Download Where Are Agricultural Regions in LDC*s?

Where Are
Agricultural Regions
in LDC’s?
Chapter 10: Agriculture Key Issue 2
Shifting Cultivation

Practiced in Humid Low-Latitude regions (high temps & lots of rain)
 Especially in tropical rain forests

Two characteristics:
 Slash & burn farming
 Use land for several years & then move on until soil has naturally
replaced nutrients

Process:
 Identify area to be cleared (close to settlement)
 Cut and burn (except what can help economically or providing food)
 Use it for only about 3 years and then move on
 Eventually rotate back and clear again
Shifting Cultivation

Crops:




Rice, corn, and grains
Kayapo (Brazil) people use circular fields
Ownership & use of land

Often owned by whole village (Latin America switching to individual
ownership)

25% of farmland is used for SC, but only 5% farmers are SC farmers
Future of SC



Much of the world views SC also bad for the environment
Exploring other development options (logging, livestock, etc.)
Debt forgiveness options
Pastoral Nomadism

Characteristics:
 Depend on animals primarily
 May trade or hire people for farming needs
 Choice of animals:
 Camels
 Goats
 Sheep
 Movements
 Not random, have territories used for foraging and water supply
 Patterns evolve from knowledge of landscape and cultural needs
 Transhumance – seasonal migration associated with livestock
 Mountains for summer and pastures in the winter
Pastoral Nomadism

Herding animals in dry climates



Mostly in Central & SW Asian and N. Africa
Ex. Bedouins (Saudi Arabia & N. Africa) and Masai (E. Africa)
Future


Declining form of agriculture
Many governments are looking to relocate nomadic groups

Other uses for the land – farming (with irrigation or mining)
Intensive Subsistence Farming

Feeds most people in LDCs
 Farmers work very hard (intensive) in densely populated areas
 This type of farming is typically much smaller than other farms in the world
 Most work is done by hand instead of machine

Intensive Subsistence with Wet Rice
 Prepare fields (with animals & plow), grow seedlings, plant in flooded plain,
harvest (threshing & hulling)
 Start rice plants on dry land then move to wet rice paddies (sawah)
 Double cropping = growing a different grain in drier summer months (e.g.
wheat)
 Most important crop in Asia

Intensive Subsistence with Wet Rice Not Dominant
 Other grains grown
 Wheat & barley the next biggest after rice
 Grown in climates that can’t support rice (e.g. India & NE China)
 Use crop rotation – different crops in different fields
Plantation Farming

Found in the tropics and subtropics



Especially in Latin Am., Africa, and Asia
Located in LDCs but owned by people/companies from MDCs
Large farm with one or two crops suited for climate