Topic 6

The primary sector

Agricultural space
Farming Fishing Forestry Mining Quarrying

PHYSICAL FACTORS IN AGRICULTURE

1.- Climate: Rainfall: most need between 900mm and 1200mm per year. Temperature - crops need the temperature to be above 10 to be able to grow C

GREENHOUSE

GREENHOUSES IN ALMERIA

PHYSICAL FACTORS IN AGRICULTURE

2.- ReliefSunny and shady sides of mountains. Exposure to the wind Incline of slopes. Altitude

TERRACED

PHYSICAL FACTORS IN AGRICULTURE

3.- Soil Thickness: deep soil is more appropriate for the cultivation of most crops because roots have more space to expand.

 Nutrients: the more appropriate nutrients the soil has, the better it is for agriculture.

Vegetation
Vegetation provides the soil with humus, so the more vegetation an area shas, the more fertile the soil will be

HUMAN FACTORS IN AGRICULTURE

POPULATION GROWTH ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS LAND OWNERSHIP FARM SIZE AGRICULTURAL POLICY CUSTOMS

POPULATION GROWTH
Need to produce more food. A decrease in population means land is abandoned.

ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

LAND OWNERSHIP
Individual ownership or several people
Municipality Cooperative Company

To lease it or work it as sharecropper Day labourers

FARM SIZE
Smallholdings or large estates

AGRICULTURAL POLICY
Measures and actions taken by national government and international institutions that affect crops and farming

CUSTOMS
It affects the composition of agricultural space.

Structure of agricultural space

Cultivated space Inhabited space

Cultivated space
Plots or field that can be classified
Size
Small: Less than 1 Ha Medium: Btw 1 Ha and 10 Ha Large: More than 10 Ha

Shape
Regular Irregular

Boundaries
Bocage Oppenfield

THE SHAPE
REGULAR IRREGULAR

THE SIZE
LARGE ESTATE

SMALLHOLDING

THE LIMITS
OPENFIELD BOCAGE

Inhabited space
This is the area where people live. It consists of individual farms, villages and small towns.

THE CROP SYSTEM

THE USE OF WATER

DRY FARMING IRRIGATED

THE VARIETY OF CROPS

MONOCULTURE

VARIED CROP FARMING

THE DESTINY OF PRODUCTION

SUBSISTENCE

COMMERCIAL

THE RURAL SETTLEMENT

NUCLEATED

DISPERSED

2.2 Agricultural landscapes

SUBSISTENCE FARMING Slash and burnt agriculture (Shifting cultivation) where small areas of forest are cleared and the land is cultivated for a few years until it loses its fertility; then a move is made to a new location. Its a nomadic system of farming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQng2qZbqQ

 Intensive subsistence farming such as the cultivation of rice in southern and eastern Asia.

COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE

Types
Advanced agriculture of Europe Mediterranean agriculture Extensive NEW WORLD agriculture. Plantations

Advanced agriculture of Europe

Mediterranean agriculture
Rain-fed and irrigated

Extensive NEW WORLD agriculture.

Large farms employ few workers and use a lot of machinery (mostly cereals)

Plantations
Large estates with monocultures of cocoa, tea, coffee, bananas and pineapples.

Commercial or subsistence?

Livestock farming
This type of farming obtains different products from animals. Types:
Cattle (cows, oxen, bulls) Sheep, goars, rabbits, horses, mules and poultry.

Types of livestock farming

Capital investment and labour
Extensive livestock farming.
Capital investment is low and productivity low. Graze on large pastures in open air.

 Intensive livestock farming

Capital investment+labour+productivity high. Cattle are farmed

Food and feeding methods

Grazing livestock Confined livestock Semi-confined livestock

Grazing livestock
Animals feed on grass

Confined livestock
Animals eat feed

Semi-confined livestock
In summer, grass.

Mobility of livestock
Nomadic herding

 Transhumance (seasonal migration of livestock)

 Sedentary livestock farming

Forest exploitation
Utilisation of forest products:timber, cork, resin Silviculture has to be managed so that, forests are cultivated to obtain products from them.

Forest exploitation
Its the utilisation of forest products: timber, cork, resin, etc.

Principal uses
Manufacture of furniture, planks, telegraph poles.

Fishing and the use of the sea

Techniques.
Longline fishing Trawling Lift-netting

Longline fishing

Trawling

Lift-netting

Coastal fishing
Sardines, squid, anchovies, clams, prawns

Offshore fishing and deep-sea fishing

Cod=bacalao Swordfish=pez espada Tuna=atn Hake=merluza

Swordfish

Tuna=atn

Hake=merluza

Use of the sea

Seaweed Algae (for food) Minerals Salt. Drinking water. Source of energy Transport Industries, ports and tourist facilities in coastal areas.

Aquaculture (acuicultura)
Development of aquaculture to avoid the depleiton of fishing grounds.

Fish farm

Gilthead (dorada)

Sea bass (lubina)

Turbot (rodaballo)

Trout

Changes in rural areas

Demographic changes.
Foreign workers (ageing population)

Changes in agricultural landscapes

Development of new activities

Other activities besides agriculture and livestock farming.
Industry Tourism

Changes in construction
Single-family houses Second homes.

Environmental consequences
Soil erosion
Pesticides Fertilisers

 Depleiton of water resources

 Overexploitation of forests

 Forest fires

 Overfishing: Depleiton of fish stocks

 Damage marine environments.

Ecological agriculture
Natural fertilisers and seeds

 Natural methods to combat pests.

 Improved irrigation systems.

 Prevention and extinction of forest fires

 Reforestation with native species

Invasive species

Regulation of fishing
Control the size of species caught.

 Reduction of catches

 Prohibition of trawling

 Development of aquaculture.