Chapter 10: Agriculture

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• Chapter 10 Agriculture

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Key Issue I Where did agriculture originate?

• Origins of Agriculture
• Agriculture deliberate modification of Earths
  surface through cultivation of plants and rearing
  of animals for sustenance or economic gain
• Crop any plant cultivated by people
• Hunters and Gatherers
• quarter million people today or .005 of
  population
• live in isolated locations, i.e. African Bushmen
  and Aborigines
• live in periphery of world settlement

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Origins of Agriculture cont

• Invention of Agriculture
• accidentally/ trial and error
• animals for religious ceremonies
• Two Types of Cultivation
• vegetative planting direct cloning
• Seed agriculture annual planting (practiced by
  most farmers today)

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B. Location of Agricultural Hearths

• Location of First Vegetative Planting
• started in southeast Asia and diffused to China
  and Japan, westward to India, tropical Africa,
  and the Mediterranean
• Dog, pig, and chicken probably first domesticated
  in Southeast Asia
• other vegetative hearths are in West Africa and
  South America
• Location of First Seed Agriculture
• western India, northern China, and Ethiopia
• India to southwest Asia
• first to integrate seed and animal domestication

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Locations of First Seed Agr. Cont

• C. Diffusion of Seed Agriculture
• see image

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C. Classifying Agricultural Hearths

• Fundamental differences exist b/t MDCs and LDCs
• LDCs are generally subsistence
• MDCs practice commercial agr.
• Five Features distinguish commercial from
  subsistence farming.
• Purpose of Farming
• LDCS produce food for individual use
• MDCS grow crops and raise animals for sale to
  food processing companies
• Percentage of Farmers in the Labor Force
• LDCS more than half in labor force
• MDCS less than 1/10 in labor force
• US and Canada only 2 of labor force still
  produces a surplus of food
• Dramatic decline of MDC farmers in 20th century
• US 6 million in 1940 now 2 million
• push and pull factors responsible for decline

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Five Features of Farming cont

• Use of Machinery
• All iron plow 1770s
• 19th 20th centuries tractors, combines, corn
  pickers, and planters.
• Transportation Improvements
• railroads, high-ways, trucks, and refrigeration
• Scientific advances fertilizers, herbicides,
  pesticides, hybrids, animal breeds, etc.
• Electronics GPS
• Farm Size

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Five Features of Farming Cont

• Farm Size
• 444 acres in US commercial farms
• 98 of US commercial farms are family owned
• US 29,000 largest farms avg. more than 3,000
  acres and produce revenues of 3 million or
  1,000/acre
• 1.4 of US farms and 48 of agr. Sales
• 50 of US farms less than 5,000 per years and
  50/acre
• US has 60 fewer farms and 85 fewer farmers in
  2000 than in 1900
• US has been losing prime agricultural land to
  urban sprawl

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Five Features of Farming Cont

• Relationship to Other Businesses
• Agribusiness
• Commercial farming utilizes modern communications
  and tech. to keep track of prices, yields, and
  expenditures
• Farmers are 2 of labor force
• 20 of US labor works in food related businesses

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Mapping Agricultural Regions

• Whittleseys 11 agr. Regions (climate regions)
• Subsistence Agriculture (LDCs)
• Shifting cultivation
• Intensive subsistence, wet rice dominant
• Intensive subsistence, wet rice not dominant
• Pastoral nomadism
• Commercial Agriculture (MDCs)
• Mixed crop and livestock
• Dairy
• Grain
• Livestock ranching
• Meditteranean
• Commercial Gardening
• Plantation and no agriculture
• Cultural Practices (alcohol avoidance)

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Where Are Agricultural Regions in Less Developed
Countries?

• Shifting Cultivation
• Practiced in Humid Low-Latitude, high
  temperatures and abundant rainfall
• Amazon, Central/West Africa, and Southeast Asia
• Two Hallmarks
• Slash and burn agr. (swidden)
• Plant and fallow system
• Crops

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Food Supplies Over the Last 200 Years

• A. Malthus prediction (pop. food supply)
• - he was wrong technological innovations, new
  farm land, and crop transplants
• B. Reasons for Increased Supplies
• 1. Added croplands, transplant of crops to new
  areas (i.e. corn and maize)
• 2. New cropland - new lands opened by irrigation
• 3. Transportation and storage - faster and
  larger
• refrigeration methods, protects against
  spoilage and pests
• 4. Green revolution - as applied to agriculture
  not environment (better varieties, higher yields)
• C. Technological advances fertilizers,
  pesticides machines

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The World of Agriculture pg. 323
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Current Production of Potatoes and Rice pg. 324
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II. Agriculture Today (re-write)

• A. Success dependent on Geography
• B. Hunter-gatherers still exist in small groups
• C. Subsistence agriculture - Food for self and
  family, large amount of labor, minimal technology
• 1. Polyculture gives way to monoculture crops
• D. Commercial agriculture - food for sale (food
  co.)
• 1. Little labor, much capital investment in
  technology,
• Polyculture
• Raising a variety of crops
• Monoculture
• Specializing in one type

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Subsistence and Commercial Agriculture

• Subsistence Traits
• Relies mostly on human labor little animal or
  machine power
• Low technology use
• Smaller average farm size
• Most food is consumed by farmer

• Commercial Traits
• Relies on capital investment in machinery,
  chemicals, improved seeds
• Large average farm size
• Products sold to agribusiness companies
• Fewer family owned farms

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Subsistence vs. Commercial Agr.
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Types of Agriculture

• A. Defined by five variables
• 1. Natural environment
• 2. Crops that are most productive in that
  environment
• 3. Degree of technology used
• 4. Market orientation
• 5. . Raised for human or animal consumption

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10 Categories of Agriculture

• Irrigated
• Nomadic herding
• Low tech subsistence
• Intensive rice
• Asian mixed cereals/pulses

• Mixed farming with livestock
• Prairie cereals
• Ranching
• Mediterranean grains fruits and vegetables
• Plantation agriculture

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Types of Agriculture Cont

• Irrigated
• Includes many farming styles from subsistence to
  intensive production

• Nomadic herding
• Pastoral nomads
• Depend on animals
• Animals sold or consumed
• 12-15 million nomads today
• Government settlement

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Types of Agriculture Cont

• Low-tech subsistence
• Slash-and-burn
• Swidden to singe
• Amazon, Central and West Africa
• Supports low levels of population

• Intensive rice farming
• East, South and Southeast Asia
• Work done by hand
• Wet rice important source of food
• Sawah
• Double cropping

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Types of Agriculture Cont

• Asian mixed cereal and pulse farming
• Interior India and northeast China
• Wheat and barley
• Pulses pea or legume family

• Mixed farming with livestock
• Usually commercial
• Crops fed to livestock
• Dominant in most of world
• Mixed farming in the corn belt

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Production of Oats, Barley, and Rye pg. 329
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World Maize Production pg. 325
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Types of Agriculture Cont

• Prairie cereals
• Large scale commercial grain production
• Wheat
• Areas of concentration in North America
• Winter wheat belt
• Spring wheat belt
• Palouse region

• Ranching
• Commercial grazing
• Arid or semiarid land
• Cattle North and South America
• Sheep Australia

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World Wheat Production pg. 330
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Agricultural Productivity pg. 332
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Types of Agriculture Cont

• Mediterranean
• Mediterranean climates
• Hot dry summers, cool rainy winters
• Most crops for human consumption
• Olives, grapes, fruits and vegetables

• Plantation
• Large commercial farm
• Latin America, Asia, Africa
• Coffee, sugarcane, bananas, rubber

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Determining Productivity

• Capital investment
• Technology
• Equipment
• Fertilizers/pesticides
• Irrigation
• Natural environment
• Technology and capital investment lessens the
  importance

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Livestock

• Grain consumption
• Direct and indirect
• Per capita consumption of meat
• Problems with animal production
• Environmental
• Dairy farming
• Value added by manufacturing

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Future Food Supplies

• New crop potential
• Preserving genetic diversity
• Cultural acceptance
• Scientific revolution
• Gene splicing
• Genetically modified (GM)
• Cloning
• Resistance to biotechnology
• Religious / cultural / environmental
• Global warming

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Distribution of Supplies and Production

• Poor distribution
• Hunger/famine
• Political strife
• Countries import and export food
• Increase in production
• Improvement in distribution

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Problems Increasing Food Production

• Diminishing returns of fertilizers
• Financial incentives
• Pricing controls
• Taxes
• Land ownership
• Concentration of ownership
• Collective farming/ Communism
• Commercial cash crops in developing countries
• Leading to economic self sufficiency?
• Illegal drugs

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Policies of Wealthy Countries

• High tariffs to protect markets
• Farm subsidies
• Encourage surpluses in rich areas
• Decrease production in poor areas
• Impact on world market

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Subsidies Reasons Results

• Reasons
• Protects farmers
• National security
• Tradition
• Political
• Results
• Low price
• Restricts competition
• Effect on trade and production

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Fish Harvest

• Traditional fishing
• Physical and financial risks
• Small fraction of global catch
• Modern fishing
• Fisheries
• Overfishing and depletion
• Increasing regulation
• Aquaculture
• Herding and domesticating aquatic species
• Fertilizer production

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End of Chapter 8