Download Unit 5 Notes Agricultrual and Rural Land Use

Unit 5 Notes: Agricultural & Rural Land Use
Defining Agriculture
•
•
•
Growing plants or raising animals to produce food
Before domestication, humans = nomadic hunters & gatherers
Farms = stationary societies & cities
Subsistence Farming
•
•
•
Grow only enough food to feed own family
LDC Farming
There are 4 different types of subsistence farming
1) Shifting Cultivation
2) Slash-and-burn
3) Intensive
4) Pastoralism
Shifting Cultivation
•
•
•
Farmers rotate fields they cultivate (farm)
Crop Rotation – change crop type on same farm land
Tropical zones (rain forest)
• Africa
• S. America (Amazon River)
• SE Asia
Slash-and-Burn
•
•
•
•
•
•
Land is cleared by cutting existing plants on the land
Burn whatever is left
• Swidden- new farmland
Extensive subsistence farming = large amount of land to farm food
Dependent on human labor
Intertillage – different seeds
Creates environmental problems
• Damaged soils
Intensive Subsistence Farming
•
•
•
•
Cultivate small amounts of land very efficiently
Make most use of their small plots of land
• Terrace-Farming Pyramids
Double Cropping
Occurs in highly populated areas
• China, India, SE Asia
• Rice
Pastoralism
•
•
•
•
•
•
Breeding & herding animals to produce needs for survival
Sedentary – farmers live in one area, animals in nearby pastures
Nomadic – farmers travel with herds
Practice transhumance – movement based on seasons
In climates with limited arable land
Declining worldwide
Commercial Farming
•
•
•
•
Grow food to be sold in markets
MDC’s
USA – mainly commercial famers
5 different types of commercial farming:
1) Mixed Crop & Livestock
2) Ranching
3) Dairying
4) Large-Scale Grain Production
5) Plantation
Mixed Crop & Livestock
•
•
•
•
•
•
Involves both crops & animals
Crops – used to feed animals
Mixed farm’s income – sale of animal products
Lower dependence on seasonal harvests
Europe & E. North America (large urban areas)
Use crop rotation
Ranching
•
•
•
•
•
Commercial grazing – raise animals on land they graze
Requires large amount of land
Cattle & sheep most common ranch animals
Dry climate (W. USA – rarely done in Europe)
Decline in ranching
Dairying
•
•
•
•
•
Milk-based products for market
Most economically productive commercial farming
Small, capital-intensive farming
Milkshed – zone around city’s center where milk is sold w/o spoiling
Greater technology = larger milkshed area
Large-Scale Grain Production
•
•
•
•
•
Wheat = dominant grain
Grains exported to other places for consumption
Growth during industrial revolution
Highly mechanized capital-intensive
Growth of grain production:
• McCormick Reaper
• Combine Machines
Plantation Farming
•
•
•
•
•
Large-scale farming
• Specialize in 1-2 high demand crops
Labor-intensive practices
Tropical & Subtropical zones – low-latitude regions of Africa, Asia, Latin America
Easy coastal access
Best farmland owned by companies of MDC’s
Mediterranean Agriculture
•
•
•
•
Combines subsistence and commercial practices
Regions of Mediterranean Sea
Also: Climates with hot, dry summers & mild, wet winters
• California, Chile, Southern South Africa
Wheat, barley, vine & tree crops
Origins of Agriculture
•
•
•
•
Transformation from hunters & gatherers to stationary famers evolved over thousands of years
Agricultural innovation diffused from multiple hearths
SE Asia: Vegetative Planting –
• Cutting off a stem of another plant
• Dividing up roots of a plant
• Diffused North & East (China, Japan)
Other vegetative hearths:
• South America
• Africa
• Mediterranean
1st Agricultural Revolution
•
•
•
•
•
Development of Seed Agriculture:
• Farming through planting seeds
12,000 years ago
Wheat, Rice replaced nomadic life
Produce more food w/o roaming = increased carrying capacity
Occurred independently in several hearth
Hearth
Diffusion Route
Crop Innovation
W. India
To SW Asia
Wheat & Barley
SW Asia
To Europe, N. Africa, NW India
Integrated Seed Agriculture
N. China
To S. Asia & SE Asia
Millet
Ethiopia
Isolated in Ethiopia
Millet (Teff)
S. Mexico
To W. Hemisphere
Squash & Corn
N. Peru
To W. Hemisphere
Squash, Cotton, Beans
2nd Agricultural Revolution
After fall of Rome (500 AD)
Feudal Structure – subsistence farming
• Open-Lot System – community farmland
• Establishment of Capitalism = diminished feudal villages
• Enclosure Movement
• Coincided with Industrial Revolution
• Urban migration =  food demand
• Newer technology, newer fertilizers, newer irrigation systems
Higher farm output = population boom
•
•
Von Thϋnen’s Model of Agricultural Land
•
Johann Heinrich von Thϋnen
• 19th century German economist
• Model explaining & predicting agricultural activity
Basic Parts of the Model
•
•
Based on several assumptions:
1) Only 1 city with 1 central marketplace
2) Farmland is equally farmable and productive
3) Only 1 type of transportation mode
Only 1 variable of change in model: Distance
1) Distance of farm’s location was from the city’s market as evident in transportation costs
Von Thϋnen’s Predictions
•
•
•
•
Central marketplace is surrounded by agricultural activity zones (concentric rings)
Each ring = different type of agricultural land use
Further from central marketplace = more extensive farming activities
Closer to central marketplace = more intensive farming activities
Von Thϋnen’s Reasoning
1)
2)
3)
4)
Land closest to marketplace is more expensive
Grain famer needs more land – buy further from center
Dairy farmer buys closest to center – milkshed
Grazing = further from center
 Need for land
 Makes least amount of money per unit of land
Modern Commercial Agriculture
•
•
•
19th century N. America
3rd Agricultural Revolution:
• Distribution of mechanized farming technology
• Farming & food processing done at different locations
Industrialized Farming Process:
• Purity Dairies (Nashville, TN)
Agribusiness
•
•
Combination of pieces of food-production industry
Modern system of food production
•
•
US Farmers  , # of workers in agribusiness 
Farming division of labor
Green Revolution
•
•
•
•
1940’s as part of 3rd Agricultural Revolution
Hybrid seeds to increase output
Higher-yielding strains – more at faster pace
Norman Borlaug – world peace by spreading hunger-reducing technology
Biotechnology
•
•
•
•
Using living organisms to produce/change a plant
Genetic Modification • Scientific manipulation
• Re-organizing plant & animal DNA
Super Plants
GMO’s
Hunger & Food Supply
•
•
•
•
Undernutrition - not getting enough calories/nutrients
Famine - mass starvation
Ester Boserup – up to farmers (more people = more farmers needed)
• Subsistence farmers…Don’t be lazy
Solutions • Distribution of food supply
• Empowering people to obtain their own food
• Produce sustainable yields
Economic Disadvantages
•
•
•
Less demand for labor
Pest infestations & crop failure
Inequality • Crops & Economics
Environmental Disadvantages
•
•
•
•
Pollution
Exposure
Strain on resources • Water, fossil fuels
Genetic uniformity
Desertification
•
•
Negative consequence of human overuse
Loss of habitable land
• Expansion of deserts (Sahara)
Deforestation
•
•
•
Loss of forested ares
• Chopping down trees
Slow/zero regeneration
Rainforest danger - less than a century
Debt-for-Nature Swaps
•
•
Save land resources
Forgive international debts in exchange for protecting valuable resources