Agriculture and Rural Land Use
Unit V
Introduction
• Nomads
• HUNTERS AND GATHERERS
• AGRICULTURE
– The process of growing plants or raising of animals to
produce food for sustenance or sale at the marketplace
• Farming practices differ in MDCs vs. LDCs
• In Asia, most people are SUBSISTANCE FARMERS
– Growing only enough food to feed their family
• In MDCs, COMMERCIAL FARMING dominates
– Farms produce food to be sold in groceries and markets,
not just for the farmers themselves
Classifying Agricultural Regions
LDCs = subsistence agriculture
MDCs = commercial agriculture
• Subsistence vs. commercial agriculture
– Subsistence agriculture is the production of food
primarily for consumption by the farmer’s family
– Commercial agriculture is the production of food
primarily for sale off the farm
Practice
Purpose
Subsistence
agriculture
LDCs
Personal
consumption
Commercial
agriculture
MDCs
Grow crops and
raise animals
primarily for sale
off the farm for
profit
Labor force
On average 55%
of workforce
engaged in
farming
On average 5% of
workforce
engaged in
farming
Machinery
Farm size
Off farm contact
Human and animal
powered tools
Very small
Occasional surplus sold
Mechanized farm
machines,
computer
technology and
science
agribusiness – farms one
part of a large food
Large [US
production industry
average in 2008 =
including food processing,
418 acres]
packaging, sorting,
distributing, and retailing
Key Questions
• Where did agriculture originate? How and where did it
spread?
• What are the characteristics of the world’s agriculture
regions? How do these regions function?
• How has agricultural change affected the environment
and peoples quality of life?
• How does diet, energy use, and varying agrarian
technology relate to agriculture’s origination?
• What are different types of extensive and intensive
agricultural practices? What are settlement patterns
and landscapes related to each agriculture type?
Cont…
• What are land survey systems, environmental
conditions, and cultural values linked to each
agriculture type?
• Why do different agricultural practices exist
where they do?
• What is the von Thunen model?
• What is the status of food supplies throughout
the world? Can humans increase the food supply
and reduce starvation and malnourishment?
Origin of Agriculture
• An evolution of knowledge over thousands of
years
• As humans constantly touched and handled
plants while gathering food, innovations occurred
and diffused from multiple hearths (places of
origin)
• According to CARL SAUER: humans first learned
how to grow plants through VEGETATIVE
PLANTING
– Cutting off a stem of another plant or by dividing up
roots of a plant
Cont…
• It is believed women were responsible for
discovering vegetative planting because of their
sociological position as gatherers and medicinal
healers
• Later humans make the leap to…
• SEED AGRICULTURE
– Farming is through planting seeds rather than simply
planting part of the parent plant
– Leads to higher crop YIELDS because there are so
many seeds
Agricultural Hearths
• Carl Sauer’s theory of a vegetative hearth
argues that vegetative farming knowledge
first originated in SE ASIA
– Climate and terrain there would have supported
the growth of root plant that are easily divided,
such as taro, yam, banana, and palm
– From the hearth, it diffused north and east to
China and to Japan, and then west toward SW
Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean
Other vegetative hearths
• Others emerged through INDEPENDENT
INNOVATION
– NW South America
– West Africa
First Agricultural Revolution
• Sometimes called the NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION
• Brings SEED AGRICULTURE and the use of
animals/DOMESTICATION in the farming process
• About 12000 years ago
• Replaced nomadic hunting
• Human groups able to stay in one place
– Leads to…
•
•
•
•
•
population growth
Build communities
Produce more food
Increased CARRYING CAPACITY
Development of civilization/culture
SEED AGRICULTURAL HEARTHS
• Western India
– Diffusion to: SW Asia
– Crop innovation: Wheat and Barley
• SW Asia (Tigris/Euphrates rivers)
– Diffusion to: Europe; N. Africa; NW India/Indus
river area
– Crop innovation: Integrated seed agriculture with
domestication of herd animals such as sheep,
cattle, and goats
Cont…
• N. China
– Diffusion to: S. Asia and SE Asia
– Crop innovation: Millet
• Ethiopia
– Diffusion to: NONE
– Crop innovation: Millet
• S. Mexico
– Diffusion to: Western Hemisphere
– Crop innovation: Squash and Corn
• N. Peru
– Diffusion to: Western Hemisphere
– Crop innovation: Squash, cotton, beans
Second Agricultural Revolution
• After fall of Rome around 500 CE, farming
grew into a feudal village structure
• During Middle ages most farmers use
SUSTENANCE FARMING in an…
– OPEN LOT SYSTEM
• One in which there was one large plot of community
farmland that all villagers worked to produce a crop to
eat
– As capitalism grew, feudalism diminished and
villages enclosed their farmland
Enclosure Movement
• Gave individual farmers their own land… marks a
shift in agriculture from CLUSTERED RURAL
SETTLEMENTS to DISPERSED RURAL
SETTLEMENTS
• Most influential during the 17th and 18th centuries
during England’s Industrial Revolution
• Growing industry and decline of Feudalism leads
to URBAN MIGRATION
– Former farmers moving to the cities for work
– Caused a jump in food demand from farms into cities
– With demand comes innovation
2nd agricultural revolution innovation
•
•
•
•
•
•
Better collar for oxen
Use of horses instead of oxen
New fertilizers
Field drainage
Irrigation systems
Storage systems
• ALL INCREASED YIELD and ENCOURAGE
POPULATION BOOM
Major Agricultural Production
Regions
Subsistence Agriculture
• Practiced in LDCs
• 3 Types
– Shifting cultivation
– Intensive subsistence
– Pastoralism
1. Shifting Cultivation
• EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURE
– Large amts. Of land… not as much food
• Farmers rotate the fields they cultivate to allow
the soil to replenish
• Different than CROP ROTATION
• Found often in the TROPICAL ZONES (rain forest
regions in Africa, Amazon river basin in S.
America, and SE Asia)
– Topsoil is thin in these areas… means less nutrients
– Mainly due to heavy rains that wash it away
Cont…
• SLASH AND BURN
• SWIDDEN
– Cleared land
• Not dependent on technology
• May utilize INTERTILLAGE
– Mixing various seeds on one plot of land
– Each plot will last 2-3 years then they move on
• FALLOW
– The land not being used
Cont…
• Use A LOT of land
– 25% of earth’s land
– Cannot produce large amounts of food
– Because of this many have tried to switch to
commercial forms of farming instead
• May have criticisms from local culture
2. Intensive Subsistence
Agriculture
• INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE
– Small amts. Of land… large amount of food
– Make the most use of land
• But still SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE
• Usually found in highly populated areas
– China, India, SE Asia
Cont…
• Rice is the dominant intensive susbsistence
agriculture crop in S. China, India, SE Asia, and
Bangladesh
– Summer rainfall is abundant
• Where winters are too cold for rice… grains
are grown
• Some places may engage in DOUBLE
CROPPING
Pastoralism
• The breeding and herding of animals to
produce food, shelter, and clothing for survival
• Usually practiced in places with little arable
land
• Can be sedentary or nomadic
• N. Africa, Central and Southern Africa, Middle
East, Central Asia
Cont…
• Transhumanence
– The movement of animal herds to cooler highland
areas in the summer to warmer, lowland areas in
the winter
• Pastoral farmers usually trade with local
farmers for food/supplies
• Depend on Trade for survival
• Overall it is declining since the land they use is
being used for other things
Mediterranean Agriculture
• Primarily associated with the mediterranean
sea area and places with hot, dry summers
and mild, wet winters.
– California, Chile, S. South Africa, South Australia
• Wheat, barley, vine and tree crops, grazing
– Olives, grapes, and figs are staple crops
– Can be Intensive or Extensive depending on crop
– Can be Subsistence or Commercial
COMMERCIAL FARMING
•
•
•
•
•
Mixed crop and Livestock farming
Ranching
Dairy
Large scale grain
Plantation (mainly practiced in LDCs)
Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming
• Involves growing crops AND raising animals
• Most crops used to feed the animals
• This produces manure fertilizer for sale and
goods such as eggs
• Most income comes from animal products
• Reduce dependence on seasonal harvests
• Europe and E. North America
– Near Urban areas mainly
– May engage in crop rotation
Ranching
• Commercial grazing, or the raising of animals
on a plot of land on which they graze
• Usually extensive
• Cattle and Sheep in demand for wool and
meat
• Usually practiced in areas too dry to support
crops
– USA, Argentina, S. Brazil, Uruguay
• Declining in practiced
Cont…
• Many US ranches are being converted to
“fattening” ranches on which fixed lot cattle
are fattened then slaughtered
• Also found in Tropical areas of Latin America
and N. Mexico
– Too wet to grow crops there
• Decline in ranching due to cost vs. crops
Dairying
• Growth of milk based products for the
marketplace
• Usually close to the marketplace
• Usually small and labor intensive
• CAPITAL INTENSIVE FARMS vs. LABOR
INTENSIVE FARMS
• MILKSHED
– Has expanded with technology along with the
amount a cow can produce
Large Scale grain farms
• Grains most often grown to be exported to other
places for consumption
• Canada, US, Argentina, Australia, France, England, and
Ukraine
• Ukraine once considered Russia’s “breadbasket”
• US world’s largest producer
• Wheat is leading export crop
• US and Canada produce ½ of the world’s grain
• Most grain worldwide is grown to feed animals
• Saw expansion during the industrial revolution
• Usually highly mechanized and thus Capital Intensive
– McCormick Reaper
– The Combine
Plantation Farming
• Large farms specializing in one or two crops
• Tropical and subtropical zones in colonized
areas
– Coffee, tea, pineapples, palms, coconuts, rubber,
tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton
– Usually in LDCs but owned by companies in MDCs
– Usually in coastal areas with easy access to
exports
– Still Labor intensive
Rural Land Decisions on Farm
Locations
Physical Factors
• Appropriate environment for cultivating varies
depending on the type of crop
• Farmers can mold the environment
– Environmental determinism vs. possibilism vs. cultural
determinism
• Farmers evaluate:
– SOIL
• Depth, texture, nutrient composition, acidity
– RELIEF
•
•
•
•
“shape of the field”… includes slope and altitude
Might look at sun exposure time
Flat lands are best… sloped are difficult to irrigate
Altitude can affect temperature
– CLIMATE
• TEMP and RAINFALL are most influential factors
• Different crops require different water and temp
Political-Cultural Factors
• Political and cultural factors also influence
agricultural decisions
– Ex. Hinduism holds cattle sacred… It is taboo in
Islamic religions to eat pigs
– Ex. Immigrants often carry with them their
homelands’ farming practices and food
preferences
– Food taboos not always religious… although
nutritious the US does not eat horse
Cont…
• Political decisions also make an impact
• In LDCs… governments encourage use of tech
• During Green Revolution (3rd agricultural
revolution… 1960s-1990s) many LDCs tried to
subsidize the use of efficient seed types that
were more expensive
• European Union pays farmers to NOT grow
crops in an attempt to eliminate massive
surpluses that drive prices down to nothing
• National treasure crops… France (grapes)
– France also turns its lower quality grapes into
biofuel
Economic Factors
• Land rent
– The price a farmer must pay for each acre of land
– A farm’s location is related to how much money
the farmer can make from a crop to pay the rent
– Rent is cheaper farther away from a city
– Therefore extensive farming takes place farther
away from the city
Agricultural Location Theory
• Von Thunen… 19th century German economist
• Model attempts to explain and predict where
and why various agricultural activities take
place around a city’s marketplace
• EXPLAINS and PREDICTS
– Agricultural land use patterns
Von Thunen model
•
•
•
•
Contains a Central Marketplace
Farmland is equally farmable and productive
Only one form of transportation
Only variable that could change (according to
Von Thunen) was distance
– Results in concentric rings of Agricultural activities
– Moving outwards from a marketplace results in
more extensive farming… Intensive agriculture
took place more towards the center
Explanation
• Land rent and Transportation costs explain
pattern
• Closer to city more expensive
• More perishable crops are closer
Usefulness of Model
• If you only have one variable… Transportation
costs then it is useful
• Unfortunately… we have more variables
• He tried to remodel the model later with the
introduction of a river
• Tried to introduce differing soil qualities later
• Overall it shows the INFLUENCE OF DISTANCE
in human decision making
• Like all models, researchers try to use his
model to predict future land use
Settlement Patterns in Villages
• Village
– May vary by culture
– Usually related to function and environment
• In Europe, villages were often clustered on a hillside to
leave the flatlands for farming and village protection
• In lowland areas… a linear pattern emerges following
the river (long lot system in France)
• Many places built with a grid pattern with geometric
boundaries (USA)
• Throughout Europe, Asia, Africa… a round pattern…
space in middle for cattle
Housing Materials
• WOOD
– Eurasia, US Pacific Coast, N. America, Australia, Brazil, Chile
• STONE
– Europe, Egypt, India, W. China, Yucatan, Mexico, S/Central
Africa, Middle East
• GRASS AND BRUSH
– Low latitude regions… African Savanna, E. African Highlands, S.
Africa, S. American highlands, N. Australia
• POLES AND STICKS
– Africa, SE Asia, W. Africa, Amazon Basin
• SUN DRIED BRICKS
– Middle East, Middle and S. America, N. China, African Savanna,
N. Africa
• OVEN BAKED BRICKS
– Modern, contemporary areas in MDCs
Modern Commercial Agriculture
Third Agricultural Revolution
• Green Revolution evolves from the 3rd
agricultural revolution
• Distributed mechanized farming, chemical
fertilizers on a global level
• Farming and food processing were at different
sites
Industrializing the farm process
• Harvest and ship off for marketing and
distribution
• Factory system
• AGRIBUSINESS
– The system of food production involving seed
development to marketing and sale of the food
products
– Integral to US and Global Economy
• Think about milk before and after the 3rd
agricultural revolution
Globalization of the farming
process
• Colonialization/ Imperialism led to
core/periphery regions
• Colonies used to supply
– Neocolonialism/Post colonialism
– Many foods in grocery stores grown in LDCs and
shipped to MDCs
– TRUCK FARMS- growing a crop to supply a distant
market
Human Impact of the
Industrialization of Agriculture
• Local farmers forced to integrate into the
larger AGRIBUSINESS
• Agriculture companies subcontract with the
locals
• Local flower farms forced to close since they
cannot compete with TRUCK FARMS
• In 1920… in US 1 in 3 lived on a farm
• In 1978… only 1 in 28
Cont…
• In LDCs farmers are forced to sell their land
• LDCs rely on exports too much and don’t
supply their own people
• Profits in LDC farms not reinvested
Green Revolution
•
•
•
•
1940s-1990
Developed hybrid high yield seeds
Dramatically improves output
Started out with US research into improving Mexico’s
wheat grain production
• Also developed new fertilizers and pesticides to protect
and nourish new crops
• The “miracle” of the revolution was diffusion of higher
yield grains
• Nobel Prize given to Norman Borlaug for work to
reduce world hunger
Downside
• Less labor needed
• Higher yield seeds more prone to viruses and
pest infestation
• Some seeds not farmable in certain areas
• Some argue it has increased economic
inequality in the periphery
• May cause pollution and soil contamination
Biotechnology
• Using living organism to produce or change
plant or animal products
• GENETIC MODIFICATION
– Uses scientific manipulation of crop and animal
products to improve agricultural products and
activity
– BIOREVOLUTION
• The extension of scientific innovation to all crops and
animal products
FAST FACT
• The US produces nearly 63 percent of the
world’s genetically modified crops
• 33% of US corn and 55% of US cotton is
genetically modified
• Biotech research is designing bananas
containing vaccines against hepatitis
Controversies/Benefits of
Genetically Modified foods
• Benefits
– Taste
– Reduce malnutrition
– Increase yields
– Improved resistance to disease, pests, and
herbicides
– New products and growing techniques