Agriculture

1. Agriculture www.simplot.com http://shanebauer.tripod.com www.waikato.ac.nz www.gov.mb.ca www.chrisharrisimages.com www.healthsystem.virginia.edu

2. Agriculture • Principal form of primary sector activities • Agriculture influenced by climate and soils • Geographers are concerned about the where and why of agricultural practices • Agriculture is the deliberate modification of the Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of animals for subsistence purposes of economic gain

3. Where Did Agriculture Originate? • Agriculture originated where plants and animals were domesticated by humans for their use • Hunters & Gatherers • Before domestication of plants and animals, people obtained food through hunting, fishing & gathering of fruits, nuts, berries and roots • The groups were small and travelled frequently following movement of animals and seasonal growth of points

4. Hunting & Gathering Today • About 250 000 people still survive by hunting & gathering • They are isolated groups living in traditional ways, maintaining a traditional economy www.fotosearch.com www.stewartsynopsis.com

5. Invention of Agriculture • Hunters probably observed that dropped berries and seeds yielded new plants • Some probably cut plants to see if they would grow • Plant agriculture developed from accident and deliberate experiment • The keeping of animals originated from using animals for sacrifices • 2 types of cultivation • Vegetative – cutting stems; dividing roots • Seed agriculture – planting seeds from sexual fertilization

6. Location of Agricultural HearthsSeed Hearths

7. Location of Agricultural HearthsVegetative Planting Hearths

8. Classifying Agricultural Regions

9. Labour Force in Agriculture

10. World Agriculture Regions

11. Agriculture in LDCs • Shifting Cultivation (Swidden) • Practised humid tropics • Tropical rainforests of S. America, C. Africa, S.E. Asia • Farmers clear land using slash & burn • Farmers grow crops for a few years until soil is depleted and then abandon the site & move • Small villages; land owned by village • Crops like maize, manioc, yams, rice, beans • Inefficient use of land • Future is threatened by logging, mining & commercial agricultural activities

12. Shifting Cultivation http://www.scalloway.org.uk/images/shiftcult.jpg http://ess.geology.ufl.edu

13. Pastoral Nomadism • Herding of domesticated animals • 15 million pastoral nomads – primarily found in North Africa, Middle East and parts of Central Asia • E.g.: Bedouin of Saudi Arabia & N. Africa • E.g.: Masai, E. Africa www.vkrp.org www.concreteutopia.com

14. Pastoral Nomadism (cont.) • Animals provide milk, skin, hair • Animals are rarely consumed – status symbol • Obtain grain from sedentary farmers in exchange for animal products • Sometimes women & children may settle for a time when pastures are good • Camels, sheep, goats, cattle • Have territorial boundaries & migration patterns • Transhumance – seasonal migration of livestock between mountain and lowland pasture areas • Future uncertain – govts wish to settle nomads and use land for other reasons; also nomads as carriers of goods replaced by motorized vehicles

15. Masai with Cattle http://members.verizon.net/grfiv/images/Masai/MasaiMarket.jpg

16. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture • In densely populated areas of Asia • Intensive – small plots, high crop yields • Hand tools and/or animals; no waste www.lakbaypilipinas.com

17. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture –Wet Rice Dominant • Wet rice – planting of rice on dry land; seedlings moved to a flooded field • SE China, E. India, & most SE Asia • Monsoon areas – high rainfall for flooded fields (sawah or paddy) • Hand tending and harvesting • Flat land, deltas and mountainous terraces • Double cropping in places with warm winters e.g.: South China & Taiwan

18. Rice Production

19. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture –With Wet Rice NOT Dominant • Where summer rains are too low and winters too harsh in parts of Asia, crops other than rice are cultivated • Intensive use of land using human power, simple tools and some animal power • Wheat, barley, millet and soya beans • Green revolution success in India http://www.usaid.gov/stories/images/ss_in_zerotill.jpg

20. Agriculture in MDCs • Commercial agriculture dominates in MDCs • Mixed crop & livestock • Dairy farming • Grain farming • Livestock ranching • Commercial gardening & fruit farming • Plantation agriculture

21. Mixed Crop & Livestock Farming • Most common in US (west of Appalachians and east of 98ºW) and much of Europe • Crops grown for fodder • Livestock provide manure for fertilizer • Work spread out throughout the year • 75% given to crops; 75% income from animal products

22. Mixed Crop & Livestock Farming (cont.) • Crop rotation is commonly used – legumes restore nitrogen • US – corn is most common crop – sometimes corn is for oil and margarine http://www.geograph.org.uk/photos/00/52/005262_0b025e8c.jpg http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/assets/CropRotationAnim.gif

23. Dairy Farming • Practiced on farms near urban centres in USA, Canada and Western Europe • Dairy farm must be near cities because milk is highly perishable – the ring surrounding a city from which milk can be supplied without spoiling is called the milkshed • Refrigerated transportation allows milk to be produced further afield today • Sometimes dairy products produced on farms such as specialist cheeses

24. Dairy Farming • Problems such as declining revenues and increasing costs • Labour intensive – cows must be milked twice a day • Winter feed must be provided when cows can’t graze http://www.witc.edu/pgmpages/dairyhd/images/cattle2.jpg http://www.icba-israel.com/images/round-milk-parlour.jpg

25. Grain Farming • Grasses – corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye grown for sale for human consumption • Grains sold to mills for flour and cereal • US largest grain producer • Canada. Argentina, Australia, France & UK • Winter wheat in Oklahoma, Kansas • Spring wheat in Dakotas, Montana. Saskatchewan • Heavy used of machinery

26. Grain Farming http://www.transportcafe.co.uk/image_25/combine_harvesters.jpg

27. Wheat Production

28. Livestock Ranching • Occurs in arid or semi-arid land • Columbus brought cattle to N. America • Cattle used to be herded from ranches to market (cattle drive); now fixed location • Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas • Spain, Portugal, Argentina, S. Brazil, Canada, Australia • New Zealand & Australia – sheep ranching

29. Cattle Ranching http://www.colorfotos.com.br/pantanal/fotos/cf0012l.jpg

30. Sheep Ranching http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/new_zealand_II/images/sheep%20&%20gum%20tree%20Rawhiteroa.jpg

31. Livestock Production

32. Mediterranean Agriculture • S. Europe, W. Asia & N. Africa • California, C. Chile, SW South Africa & SW Australia • Mild moist winters; hot dry summers • Hilly terrain & sandy soils • Fruits (grapes, oranges, peaches), vegetables, flowers, olives, nuts

33. Mediterranean Agriculture http://capedmaskedandarmed.com/justin2/day9/olive-grove.jpg www.damer.com/pictures/travels/southafrica/capevine6.jpg

34. CommercialGardening • Market gardening/truck farming • Fruits and vegetables –intensive farms accessible to large markets • Some are highly mechanized (NE USA) • Others are more labour intensive (Europe) http://www.earthministry.org/images/stories/food_farming/Oxbow/Vegies-&-truck-s.jpg http://gracebrook.co.nz/images/Cherry%20Orchard%20in%20blossom.JPG

35. Plantation Agriculture • Found in both MDCs and LDCs • Plantation is a large farm specializing in 1 or 2 crops • Cotton, sugar cane, tea, coffee, pineapple, bananas, rubber, palm oil, cocoa, tobacco • Many plantations are in LDCs but have HQ in MDCs

36. Plantations http://www.vermeirsch.be/afbeeldingen/cotton-4_S.jpg http://weecheng.com/africa/indianocean/mauritius/sugar.jpg http://www.asiagrace.com/photos/v/rubber-trees.jpg http://www.svmargarita.com/images/Sri%20Lanka%20Tea%20plantation.jpg

37. Industrial Agriculture • Vertical integration of operations e.g.: poultry • Chickens chosen for breeding • Fertilized eggs collected and incubated • Chicks sent to farms for fattening • Chickens sent to abattoir for slaughter • Factories dismember chickens and prepare for market • One company & farm contractors • From farm to factory – southern USA – cheap labour, refrigerated trucks transport produce to large markets e.g. : Tyson Poultry

38. Why do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? • Choice of crops determined by climate, access to markets and over production • Distance from farm to market determines crop or livestock • Crops with high perishability are produced close to market e.g.: milk, fruits & veggies • Crops with longer shelf life can be shipped longer distances e.g.: wheat

39. Von Thünen’s Model • 1826 von Thünen proposed model • Model was created before industrialization and is based on the following limiting assumptions: • The city is located centrally within an "Isolated State" which is self sufficient and has no external influences. • The Isolated State is surrounded by an unoccupied wilderness. • The land of the State is completely flat and has no rivers or mountains to interrupt the terrain. • The soil quality and climate are consistent throughout the State. • Farmers in the Isolated State transport their own goods to market via oxcart, across land, directly to the central city. Therefore, there are no roads. • Farmers act to maximize profits.

40. Von Thünen’s Model In an Isolated State with the foregoing statements being true, Von Thünen hypothesized that the following pattern would develop:

41. Von Thünen’s Model • Dairying and intensive farming occur in the ring closest to the city. Since vegetables, fruit, milk and other dairy products must get to market quickly, they would be produced close to the city (remember, we don't have refrigerated oxcarts!) • Timber and firewood would be produced for fuel and building materials in the second zone. Before industrialization (and coal power), wood was a very important fuel for heating and cooking. Wood is very heavy and difficult to transport so it is located as close to the city as possible. • The third zone consists of extensive fields crops such as grains for bread. Since grains last longer than dairy products and are much lighter than fuel, reducing transport costs, they can be located further from the city. • Ranching is located in the final ring surrounding the central city. Animals can be raised far from the city because they are self-transporting. Animals can walk to the central city for sale or for butchering. • Beyond the fourth ring lies the unoccupied wilderness, which is too great a distance from the central city for any type of agricultural product.

42. Analysis of Von Thünen’s Model • Even though the Von Thünen model was created in a time before factories, highways, and even railroads, it is still an important model in geography. • The Von Thünen model is an excellent illustration of the balance between land cost and transportation costs. As one gets closer to a city, the price of land increases. The farmers of the Isolated State balance the cost of transportation, land, and profit and produce the most cost-effective product for market. Of course, in the real world, things don't happen as they would in a model.

43. Overproduction • Overproduction results in lower prices for produce (oversupply=surplus=low prices) • Agricultural practices = efficient agriculture = surplus of food • Farmers carry high debt and face environmental problems such as soil erosion and contaminated ground water • US govt encourages fallow crops; subsidizes farmers when prices are low & sells or donated surpluses to foreign govts

44. Sustainable Agriculture • Crop production with environmental preservation • Sensitive land management • Contour ploughing • Less mechanization • Less chemical use • Integration of crops & livestock • Animals consume fodder crops & aren’t confined to pens • Integrated farm – manure used as crop fertilizer

45. Issues for Subsistence Farmers • Rapid population growth • To feed more, intensification occurs • Fragmentation of land (division of parcels for family members) • To generate wealth, LDCs may choose to grow crops for export such as tea, coffee, tobacco and cotton • Sometimes drug crops are grown in favour over food crops (e.g.; Colombia, Peru, Bolivia)

46. Strategies to Increase Food Supply • Expand land area used for agriculture • Marginal land use - desertification • Increase productivity of agricultural land • Green Revolution (1970s-1980s) • Began in Mexico; successful in India • Introduction of higher yield seeds & expanded use of fertilizers; machinery needs require capital • Identify new food sources • Oceans; high protein cereals; improve palatability of soy • Increase food exports from surplus countries

47. Case Study: Africa’s Food Crisis • Food production has decreased • Drought, flood & famine • Rapid population increases • Competition for land between farmers and nomadic herders • Monoculture, increased herds and deforestation result in desertification • Govt policies - instability http://upload.wikimedia.org http://www.ecosyn.us/ecocity/Challenges/drought/6-sahel.jpg

48. Case Study: Africa’s Food Crisis • US has encouraged sub-Saharan African countries to adopt GM crops & livestock • Hybridization has occurred for centuries • GM is alteration of genes • GM is favoured for • Higher yields • Increased nutrition • Pest resistance • GM resisted because • Dependence on multi-national corporations • Unsure of safety of foods (untested unproven)