Agriculture

I. Definition, origins, classification

II. Agriculture in LDCs
III. Agriculture in MDCs

I. Definition, origins, classification

Agriculture:
Deliberate modification of a portion of earths surface
through cultivation of plants or raising animals
To obtain sustenance (LDCs) or for economic gain
(MDCs)

 Hunting and gathering:

Small groups, fewer than 50 people
Today, only million people still survive by hunting
and gathering

http://www.outbackafrica.nl/Graphics/Botswana/Bu
shmen_kalahari_safari_botswana_reis-1.jpg

 Invention of agriculture
Accident and deliberate experiment
Two types of cultivation:
Vegetative planting: cloning from existing plants
Seed agriculture: came later, planting of seeds,
practiced by most farmers today

 Hearths: agriculture began in multiple,

independent hearths (points of origin)
(Carl Sauer)
Vegetative planting
Southeast Asia
West Africa
NW South America

 Seed agriculture
3 hearths in the Eastern Hemisphere
Western India
Northern China
Ethiopia

2 hearths in Western Hemisphere

Southern Mexico/Mesoamerica (squash and corn)
Northern Peru

http://people.cas.sc.edu/ajames/Bing_Symp/1956
%20Photos/Sauer.jpg

The Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia,
between the
Tigris and
Euphrates
Rivers

http://online.sfsu.e
du/~patters/culinar
y/media/fertilec.jpg

 Advantages of the Fertile Crescent

1. Mediterranean climate
2. Numerous edible and productive plants
3. Self pollinate, cross pollinate
4. Wide range of elevations
5. Numerous large animals
6. East-west axis

Classifying agricultural regions

Difference between LDCs (subsistence) and
MDCs (commercial)
1. Subsistence agriculture: growing food for
consumption by farmers family
2. Commercial agriculture: growing food for
sale off the farm (machinery and technology)

Commercial
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/images/wsci_01_img0
012.jpg

Subsistence

http://www.mchsmuseum.com/images/lettuce.jpg

Today the US is losing farmland

1.2 million acres per year of a total of 1
billion acres

urban expansion

http://blog.kir.com/archives/urban%20sprawl.jpg

Agribusiness
Commercial farming in the US and other MDCs is called
agribusiness
Agribusiness includes processing, packaging, storing,
distributing, and retailing; tractor manufacturing, fertilizer
production, seed distribution
Farmers are less than 2% of the US labor force
But 20% of US labor works in food production and service
Many aspects of agribusiness are controlled by large
corporations

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II. Agriculture in LDCs

Shifting cultivation
Humid low-latitude/tropical zones (high temp and
rainfall), low population density
2 types
Slash-and-burn: clearing land by cutting vegetation and
burning debris (tropical zones)
Rotation: using a field for a few years, then leaving it fallow
for many years

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 Pastoral nomadism
A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding
domesticated animals
Dry climates, where crops cant grow, low population
density
Most in arid and semi-arid land in North Africa, the
Middle East, and Central Asia (Eastern Hemisphere)
Transhumance: seasonal migration of livestock
between mountains (summer) and lowland pastures
(winter)
Pasture: land used for grazing, and grass or other
plants grown for feeding grazing animals

http://thecia.com.au/reviews/w/images/white-masai-die-weisse-massai-2.jpg

 Intensive subsistence agriculture

Farmers must work more intensively to subsist on a
parcel of land
Farms are smaller, so more pressure for productivity
Practiced in densely populated areas (East, South,
and Southeast Asia)
Wet rice dominant: mostly in river valleys and deltas,
or in flat or terraced fields
Wet rice not dominant: climate prevents farmers from
growing wet rice in parts of Asia, where summer
precipitation is low and winters are harsh

http://www.thewonderingeye.co.uk/Images/Large/vietnam_mai_chau_paddy_2.jpg

 Plantation farming
A form of commercial agriculture in tropics and
subtropics (Latin America, Africa, Asia)
Mostly in LDCs, but many owned by people in MDCs,
and most products for sale in MDCs
Plantation: a large farm that specializes in one or two
crops

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g

III. Agriculture in MDCs

Mixed crop and livestock

Most crops fed to animals

 Crop rotation systems

Farm split into fields, and each field planted on a planned
cycle, often several years (1 year fallow and cycle is repeated)
Different from shifting agriculture in LDCs because LDCs
leave fields fallow for many years and productivity is lower
2-field crop rotation system (Northern Europe, 5th century)
Cereal grain planted in Field A for one year, Field B fallow

3-field system (8th century)

Field 1 planted with a winter cereal, Field 2 a spring cereal, Field
3 left fallow

4-field system (NW Europe, 18th century)

First year: root crop in Field 1, cereal in Field 2, rest crop in Field
3, and cereal in Field 4
Second year: cereal in Field 1, rest crop in 2, cereal in 3, and
root in 4

 Dairy farming
Dairy used to be consumed on farms or in rural
villages, but in the 19th century demand from urban
residents increased
Dairy farms locate near urban areas: the ring
surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied
without spoiling is known as the milkshed
Before the 1840s, milksheds had a radius of less than 30
miles
Today milk can be transported more than 300 miles

Von Thunen Model

http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/geogres/gifs
/econgeog/vonthunen1.GIF

 Grain farming
Grain: the seed from various grasses, like wheat,
corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, and others
Grain is the major crop on most farms
Different from mixed crop and livestock farming
because crops on a grain farm are grown primarily for
consumption by humans

 Wheat
Benefits:

Can be sold for a higher price

Has more uses than other grains
Can be stored easily
Can be transported a long distance

Grown extensively for international trade and the worlds

leading export crop
The US and Canada account for half the worlds wheat
exports

 In North America, large-scale grain production is

concentrated in 3 areas:
1. Winter-wheat belt (Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma):
planted in fall, harvested in summer
2. Spring-wheat belt (Dakotas, Montana, southern
Saskatchewan): planted in spring, harvested in summer
3. Palouse region in Washington state
The result in the US is a staggered harvest, starting in the
south and progressing north

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j270/JohnnyGunn/allwheat1.jpg

 Livestock ranching
Ranching: the commercial grazing of livestock over
an extensive area (semiarid and arid land in MDCs)
The only European countries involved in cattle
ranching are Spain and Portugal
Outside the US: Spain and Portugal, Argentina and
Brazil, and Australia
Ranching has gone through stages
Herding of animals over open ranges (seminomadic)
Fixed farming by dividing land into ranches
Farms converted to growing crops and ranching confined to
drier lands

 Mediterranean agriculture
Where?
Lands that border the Mediterranean Sea in southern
Europe, North Africa, and western Asia
Also in CA, Chile, South Africa, and Australia
Every area borders a sea
Sea winds provide moisture and moderate the winter,
summers are hot and dry
Land is hilly and mountainous

Tree crops and horticulture (the growing of fruits,

vegetables, and flowers)
Olives, grapes, fruit, vegetables, citrus, tree nuts

Half the land devoted to growing cereals (wheat for

pasta and bread)

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