is little new land actually available for farming. In fact, the current trend is to reduce agricultural land rather than increase it. Identify and briefly discuss THREE reasons why land is currently being removed from agricultural use or made impossible to use for agricultural production. a) b) c) 16. List the TWO main practices of the Green Revolution.

i. ii. 17. Describe the characteristics of two hybrid seeds of the Green Revolution.

Miracle wheat seed Miracle rice seed

18. What specific problems do farmers in LDCs have which might prevent them from taking full advantage of the Green Revolution?

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19. Briefly describe two or three ideas/issues associated with each of the strategies for increasing the world’s food supply by identifying new food sources.

STRATEGY PROBLEM

a. cultivate the oceans b. develop higher protein cereal grains c. improved palatability of rarely consumed foods

20. What are the THREE top export grains in the world?

21. Use the map on page 338 and list NINE of the largest grain exporting countries.

i. iv. vii.

ii v. viii.

iii. vi. ix.