Ch. 10 AgricultureKey Issues 1-4

What is agriculture?

• Agriculture is the deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals to obtains sustenance or economic gain.

• Where did agriculture start?• Where does it happen today in MDCs?• In LDCs?• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU

Hunter Gatherers

• Pre-agriculture• Small groups (> than 50)• Men hunt/women gather• Daily search for food• Still done by a ¼ million people today (Artic, Africa, Australia, South

America• Nomadic, isolated

Invention of Agriculture

Vegetative Planting• Earlier• Reproductions of plants by

direct cloning• Began in SE Asia (climate,

fishing)• Taro, yam, banana, palm• Dog, pig, chicken• West Africa, South America

Seed Planting• Later• Reproduction of plants by

planting seeds• Began in India, China, Ethiopia,

Mexico and Peru• SouthWest Asia-First to integrate

with animal domestication (cattle, sheep, goats)

Cutting stems, dividing roots

Vegetative Planting Hearths

Fig. 10-1: There were several main heaths, or centers of origin, for vegetative crops (roots & tubers, etc.), from which the crops diffused to other areas. Carl Sauer suggested that Southeast Asia was a primary hearth.

Vegetative planting mainly began in SE Asia

Seed Agriculture Hearths

Fig. 10-2: Seed agriculture also originated in several hearths and diffused from those elsewhere.

Important hearths: Ethiopia,

South/Central America, China and

India

Labor Force in Agriculture

Is this a good thing in terms of development?

Classifying Agriculture

Commercial Farming• Food for commercial consumption• Sold to food-processing companies• Less than 10% of workers• Rely on machinery (transportation,

science, GPS)• Few, large farms• Agribusiness• https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRhI7vMuDf0

Subsistence Farming• Food for family consumption• Consumed on the farm• More than 50% of workers• Rely on people or animals• Many, small farms

Most important distinction: is food

consumed on or off the farm???

On the farmOff the farm

Agriculture in LDCs

• Where are agricultural regions in less developed countries?• Shifting Cultivation• Pastoral Nomadism• Intensive Subsistence• Plantation

Shifting Cultivation

• Climate: Humid, low latitude (hot and rainy)

• Characteristics: Slash-and-burn agriculture

• Clearing-farming-moving• Depletes soil nutrients• Small, community owned farms• Hand tools and potash• ¼ of world’s land to feed less than

5% of population

• Difficulties: Limited land, loss of nature, poor soil

• Declining—more people, less land

• Competition for land• New technology and commercial

farming• Debt-for-nature swap• http://www.youtube.com/watch

?v=WBSg5sGh2nQ

Occupies the largest

percentage of the world’s land area

Subsistence

Pastoral Nomadism

• Climate: Arid and semiarid climate• Characteristics: Herding of

domesticated animals• 20 % of Earth, 15 million people• Size of the herd matters• Eat more grains than meat

• Middle East: camel>goat>sheep• Central Asia: horses

• Regular migration and Territoriality, Transhumance

• Once thought to be a stage

• Difficulties: Government forced resettlement

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lycmTmNCBI

Occupy only their own

territory, move with the seasons

Known as Transhumance

Subsistence

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

• Climate: Varies• Densely populated areas (E, S, and SE

Asia)• Characteristics: Small, fragmented

plots after generations• High agricultural density• Farming by hand, some animals and

tools• Wet rice dominant—South China• Wet Rice Not Dominant—North China• Double Cropping

• Difficulties: Reorganization after Communism

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT6gjb48_N0

Subsistence

Practiced by the largest percentage of the

world’s people…mostly in Asia

Plantation Farming

• Climate: Found in the tropics and subtropics• Characteristics: Commercial Agriculture• Found in LDCs, owned by Europeans or Americans for profit in MDCs• Difficulties: Large farms in sparsely populated areas—must import

and provide for workers• Plantations try to make tasks last year round and do most processing

on site• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0gZImNsI10

Commercial…but still in LDCs

LDCs generate money for

development by selling

export crops

Agriculture in MDCs

• Where are agricultural regions in MDCs?• Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming• Dairy Farming• Grain Farming• Livestock Ranching• Mediterranean Agriculture• Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming

In MDC’s, we now see less farms, less

farmers…because of better efficiency

through technology

Agribusiness

• In the US, farms are integrated into a large food production industry known as agribusiness

• Results in large farms• Corporate owning of farms• Heavy use of machinery• Fewer farmers

Mixed Crop and Livestock

• Location: Corn Belt—Ohio to North Dakota• Characteristics: Most crops are fed to livestock• Livestock supply manure• Reduces variations in income throughout the year• Corn and Soybeans• Difficulties: crop rotation• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI5UsfxRXwA

The first group to integrate

seed agri and domestication of animals was SouthWest Asia

Dairy Farming

• Location: NE US, SE Canada, NW Europe• Characteristics: Dairy used to be considered luxury item• Milkshed—ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without

spoiling.• Grown from 30 to 300 miles• Farms further away=butter and cheese• Difficulties: Labor intensive, feeding cows in winter—high operating costs, low

milk prices• Declining: Higher yield from cows, more mechanized, urbanization, smaller farms

not profitable• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2LiVPczCr8

The further away from the city a

dairy farm is, the less likely it is to

make fresh milk…what would it make

instead?

Grain Farming

• Location: Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma-Winter Wheat Belt• Dakotas, Southern Canada, Montana-Spring Wheat Belt• Characteristics: Grown for consumption by humans, not animals• Wheat-highest value per unit rate, world’s leading export crop• Difficulties: Some firms have fields in both areas to maximize profit

vs. costs• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axj8iVND8JI

Worldwide, China, the US, Russia and India

produce the most commercial grain

Livestock Ranching

• Location: Semiarid/Arid land that can’t support crops• Characteristics: Columbian Exchange• Cattle Drives to Chicago• Barbed wire fixed location ranching• Difficulties: Ranching is an inefficient use of land, mainly just in Western

states• Also in Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil• Sheep=New Zealand, Australia, Middle East• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gA0gGK6Mew&playnext=1&list=PL6C

627E7A8B932989&feature=results_main

In LDCs, dry lands are used for pastoral

nomadism. In MDCs, dry lands are used for

ranching.

Mediterranean Agriculture

• Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, California, Chile, South Africa, Australia

• All on the Western coasts• Characteristics: Olives, grapes, fruits, vegetables• Horticulture=The growing of fruits, vegetables and flowers.• Difficulties: losing land to housing and irrigation

These are all countries known for

their wine…why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9VbtND-aNA

Commercial Gardening and Fruit Farming• Location: US Southeast• Characteristics: Truck Farming= Middle English word for bartering• Apples, asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms, and tomatoes• Highly efficient: Machines, migrant workers, new seeds• Difficulty: Cost of machinery, immigration issues for workers• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3EpFTyN26E• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBK0w0rr4wU