5.4 What are the agricultural characteristics of

1. 5.4 What are the agricultural characteristics of irrigation farming in southern California? Part B

2. Farming constraints in southern California What are the farming constraints in southern California? • Inadequate farm labour • Lack of young farmers • Not enough farm workers for farming during peak season Water shortages Alkaline and infertile soil • Pests and diseases • Spending a large sum of money in controlling exotic pests and diseases of agricultural plants and animals Lack of good quality farmland

3. How can farmers overcome the farming constraints in southern California? Farming technologies Overcoming physical constraints Overcoming cultural constraints Environmental improvement Hiring workers Use of chemicals Biological innovation Improvements in mechanization

4. Do areas with similar natural environments have similar agricultural characteristics? Nomadic herding in the Sahel Irrigation farming in southern California unreliable Low Alkaline infertile

5. Do areas with similar natural environments have similar agricultural characteristics? Nomadic herding in the Sahel Irrigation farming in southern California Arable

6. Do areas with similar natural environments have similar agricultural characteristics? Nomadic herding in the Sahel Irrigation farming in southern California

7. Do areas with similar natural environments have similar agricultural characteristics? Nomadic herding in the Sahel Irrigation farming in southern California cultural

8. Do areas with similar natural environments have similar agricultural characteristics? We can notice that there is a big difference in the levels of cultural inputs between the two farming systems. Nomadic herding in the Sahel Irrigation farming in southern California Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? shortages

9. Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? Information about agriculture in the Zhujiang Delta Let’s take the farming system in the Zhujiang Delta Region as an example. How do the above figures change? Why does the total value of agricultural production still increase?

10. Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? Let’s look at the photos taken in a large, modernized farm in Shunde, Guangdong. (Credit: Yeung Kam Chuen) Do higher levels of cultural inputs help increase the total value of agricultural production?

11. Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? If the cultural inputs are high, the importance of the physical factors will be ( raised / lowered ). More developed regions use capital and technologies to modify the natural environment which is not favourable for farming. It helps improve yields. In contrast, the levels of capital input in less developed regions are ( low / high ). These regions do not have enough capital to modify the unfavourable physical environment. Therefore, their agricultural production is constrained by physical factors.

12. Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? How can these constraints be overcome? greenhouse Irrigation Fertilizers Genetically Pesticides

13. Are cultural factors becoming increasingly dominant over physical factors in influencing agriculture? If the profit on the sale of farm produce is less than the cost of applying advanced technologies, commercial farmers will adopt ( less / more ) technologies. Cost of applying advanced technologies Profit on the sale of farm produce

14. Physical constraints 1 Water shortages The annual rainfall is low and unreliable. Most rain falls in ( summer / winter ). Rainfall ( decreases / increases ) inland. The Central Valley is in the _____________ which receives little rainfall. rain shadow At the southern tip of California, a desert-like climate is found.

15. Physical constraints 2 Alkaline and infertile soil Low rainfall makes it difficult for rocks to decompose into soils and release nutrients High evaporation rates bring salts to the surface Poor soils result inlow yields Soils become alkaline and unfavourable for growing crops

16. Physical constraints 3 Lack of good quality farmland The relief is ( gentle / hilly ) as a whole. Central Valley There is a lack of arable land. The only major lowland can be found in the Central Valley and the Imperial Valley. Mojave Desert The deserts in the south hinders extensive agricultural activities. Pacific Ocean Imperial Valley (Credit: NASA)

17. Overcoming physical constraints 1 Environmental improvement In order to overcome dry conditions and unreliable rainfall, irrigation is applied. Large dams have been built to store water. Water is then transported to farms by canals and aqueducts. California Aqueduct (Credit: Peter Essick/Getty Images)

18. Overcoming physical constraints 1 Environmental improvement There are three major irrigation methods: Gravity flow system Irrigation water is drained into the furrows and the water flows downslope due to gravity

19. Overcoming physical constraints 1 Environmental improvement There are three major irrigation methods: Sprinkler system Sprinklers are used to distribute water, usually in a circular way

20. Overcoming physical constraints 1 Environmental improvement There are three major irrigation methods: Drip irrigation system Small tubes are put near the roots of a crop The hot sun evaporates the surface water rapidly Small tubes with pinholes are used to water the root zone of a crop. Water dripping out from the holes of the small tubes. Less water evaporates Chemical fertilizers and pesticides can be applied to the irrigation water through the system. Water infiltrates into the soil Plant roots can absorb water more efficiently

21. If the game cannot work properly, click here to download the latest Adobe Flash Player. Overcoming physical constraints 2 Biological innovation Biotechnology such as genetic engineering has been used to produce crops and livestock. Crops and livestock which will be more productive and adaptive to their surroundings are selected for genetic engineering. Locate the correct genes in the “gene pool” and drag them onto the appropriate box.

22. Overcoming physical constraints 3 Use of chemicals Farmers use chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides heavily in producing crops. What are the benefits of using chemicals? Using chemicals can help reduce crop failure, improve crop quality, ensure a high yield per unit of land and lower production costs. Spraying pesticides by a small plane (Credit: Ed Darack/Getty Images)

23. Thus few young people choose to be farmers. Overcoming cultural constraints 1 Hiring workers Why was there a decrease in farm operators within the age group 25–44 years? Most non-farmers earn ( less / more ) money than most farmers. Number of farm operators in southern California Source: Census of Agriculture (1997 and 2002), US Department of Agriculture

24. Overcoming cultural constraints 1 Hiring workers How to solve the problem of lacking farm workers? Farmers in southern California hire workers from _________ to do the farm work in order to solve the problem of farm labour shortage. Mexico Number of farm operators in southern California Source: Census of Agriculture (1997 and 2002), US Department of Agriculture

25. Harvester (Credit: Ed Young/Corbis) Overcoming cultural constraints 2 Improvements in mechanization The widespread use of mechanical planting and harvesting equipment has improved productivity. Computers have been increasingly used in farming operations, e.g. computers help farmers to decide when to irrigate and how much water to use. Tractor