Agriculture

Introduction
Agricultural Geography Agricultural Hearth Areas Physical and Cultural Factors Influencing Agricultural Production Subsistence vs Commercial Agriculture Agricultural Trends

Geographers Perspective of World Agriculture

Geographers are interested in the patterns and distribution of agriculture in the world today. What are the patterns of agriculture worldwide? Why are agricultural areas distributed in the manner that they are?

Agriculture
Agri - Latin for field culture - to cultivate The expanded definition of Agriculture includes the cultivation of plants and animals The goal of agriculture is produce sufficient food supplies

Physical Factors
Land/Soil (fertility) Water (precipitation & rivers) Sun ( temperature, evaporation rates) Climate

Cultural Factors
Population Distribution Diet of population
calorie supply, protein, health

Living Material
clothes, houses

Lifestyle/Cultural Tradition
nomadic, sedentary/rain dances

Economics
cash crops with greatest profit ie. viticulture

Government/Political Policies
Argentina wheat, Japan rice

Agricultural Hearth Areas

Indus River in Pakistan East China (Huang Ho River) Ganges Delta (India and Bangladesh) MesoAmerica (Mexico and Central America) Andean America (Peru) West Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger) Mesopotamia (Iraq) Nile River (Egypt)

Agricultural Hearth Areas

Vegetative Planting using the roots of one plant and dividing it to produce more
Southeast Asia West Africa Northwestern South America

Seed Agriculture using seeds from plants to produce more plants

western India northern China Ethiopia Southern Mexico northwestern South America

Forms of Agriculture
Subsistence
produced for consumption work by hand most people work

Commercial
produced for market mechanized few laborers

shifting agriculture nomadic herding rice (intensive subsistence) plantation agriculture

livestock & ranching horticulture dairy farming mixed crop grain medditeranean

Agricultural Trends
Hand Labor Small Plots Mechanization Large corporately owned holdings No fertilizers natural fertilizers chemical fertilizers Natural Seed Production Hybrid Seeds Farm to family Farm to processing to supermarkets Nature controlled water man controlled water

Methods of Agriculture
LDCs low yield, high impact farming
Subsistence or barter systems Intensive hand labor Limited knowledge of irrigation, soil, and/or return on investments

MDCs high yield med-high impact farming

Commercial Agriculture High tech High yield Large amounts of land required For distribution, not consumption

Terrace Farming
Manipulation of hill/mountainsides for flat surfaces to farm Practiced mainly along river valleys Causes massive erosion and leaves areas prone to flooding Common in East and Southeast Asia
Rice

Shifting Cultivation (Slash and Burn)

Burning or destroying all natural vegetation and planting crops on the soil Produces crops for 1-3 years Land is vacated and the process is repeated elsewhere Destruction of rainforests in South America and Central Africa (Amazon and Congo respectively) Occupies of the worlds land area Only 5% of the worlds population practice this

Heavily Forested Area

Slash and Burn Swidden

Planting and Growing Seasons (1-3)

20-30 Years

Abandoned Field

Intensive vs. Extensive

Intensive Subsistence Farming
Small amounts of land use High yield Wet rice, subsistence grain

Extensive Subsistence Farming

Large amounts of land use Inefficient Labor intensive Shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism