Exploring Agricultural Origins and Practices Worldwide

1. Chapter 10 Agriculture

2. Key Issue #1 Where Did Agriculture Originate?

3. Where Did Agriculture Originate? • Origins of agriculture • Agriculture = deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and/or rearing of animals • Cultivate = “to care for” • Crop = any plant cultivated by people

4. Where Did Agriculture Originate? • Origins of agriculture • Hunter-gatherers • Perhaps 250,000 remaining today • Invention of agriculture • When it began = unclear • Diffused from many hearths

5. Crop Hearths Figure 10-2

6. Animal Hearths Figure 10-3

7. Where Did Agriculture Originate? • Commercial and subsistence agriculture • Subsistence = produced mainly for the farm family’s survival • Most common in LDCs • Commercial = produced mainly for sale off the farm • Most common in MDCs

8. Agriculture and Climate Figure 10-4

9. Where Did Agriculture Originate? • Commercial and subsistence agriculture • Five characteristics distinguish commercial from subsistence agriculture • Purpose of farming • Percentage of farmers in the labor force • Use of machinery • Farm size • Relationship of farming to other businesses

10. Agricultural Workers Figure 10-5

11. Area of Farmland Per Tractor Figure 10-6

12. Key Issue #2 Where Are Agricultural Regions in Less Developed Countries?

13. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs? • Shifting cultivation • Most prevalent in low-latitude, A-type climates • Two features: • Land is cleared by slashing and burning debris • Slash-and-burn agriculture • Land is tended for only a few years at a time • Types of crops grown vary regionally • Traditionally, land is not owned individually • soil erosion a problem • most often occurs in tropical rainforest regions-SE Asia, Central Africa, Brazil

14. The slash-and-burn process creates ashes that provide nutrients to the soil. • The cleared area is known by many names, such as swidden, ladang, milpa, chena, and kaingin. • This process supports crops 3 yrs or less. • Crops include maize (corn), manioc (cassava/tapioca), millet, sorghum, yams, sugarcane, plantain, sweet potatoes, rice, papaya, pineapple, mango, cotton, beans, etc.

15. Kayapo • extensive subsistence, shifting ag • Mali • Intensive subsistence • sorghum, pearl millet, and maize Subsistence farmers

17. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs? • Pastoral nomadism (herding domesticated animals) • Found primarily in arid and semiarid B-type climates • Animals are seldom eaten • The size of the herd indicates power and prestige • Type of animal depends on the region • For example, camels are favored in North Africa and Southwest Asia. Sheep and goats are next. • Transhumance practiced by some pastoral nomads

19. Where are Agricultural Regions in LDCs? • Intensive subsistence • Found in areas with high population and agricultural densities • Especially in East, South, and Southeast Asia • To maximize production, little to no land is wasted • Intensive with wet rice dominant • The flooded field is called a sawah or a paddy (which actually means “wet rice”). • Intensive with wet rice not dominant • Crops like wheat or barley, millet, oats, soybeans, or cash crops like cotton or flax.

21. Rice Production Figure 10-12

22. Corn (Maize) Production Figure 10-15

23. Key Issue #3 Where Are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries?

24. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? • Mixed crop and livestock farming • Livestock fed with crops grown on same farm, ¾ of the income is from sale of animal products • Involves crop rotation which helps maintain fertility of land, common products are corn & soybeans

25. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? • Dairy farming • Primarily in NE US, SE Canada, NW Europe • 60% of the world’s milk comes from these areas • Must be close to their market area because it is highly perishable

26. Milk Production Figure 10-17

27. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? • Grain farming • The largest commercial producer of grain is the United States (KS, CO, OK, MT, WA, Dakotas) • Livestock ranching • Practiced in marginal environments (US, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia)

28. Wheat Production Figure 10-19

30. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? • Mediterranean agriculture • Based on horticulture-fruits, veggies, flowers • Commercial gardening and fruit farming • Truck farms (“truck” literally means barter or exchange)-fruits and veggies sold to consumers or processors

32. Where are Agricultural Regions in MDCs? • Plantation farming • growing crops in subsistence areas for sale in more developed countries • **often occurs in less developed countries • usually involves the production of one crop • common in many tropical areas , like Latin America, Africa, & Asia. • Examples: bananas, sugarcane, coffee, tea, cocoa, cotton, rubber, palm oil, etc.

33. coffee

34. tea

35. sugarcane 3 2 1 sugarcane

36. cacao

37. Palm oil oil palm

38. bananas banana

39. rubber rubber

40. coconut

41. Key Issue #4 Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties?

42. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? • Challenges for commercial farmers • Access to markets is important • The von Thünen model (1826) • The choice of crop to grow is related to the proximity to the market Figure 10-24

43. Von Thünen Model Fig. 10-13: Von Thünen’s model shows how distance from a city or market affects the choice of agricultural activity in (a) a uniform landscape and (b) one with a river.

44. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? • Challenges for commercial farmers • Overproduction • Agricultural efficiencies have resulted in overproduction • Demand has remained relatively constant • As a consequence, incomes for farmers are low • Sustainable agriculture • Sensitive land management • Integrated crop and livestock

45. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? • Challenges for subsistence farmers • Population growth • Boserup thesis-pop growth compels subsistence farmers to consider new farming approaches that produce enough food to take care of additional people. • Increase food supply by leaving land fallow for shorter time periods and adopting new methods • International trade • To be successful, LDCs need to grow crops people in MDCs want (coffee, tea, cocoa) • Drug crops • South America-cocaine, marijuana • Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos-opium/heroin

47. Drug Trade Figure 10-27

48. Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? • Strategies to increase food supply • Expanding agricultural land • Desertification-the Sahel • Increasing productivity • The green revolution (1970s-80s) • Introduction of higher-yield seeds and use of fertilizers • Identifying new food sources • Cultivating oceans, developing higher-protein cereals, and improving palatability of foods • Increasing trade

50. Agricultural Land and Population Figure 10-28